Measurement is the basis of process control. The measurement of dot area coverage or dot percentage is fundamental to define the characteristics of our printing system, to calculate compensations of tonal values for plate making and, finally, to control the production. In 2017, a new method for the calculation of dot area percentage was [...]
What is the best resolution for images to be printed in flexography? Well, it depends first of all on the distance that the printed product will be looked at by the viewer: this will determine the suitable linescreen that the image will have on the printed product. A general guideline for AM screening defines a [...]
There are different dot shapes for screening: round, square, euclidean, elliptical, ... which one is the best for flexography? (*) When choosing the dot shape for plate screening, it is important to consider the characteristics of the different geometries and their influence on the printed result. When the plate is inked by the anilox roll and [...]
The information about the size (typically the diameter) of the minimum isolated dot refers to the characteristics of the plate and it is normally completed with the term positive and/or negative. Example: Minimum positive isolated dot: 100 µm Minimum negative isolated dot: 50 µm The minimum isolated dot size indicates what is the ability of [...]
The information about minimum dot indicates what is the size of the minimum printing dot that appears on the plate. This size is normally expressed in microns (µm), or, less commonly, as a percentage of a given linescreen, and it is set as a threshold in plate imaging to obtain such size on the finished [...]
Dot dipping describes the condition whereby the smallest dots on a flexo plate dip into the cells of the anilox roll when forced by the impression between anilox and plate. Some dots of the plate, dipping in the cells, will carry more ink than what was expected, resulting in dirty printing in highlights, typically [...]
The term “round dot” refers to the screening algorithm that tends to draw round shaped dots. Let’s not forget, however, that the original digital file is made of square pixels. These pixels are the binary information that is sent to the laser to write the image: write / don’t write = on / off. Therefore, [...]
Ink builds around small print elements like dots and small type creating hollow shapes like donuts. Inked dots perforate ink layers that were printed by previous printing groups. This happened on external print on plastic film, solvent based inks, flat-top plate, sequence YMCK. Combined action of excessive impression with high ink volume and [...]
