First, print the manuscript
Printing manuscripts are the basis and basis for printing plates. The pattern, text, and color on the printed manuscript need to be conceived and designed according to the sales characteristics of the product, and then the actual effect of the product package is reflected by plate making and printing.
1. Feasibility Whether it is a user draft, a design company draft, or a self-designed draft, the printing manufacturer must submit the requirements for the manuscript to the designer: the characteristics of the flexographic printing must be fully understood during the design concept; the manuscript must be fully considered Deliver the feasibility of process operations in plate making and printing. The so-called feasibility: the designer's selection of the pattern, text, and color in the manuscript must first meet the production requirements for flexo plate making and printing; secondly, it should be suitable for the actual level of equipment, materials, and operations of the printing manufacturer; The specific practical standards for packaging are the only way to ensure that the manuscript design and flexographic product are printed to the desired quality standards.
It needs to be pointed out specially: most of the current printing manuscripts are designed using computer concepts. In order to obtain beautiful visual effects of manuscripts, many color pictures are often used, and color printing, gradients, puzzles, and deformation functions are added. Such as the rainbow pattern. If we choose lithographic printing, such printed manuscripts rarely have problems with plate making and printing. When choosing a flexographic printing method, it is necessary to negotiate with the designers about the feasibility of coloring or rainbow effect in the process of plate making and printing.
2. Choosing color-finished flexographic printing is not yet able to reproduce colorful hues of colorful photo prints as well as lithography. If you copy a beautiful art scene, such as calendars, pictures, samples, etc., it is not the specialty of flexographic printing. Although there have been various kinds of very delicate flexographic printing samples, they are only in the proof printing stage, and there is still a big gap compared with lithography in actual production. Color pictures and color printing are made by color separation and plate making, and a half-tone layered screen plate with 3 to 4 colors is superimposed. Since flexographic printing belongs to letterpress printing, in the case of screen printing using reticle, the highlight part is difficult to reproduce, and the dark tone part does not change significantly. Therefore, it is difficult to reflect the natural color transition and rich layer change effect.
And flexo printing is the most avoidable "absolutely net" (percentage of outlets is less than 1%). The manuscript designer should be required to avoid excessive highlights as much as possible. In the transition of the hierarchical network, as far as possible, the highlights of the dot transition should be allowed to move toward the “extension of the design draft (bleeding zone), ie, to prevent the layer from changing. In the design draft, if the original does require the presence of a high-gloss part, persuade the designer: According to the current quality of the plate and the plate making technology, the plate maker should be allowed to retain 1% to 2% of the dots in the high-light spot to obtain Close to the effect of highlights, which color dot to keep, depends on the main color of the manuscript.
3. Multi-use spot colors We have to tell designers that they should try to consider spot colors when conceiving artwork. In the packaging and decoration design, spot colors have a unique decorative effect. For packaging products, it is a product logo, a brand logo, a purchase logo, and has a strong advertising effect. Reasonable and clever use of spot colors for decorating design can be the finishing touch. No matter whether it is offset printing or gravure printing, the selection of spot color printing is quite a lot. Printing spot color is the strength of flexo printing. Its color saturation is far better than offset printing, and it is not inferior to gravure printing. This is an important factor for flexographic printing being widely accepted in packaging products.
4. Non-printing manuscripts must indicate that there is a considerable number of printing manufacturers. The "printed manuscripts" he has obtained are printed samples, real samples of lithographic or gravure printing. Taking this kind of printing manuscript as a printing manuscript for the flexo printing plate making company to make plates, it is really "embarrassed" them. For such an "original" need to go through the hands of the designer, the computer to "replicate" a printed manuscript before it can be used for plate making and printing. How this manuscript is made is exactly the same as the original printed matter, but it also has to comply with the process of flexographic printing. This is a rather troublesome task. In this regard, printing manufacturers should carefully analyze the actual printing process of the printed matter. According to the above-mentioned points on the printed manuscript and the following technical points to be discussed, the technical personnel of the plate-making company shall discuss with them to complete the plate making. From the technological point of view, we do not advocate the use of such printed "manuscripts."
5. The establishment of the technologist suggested that the printing company set up an technologist, and it was necessary for the technologist to control the quality of the printed manuscript. Because the technologist knows best the product requirements, equipment conditions, process characteristics, raw material characteristics, staff technical level, post-press processing, and user use requirements. The technologist can combine the conditions of the company and make the printed manuscript reach the production quality standard in plate making and printing. The work of the technologist cannot be replaced by other personnel.
Second, the process points
After the printing manuscript is determined, the craftsman formulates the color separation process of the printing plate according to the characteristics of the printing process of the factory, and provides a reference for the plate making company, which can ensure the production quality of the flexographic printing product. After a professional plate-making company generally accepts printing of manuscripts, if the printing manufacturer does not make technical requirements, it will perform color separation and plate-making according to the usual process. Due to the different degrees of understanding of printed manuscripts and the familiarity with the flexo printing process, the degree of understanding of actual use will lead to large unrealistic situations between plate production and printing production. Frequent repetitive revisions or re-creations have often occurred, resulting in material and time waste. Therefore, the technologist to formulate the color separation process, the plate-making company to plate, do not understand where they can communicate with each other, to discuss, to ensure that a successful printing plate production, is beneficial to both parties.
The craftsman needs to pay attention to several points in the process of formulating the process:
1. Four-color mesh version, text lines, full version of the field to be distinguished.
The craftsman needs to know the production principle of the four-color separation, but also to know the other text lines, the full-color version of the field requirements. It is not like lithography or gravure printing. Four-color screen lines and text lines of the same color cannot be on the same color plate as the actual field. Of course, the network points cannot be printed on the same plate with the field. This is because the text lines are not the same as the amount of ink needed in the field. If they are printed on the same plate, after the anilox roller transmits the ink quantitatively, the demand for the amount of ink (small amount) of dots and text lines can be met, and it cannot be satisfied. The amount of ink in the field (high volume) needs. In turn, it satisfies the needs of the field and the lines of text must be affixed. Therefore, in the same color version text lines and the field should be divided into two plates, small text, thin lines and large text, thick lines should also be divided into two plates, that is, the flexo printing press color group configuration than other printing There are many reasons for the machine. Of course, it is necessary to put forward color separation opinions on the hollow typefaces used in the design of printed manuscripts, such as hook lines, adjacent colors, spot colors, and post-press processing such as embossed aluminum and indentation.
2. Separation can use spot colors, use spot colors as much as possible.
If, like lithography, spot colors are often overprinted by four-color dots, it will cause great difficulties for flexo plate-making and printing. This is what we do not advocate. Even in offset printing, spot color printing is used in packaging printing. The use of spot color printing for flexo is its main feature. For special spotlight products, special color overlays are also available. The special colors of flexo printing, whose bright colors and saturation levels are obviously different from those of offset printing and gravure printing, must be fully utilized.
3. Special eye-catching spot colors can also be used in color overlays.
Flexo printing spot color, generally one color can reach its color requirement. For special spotlight products, special color overlays are also available. The two color separation plates of the two-color plate should be separately produced. The overlapped parts of the large-area graphics of the two overlapping versions are the same, and there are slight differences in some parts, such as large texts, hollow texts, and real texts, and when the color separation film is produced One of them should consider amplifying the first line or closing the first line: about 0.05 to 0.1 mm, and there are also enlarged or closed second lines, about 0.10 to 0.2 mm. At the same time, it is necessary to consider that there must be a main color of the Indian version in color selection, and another kind of secondary color in the Indian version. This arrangement of overlapping colors is very necessary. You can consider selecting a piece of text, lines, dots, etc. that need a small amount of ink in the two plates in the two plates. As the images were brought into the one-color overprinted version, the overlapping color was achieved and the text, lines, or textured version was also made. In fact, the number of printing plates was not increased.
4. The size of the imposition depends on the product structure.
Technician