Section 4

Printing and inks

Traditional printing methods
It is a fundamental requirement of a printing process to provide a means of transferring ink only in those areas that are defined as image. For the traditional printing methods this is accomplished by the imagecarrier (printing plate) which defines image and non-image primarily by physical means. For most processes the image-carrier is produced using photomechanical methods, but direct production of the image-carrier from digital data is becoming more common. At the same time newer printing methods are growing in use, which print directly from the digital data and may have no image-carrier in the traditional sense. The traditional printing methods, with their fixed image-carrier, are ideal for printing many copies of the same image. The direct digital methods have the ability to make each copy unique and are well suited to printing variable information. All of these methods will be considered in this section. The physical profile of the image-carrier is the most distinguishing feature defining one process from another and it determines many of the characteristics applicable to the process. The material used to produce the image-carrier also contributes to the characteristic appearance of the printed copies, and imposes specific requirements of the ink and influences the method of ink application. It also determines the type of substrates that can be printed and influences the design and construction of the printing press. This, both directly and indirectly, determines which process is most suitable for printing particular types of work. When seen in cross-section it is apparent how the processes define image from non-image areas. Letterpress and flexography can both be defined as relief processes, the image is raised above the nonimage. Gravure is an intaglio process, the image is recessed below the image. Screen is a stencil process; 22and lithography is a planographic process, in which image and non-image are in the same plane.

Illus. 4.1 The physical profile of the image-carriers

Offset lithography
Lithography is a planographic process ie. Image and non-image areas are in same plane. The distinction between image and non-image is achieved by differences in the plates surface chemistry, which results in a differential in wetting. The image areas are grease receptive and water repellent, while the non-image areas are water receptive. Both water and oil-based ink is applied to the plate. The water wets the nonimage areas of the plate and prevents the ink from adhering in these areas. The areas that are readily wetted by water are non-image and are said to be hydrophilic (water-loving), while the image areas repel water and are referred to as hydrophobic (water-hating). Ink transferred to the image areas is subsequently transferred (offset) to a rubber-covered cylinder which in turn transfers the image to the substrate under high pressure. Lithography is unique among the printing processes in requiring the application of two fluids (water and ink) in order to differentiate between image and non-image areas and in not transferring the image directly to the substrate.

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Illus. 4.2 The application of ink and water differentiates between image and non-image areas.

The main strengths of the process are: very fine detail and good tonal reproduction can be achieved even when printing on poor surface papers; very fine conventional (AM) and FM screening can be used for tonal reproductions; relatively low prepress costs with many alternative options for platemaking; wide range of printing press types and formats for both sheet and web production; suitable for relatively short production runs (digital printing systems often better below 500 copies). The main process limitations are: it can only use oil-based inks which limits drying and formulation options, making it most suited to printing on paper; it places quite high demands on the surface strength of papers due to the tacky ink and the offset blanket; web presses are normally only able to print a fixed repeat length; relatively high print waste due to the need to balance both ink and water.

Typical work

Offset lithography is particularly suited to printing illustrated work on a wide range of papers and it is the dominant process for most forms of printed material on paper. The main types of work are: _ promotional literature, brochures and illustrated books; _ magazines, newspapers, directories and catalogues; _ printed stationery and forms; _ sheet labels, folding boxboard cartons and metal plate; _ posters, maps and stamps

#(Waterless Lithography
Waterless litho printing also uses a planographic plate, but it is able to differentiate between image and non-image without the need for water. The secret of the plate lies in its non-image silicone rubber coating and the ink rheology. When ink is rolled onto most dry surfaces there is a more or less equal attraction to the ink and it divides (splits) at the weakest point, which is normally within the ink itself. When ink is applied via a roller to the silicone rubber, the cohesion of the ink is greater than its adhesion to the silicone surface. Therefore, instead of the split taking place within the ink, the low surface energy of the silicone rubber allows it to lift off cleanly from the plate. Printing without water has the advantages of reduced start-up waste, lower dot gain and improved colour saturation. However, the absence of water means there is a significant temperature rise in the inking system during the run. This reduces the cohesive strength of the ink and, as a consequence, it does not separate cleanly from the plate, resulting in scumming. It is necessary to provide cooling of the ink system and/or plate to achieve acceptable results. The silicone rubber is also rather more fragile than a conventional plate surface and is more easily damaged. However, there are an increasing number of sheet-fed and web-fed printers providing this option.

Platemaking
There is a wide range of litho plate types and the choice may be influenced by cost, format, run length, type of work, quality requirement etc. The range of plates can be categorized with reference to two fundamental characteristics: the base plate substrate and the imaging method.

Plate substrate
Aluminium ,its surface being particularly hydrophilic. -graining and anodising the surface. - suitable for medium-to-long runs, achieving run-lengths in excess of one million, under favourable conditions. Small offset presses frequently use paper- or polyester-based plates. These plates, or masters as they are often called, are low-cost but have a limited run-length capability (around 5005 000 impressions for paper and 5 00015 000 for polyester). less tolerant in terms of ink/water balance than metal plates. - used for colour work on small-format presses and monochrome book work on medium-size -a cheaper option to metal, if the limited run length and inferior dimensional stability can be accepted.

Film imaging
This requires film images at reproduction size, in a printing-down frame they are held flat in contact with a light-sensitive coated plate (presensitised surface plate), while exposure takes place to a UV light source. The film must have its emulsion in direct contact with the plate, therefore a right reading emulsion side down film negative or positive is required. On exposure to light the plate undergoes a photo-chemical change which affects the solubility of the coating in the plate developer. Illustration 4.3 shows the photomechanical processes for negative and positive working plates. If the film has been imaged on a large-format imagesetter it will be in an imposed form. However, it is possible for the imposition of film elements or pages to be combined with the plate exposure, using a step and repeat machine. The step and repeat machine consists of a bed for mounting the plate; a frame or chase for

mounting the films; a UV light source; and a means of traversing the frame and light source accurately in x y directions. The machine may allow the same film to have multiple exposures to the plate, as required for products like cartons and labels; alternatively for magazines or books the film may be automatically changed after each exposure. A less common, more specialised, film-imaging system projects the images on to the plate from micro-size (70 mm) roll film negative. Here, the imaging of the plate is combined with the imposition of the pages, as the projector steps the pages to their appropriate location on the plate. The development of the plate after exposure is essentially the same irrespective of the method of exposure. The plates are processed in comparatively simple, automatic processors. Aseries of nip rollers transport the plate through the development bath; under a water spray; through a finishing application and warm air drying. This process will normally take between one and two minutes to complete.

Filmless production from reflection copy

The filmless production of plates from reflection copy is typically carried out by dedicated, fixed-focus camera platemakers, imaging plates with silver or photoconductive coatings. This has been quite a common technique for the production of small offset paper/polyester plates and medium-format polyester plates for book presses, but there is a gradual move away from these methods to some form of CTP.

Computer-to-plate (CTP)
CTP allows the plate to be imaged directly from digital data, without films or reflection copy. It requires a complete digital workflow and this demands new approaches to checking and proofing. But it offers a number of benefits: reduction in lead times, material usage and manpower along with possibilities for improved quality. CTP exists in two completely different forms: offpress, where it simply provides an alternative to imaging from film; and on-press, where plate imaging is incorporated in the press design. All CTP systems accept Postscript files and image the plate point by point as determined by the bitmap RIPed from the data file. There are a number of alternative approaches to image the plate, all of which can be considered CTP: high resolution laser printer, creating a digitally formed image which is transferred directly onto nonphotosensitive polyester plate suitable for simple small-format work; exposure of polyester silver halide-coated plates using a film imagesetter suitable for short-run medium-format monochrome and short-run small-format colour work; dedicated laser platesetter imaging metal plates that have light or thermal sensitive coatings suitable for the complete range of press formats and run-length requirements. The choice of plate for dedicated platesetters depends on the type of laser that is fitted. Early CTP installations and many of the currently installed units are fitted with argon-ion or FD YAG lasers, which are suitable for light-sensitive (488530 nm) plates. The majority of the newer installations are fitted with YAG or laser diodes that output in the infra-red (IR) (8301064 nm) region of the spectrum and these require thermal-sensitive plates. Thermal plate technology is currently receiving most attention, because it offers greatest possibilities for production of plates that do not require processing after imaging.

Computer-to-plate on press
At this time there are three companies supplying CTP on-press systems, but other systems have been demonstrated and are likely to become available during the next few years. Of the three, the Heidelberg Quickmaster DI- 46 4 is quite widely installed. It uses a continuous length (35 repeats) of the Presstek waterless, polyester plate, which is held in a cassette within the plate cylinder. After each print run the material is wound from one spool to another to allow the next job to be imaged. Changeover from one job to the next takes between ten and 20 minutes, depending on imaging resolution. Maximum format of this press is 460 _ 300 mm, but larger-format presses will be more widely available towards the end of 1998.)#

The printing unit

As can be seen in Illustration 4.4, the lithographic plate, which is mounted on the plate cylinder, does not print directly onto the paper but offsets (transfer) the image onto a rubber-covered (offset blanket) cylinder, from which it is transferred to the substrate. This provides print quality and production benefits.

Illus. 4.4 The offset litho press. OR

Offset printing (lithography). a Components of a printing unit; b Basic principle

The dampening system

A dampening system supplies a controlled amount of water to the plate. The one shown in Illustration 4.4 is integrated with the inking. Such systems attain ink-water balance more quickly, reducing the number of waste sheets at start-up. High waste levels are regarded as a characteristic of lithography, but this is less true with modern systems. There are other forms of dampening unit, employing rotary brushes with flicker blades and some in which the dampening solution is sprayed into the system. All systems are designed to supply an adjustable, but controlled, film of water to the plate.

Fountain solution
Although the lithographic process will work with water only as the dampening medium, the process works more efficiently if chemical additions are made to the water. This normally takes the form of a liquid fountain solution concentrate. The nature of the concentrate is determined by factors such as: type of dampening system; nature of local water supply; and type of ink. Some require the use of ISO propyl alcohol. PARTS OF DAMPNING SYSTEM 1. Fountain tray (water pan)- container to hold dampening solution to be fed to the plate. 2. Fountain tray roller- metal roller which rotates and carry dampening solution on its surface. 3. Ductor roller- cloth (molleton) covered roller, intermittently contacts fountain tray roller and oscillator roller to transfer metered amount of dampening solution. 4. Oscillator roller- metal roller oscillate side to side to even out dampening across the press. 5. Form roller- cloth covered roller, transfer dampening from oscillator roller to printing plate.

The inking system

The viscose nature of litho ink necessitates an inking system with many linked rollers to break the ink down into the thin film that is applied to the plate. This presents a problem because the rollers retain a surplus of ink in those areas where it has not been removed by the image. It is necessary therefore to replenish the ink in zones to accommodate the different requirements of the image being printed. On modern presses each zone is precisely adjusted by its own individual motor, allowing the adjustment to be made from a remote control desk. There will normally be provision for ink-zone settings to be preset, recorded and stored. The data for presetting may be obtained from a plate scanner or via an interface with the digital datafile used for plate imaging.

Inks and ink drying

The litho ink must be oil-based so that it separates from the water (a fundamental requirement). This requirement and the large surface area of the inking system restrict the possibilities for ink drying. The ink must remain open on the rollers and only dry on the substrate. Lithographic sheet-fed inks normally dry by a combination of penetration and oxidation which takes some hours to complete. This is unacceptable for some production, therefore IR radiation driers may be used to accelerate the process. Alternatively, presses are equipped with UV radiation drying, which provides instantaneous curing when used with special inks. In web offset printing the paper moves so rapidly through the press the ink does not have time to dry by oxidation. If the paper is absorbent, like newsprint, the setting of ink by absorption is normally sufficient. This is referred to as coldset printing to distinguish it from heatset which is necessary when less absorbent papers are used. Heatset inks contain a solvent, but this must have a low evaporation rate to avoid drying on the inking rollers. A high-boiling petroleum fraction is used, and this is evaporated off by passing the printed web through a hot air drying oven, followed by chilling. PARTS OF INKING SYSTEM 1. Ink fountain (tray)- pan as a container and supplier, with roller and fountain blade (an ink wiper). 2. Fountain roller- metal roller which rotates intermittently or continuously to transfer ink to ductor. 3. Ductor (transfer) roller resilient roller alternately contact fountain roller and oscillator. 4. Oscillator- metal roller which oscillate side to side for distribution and smoothing of ink. 5. Intermediate roller (distributor)- resilient roller to transfer ink between oscillating roller. 6. Form roller- resilient roller to transfer ink from Intermediate roller to Plates.

Sheet-fed litho presses

There is wide diversity of sheet-fed presses, designed to print on a variety of substrates including paper, board and metal plate. These presses are generally classified in two types on the basis of its sheet feeding mechanism, single sheet feeder and stream feeder . And according to number of printing units (towers) from single-colour to ten-colour. Types Presses range in sheet size from A3 up to A0 and The most common sizes are 720 _ 540 mm and 1020 _ 720 mm. Illustration 4.6 shows a small offset, sheet-fed press. Small offset is a term generally applied to presses that can print paper or fine card up to a maximum sheet size of approximately A3 (420 _ 297 mm). This type of press is typically used by instant print shops, inplant printers and general jobbing printers. It would normally be used for short print runs of stationery, reports and other similar work, using paper or polyester-based plates. This press is a single-colour press. To print another colour the inking system would have to be cleaned, the ink and the plate changed, and the sheets would then have to be passed through the press again. Most small offset presses are single colour.

Illus. 4.6 A small single color offset, sheet-fed press

Multi-colour presses

Illus. 4.7 A multi-unit sheet-fed offset press with inline coating and drying units. This press has two printing units, there may be up to ten

Multi-unit sheet-fed presses can be from two to ten colours. The maximum speed of sheet-fed presses depends on the make and size of press, and the type of paper being printed. An average figure is about 10 000 sheets per hour, with a maximum of 15 000. These presses are used to print a wide range of paper and board products, such as labels, brochures, leaflets, greeting cards, periodicals, books etc. Typical run lengths are up to 50 000. If a printer needs to print larger quantities of book sections or complete. periodicals at one pass through a press, a web press would be more commonly used Illustration 4.7 shows a medium-size, multi-colour (only two units shown) sheet-fed press. The cylinders, located between each printing unit, serve to transfer the sheet, in register and in a controlled manner, through the press. It is possible to see the path that the sheet has to follow (white sheets) from the feeder to the delivery. There is no drying between the printing units, as multi-colour printing in litho is normally wet-on-wet. Presses similar to this are available as straight multi-colour or convertible multicolour/perfector presses. In perfecting mode, the sheet is printed on one side and then tumbled over by the transfer cylinder so that the remaining units print on the other side. This is achieved by a simple adjustment and takes only a few minutes. Most eight- and ten-unit presses are convertible: able either to print eight/ten colours on one side of the sheet or to be converted to print four/five colours on each side of the sheet. They are widely used to print short-run magazines and books. The last unit of the press shown in Illustration 4.7 is not a printing unit, but a coating unit. It applies UV-curable or water-based varnish inline with printing. The varnish may be overall or spot (if a relief plate is fitted to the coating unit). Most multi-colour offset presses are configured in the unit-to-unit arrangement, but more compact configurations are possible using a common impression cylinder for two or more offset cylinders as shown in Illustration 4.8. This is a diagram of the Heidelberg Quickmaster DI, which is a waterless press with digital imaging of plates, but this type of configuration is not restricted to this machine.

. Illus. 4.8 A sheet-fed, offset lithographic press in which four printing cylinders share a common impression cylinder

Web-fed litho presses

Web-fed presses print on continuous lengths of paper, fed to the printing units from reels. They are faster than sheet-fed presses and normally incorporate finishing operations inline with printing: the majority of web offset presses will have an inline folder, as they are widely used to print publications, such as books, magazines and newspapers. Reel-fed litho offset presses are also used to print other products, such as

continuous forms, labels and cartons. But this is limited as it is not easy to accommodate the requirement for different print lengths, and this is frequently necessary for these products.

Blanket-to-blanket units
Web offset printing units may be configured like sheet-fed presses, with a plate, offset and impression cylinder, but the majorities are used to print publication products, printed on both sides, and the most effective configuration to achieve this is a blanket-to-blanket perfecting unit. These may be arranged in the form of an arch, with the paper being fed vertically from below or vertically with the paper running horizontally. The arch arrangement is typical for newspaper presses, while the horizontal web path is normal for heatset commercial web presses.

Illus. 4.9 How the cylinders are aligned in a blanket-to-blanket perfecting unit. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blanket-to-blanket printing unit of a web offset press

#Coldset newspaper presses

A coldset newspaper press will comprise a number of basic blanket-to-blanket units, and possibly common impression units also. These will be configured to suit the maximum number of pages, of monochrome and colour, specified when it was installed. A single-width press prints on a web that is the width of two broad sheet newspaper pages. The press shown in Illustration 4.10 is double width, with two pages around each cylinder. The four reels of paper being printed on this press would, therefore, produce a 64-page broadsheet newspaper, when running in straight production mode. The lower units in the two left towers are convertible units. The unit on the far left is configured as a four-colour common impression satellite and the other in perfecting mode, as two blanket-to-blanket perfectors. The unit at the far right is referred to as a four-high tower, which is able to print colour on both sides of the web. Configured in this way the newspaper will have some pages in full colour, others with only spot colour.

Illus. 4.10 An example of a coldset web newspaper press

From left to right the webs from each reelstand will print colour as follows: Web A: 4 colour process + black and red spot; Web B: black and red spot + black and green spot; Web C: black only on both sides; Web D: 4 colour process on both sides.

Heatset web presses

Heatset web presses normally comprise multiple vertically aligned blanketto- blanket units with the webs running horizontally. The main components of a heatset web press are as follows: The reelstand, which controls the unwinding of the reel and automatically changes to a new reel as the old one expires. The web guides, which monitor and adjust the lateral position of the web: one is positioned before the units and one after the dryer, before the folder. The infeed metering, which comprises variable speed-driven nip rollers that meter and control the tension of the paper fed into the printing units.

 The dryer, which is a high-velocity hot-air type, the length of which depends on the maximum speed the press will run at. The chill rolls, which are water-cooled and also have a variable speed drive. Their function is to set the ink by cooling the paper and to control paper tension from the printing unit through the dryer. The remoistener, which consists of two rollers which apply a mix of water and silicone to the printed web. These rollers attempt to put back moisture removed by the dryer, improve slip and reduce marking. The folder, which cuts and folds the continuous web into sections. A single folder will be capable of producing a range of folded products. The number of webs and the format of the units determine the products that can be printed. The press in Illustration 4.11 is capable of printing either a single web in four colours on both sides, but with the addition of

Illus. 4.11A typical heatset web press.

an extra reelstand and dryer it is able to double the pagination throughput by printing two webs at the same time, each in two colours. The heatset web press is commonly used to print magazines, periodicals, books, catalogues and long-run promotional printing. Therefore, the format size and capability is typically expressed in terms of the number of A4 pages that it can produce. A typical press with a web width of approximately 950 mm will yield four A4 pages across the web with trims. The length of the printed image is determined by the circumference of the plate cylinder. When the web passes to the folder it is cut into sections by the cutting cylinder, and it is this cut-off length which identifies the presss printing size. Thus a 16- page web press usually has a maximum web width of about 950 mm and a cut-off length of about 630 mm, yielding eight pages to view (16 pages perfected) to each section. This press format produces a portrait product with the paper grain running top to bottom of the page long grain. The long grain press presents an A4 section with suitable grain direction for adhesive binding. Many book presses and some magazine presses are short grain. The short grain press offers some benefits: it is possible to stitch sections in the folder; web speed is lower for same section output; no requirement for quarter fold on A4 products, resulting in more accurate folding.

sheet-fed or web-fed offset litho

1 Assuming the main priority to be the best quality for the best price, the factors which will influence the choice of process will be:

_ long print runs (particularly of colour work) of the order of 30 000 copies or more will be better suited to web offset printing; _ the higher web-press speed will, with its combined folding and finishing, meet tight deadlines better than the sheet-fed press; _ the web press is better able to print on lower-weight papers than a sheet-fed press, but is restricted on the upper limit of paper grades. 2 Web presses offer only a limited range of standard trim sizes and folding options. Nonstandard sizes and finishing processes are handled better by sheet-fed litho. 3 The production cycle, or length of time on machine, can be a crucial factor in establishing the cost-effectiveness of one process over the other. This is particularly true of colour work. The web offset presses deliver perfected, folded sections, ready for finishing in one pass at comparatively high running speeds. To do the same job, sheet-fed litho normally involves first printing all the sheets on one side, then printing on the reverse (backing them all up), and then, as a separate operation, folding them. This situation has now improved with the arrival of the eight-colour sheet-fed perfecting presses: it is still necessary to fold as a separate operation, but it does enable the sheet-fed printer to compete better with the web printer, particularly for those run-lengths that are only just viable for web printing. 4 Bear in mind that sheet-fed and web offset machining prices can never be compared as like for like. Not only does the separate cost of folding need to be added on to the sheetfed price, but the paper consideration can be a determining factor. Paper bought on the reel will be cheaper than the same paper bought in sheets, but web offset paper wastage will certainly be higher and the total value of the paper that needs to be purchased has to enter the equation. 5 Note that some specialist single-colour mini-web installations can achieve extremely costeffective production runs as low as a few thousand. Standard paper and standard formats are essential to maximise the economies. 6 Where price and delivery time are evenly matched, sheet offset printing can sometimes offer more flexibility: when either format or final pagination is not known until a late stage, or when there is likely to be a need to reprint in small quantities. The question of oddments in magazine or bookwork can be important: oddments can normally be more effectively printed sheet-fed, either by using a smaller machine, or by printing on a smaller sheet size.

Letterpress
The letterpress process is the oldest method of printing, but its use has diminished dramatically with the demise of hot metal typesetting. The process uses a hard printing surface, metal or photopolymer, with the image areas raised in relief from the non-image areas. A viscose paste ink is applied to the plates surface and the inked image is then transferred to the substrate with the application of pressure. It is the hardness

of the plate and the nature of the ink and inking system which distinguishes modern letterpress from flexography

Typical work Letterpress applications are now relatively few. The process is still used to print paperback textbooks, newspapers in some countries and self-adhesive labels on narrow web presses. It is also widely used, as an offset process, to print plastic containers and metal beverage cans.
The main strengths of the process are: good legibility of text even on uncoated papers; low print waste even with frequent interruptions to the run. The main process limitations are: relatively high printing plate costs; poor tonal reproduction when compared with offset litho, unless paper is of a particularly high quality; relatively coarse screen rulings have to be used for tonal reproductions.

Platemaking
The modern letterpress plate may be produced in metal by etching as it was originally, but almost all current applications use photopolymer plates that are imaged by exposure to UV light through a film negative followed by a wash-out development. Several patent systems are in use, of which the best known are NAPP, Letterflex and Nyloprint. The use of such plates has meant that letterpress has been able to continue as a process for printing in some of its traditional areas, notably mass-market paperbacks. Letterpress and flexography share the photopolymer method of plate production; the principal difference is the hardness of the plates, but even here the difference can be blurred. This is particularly true in webfed rotary letterpress applications for paperback production, where a relatively soft polymer plate may be used, comparable to the rubber duplicate plates (stereos) used in the past. For this application, therefore, the distinction between the processes is quite subtle and the production method may be called flexo by some and letterpress by others. The main process alternative for paperback book production is offset litho. The cost of the plates is the main factor in the choice of process: a letterpress plate is significantly more expensive than an equivalent litho plate and so letterpress will never compete on purely commercial terms with litho. However, letterpress has a strong advantage in textbook printing because of its very good text legibility, and it benefits from not needing water and ink.

The printing unit

The basic letterpress unit requires an inking system to apply ink to the relief plate along with a means of generating pressure to transfer the inked image to the substrate. Conventional letterpress machines are designed on one of three principles: platen principle, flatbed (cylinder) principle, rotary principle. Although it is still possible to find some examples of each type of letterpress machine, all serious modern applications use the rotary principle.

Illus. 4.14 The three principles of letterpress printing

Platen

The printing forme is held in vertically. Impression is carried out by the platen, a heavy metal plate which pivots forward and upward in an arc, carrying the paper and impressing it into the surface of the forme as it reaches a position where it is vertical and parallel with the forme.

Flatbed cylinder
The type-bed is flat and horizontal. Positioned over it is the cylindrical impression cylinder on which the paper to be printed is held. Impression is carried out as the bed moves in a horizontal direction under the revolving cylinder on the impression stoke; the impression cylinder lifts to allow the bed to return to its first position; and the cycle is repeated.

Letterpress (flatbed cylinder diagram)

Rotary
The printing surface consists of either flexible plastic, rubber or photopolymer plates , which are fixed around the circumference of the plate cylinder. An impression cylinder rotates against the plate cylinder and impression is carried out as the paper (sheets or reels) is fed between them.

Letterpress (rotary process)

Inks and inking system

The viscose nature of letterpress ink and the fact that the hard plate requires resilient rubber rollers to transfer ink necessitates a roller system very similar to that used in offset lithography. The inks are in fact very similar to offset litho inks and the options for ink drying are essentially the same.

Reel-fed rotary letterpress

Illustration 4.15 shows a simplified view of a reel-fed rotary letterpress label machine. Starting with the reel of material, the web is passed through the printing units then on to the final operation, which in this case is rewinding. More commonly, machines of this type would be fitted with inline die-cutting and possibly foil blocking. There are a few other examples of the commercial application of rotary letterpress,

most notably in the production of paperbacks, but even here flexography is edging out the traditional letterpress.

Illus. 4.15 Schematic of a reel-fed rotary letterpress label machine

Offset letterpress
Letterpress remains a dominant process in a significant area of package printing, but only as an offset process. In this form it is used for the printing of plastic containers, like those for yoghurt and margarine, and beverage cans. The offset principle is necessary in order to allow printing onto metal, but it also provides another important benefit. The different colour images that make up the design are transferred from their appropriate printing head to the offset blanket, which is attached to a cylinder common to all printing heads. A composite image is therefore built up on the blanket and this is then printed to the container in a single transfer. This avoids the problems that would otherwise be encountered in trying to register individual images to each other around the container.

Illus. 4.16Offset letterpress for container printing.

Typical work Letterpress applications are now relatively few. The process is still used to print paperback textbook , news paper in some countries and self adhesive labels on narrow web presses it is also widely used as an offset process to print plastic containers and metal beverage cans.

Flexography
Flexography is a relief printing process like letterpress. However, flexography uses deformable plates made from either rubber or soft photopolymer. These plates are flexible and are normally attached to the plate cylinders with double-sided adhesive tape. The image is inked with a liquid ink before being transferred to the printing stock by the application of light pressure hence called as direct printing process. Unlike letterpress, which is in decline, flexography is increasing its areas of application. Technical developments during recent years have improved print quality, enabling the process to be considered as an alternative to offset lithography for the printing of newspapers, paperback books and folding box

cartons. Recent developments have focused on UV ink systems and improved control of anilox engraving.

Illus. 4.18 Controlling the inking system in the flexographic process: with a doctor blade (left); or a chambered ink system (right).

The main strengths of the process are: the ink system can use relatively volatile liquids which key to a wide range of substrates and dry without requiring a lot of energy; the prepress costs are significantly less than for gravure which is its main competitor in package printing; it is possible to print continuous repeating designs; the printing unit design allows for the repeat length to be easily changed. The main process limitations are: tonal reproduction is poor when compared with offset litho and gravure; relatively coarse screen rulings have to be used because of the relief plate; the process has difficulty in printing smooth vignettes; it is difficult to print small type and halftones in combination with solids on the same plate cylinder.

Typical work Flexography is the main process for printing food packaging on plastic films and other nonabsorbent stocks. It also has wide application in the printing of low cost paper wrappings. The main types of work are: _ flexible packaging and carrier bags; _ adhesive roll labels; _ envelopes; _ corrugated cases, paper and plastic sacks; _ liquid cartons and folding box cartons; _ newspapers and paperback books.

Platemaking (Image carrier preparation)

Rubber plates are produced by a moulding process, or by means of laser engraving which is also known as stereos. In recent years much of the industry has converted to photopolymer plates, and these are now the standard for four-colour process and other higher-quality work. The photopolymer is extruded onto a thin non-stretch backing layer which gives the plate dimensional stability. Certain products printed by flexography require continuous designs without joins, such as gift wrappers and wall coverings. The design rollers normally used for this purpose are usually produced by laser engraving the rubber-covered rollers.

Printing unit
The basic flexo printing unit comprises three main components: the inking unit, the plate cylinder, the impression cylinder. The inking unit is very simple: in its most basic form it consists of an ink duct, a rubber-covered fountain roller and an engraved ink metering roller (anilox). The simplicity of the inking system allows it easily to accommodate different plate cylinder diameters, thereby facilitating changes in print length.

The anilox roller

The anilox roller is often regarded as the heart of the flexographic press. The entire surface of the roller is engraved with a uniform pattern of evenly sized cells which act as ink carrying reservoirs. The volume of these cells determines the ink film thickness applied to the plate. This is only partially true for the basic inking system because the effectiveness of metering is significantly influenced by speed. More controlled inking is achieved with a doctor blade acting on the anilox and in some cases this may be a chambered system, as shown in Illustration 4.18. The anilox rollers screen ruling and its volume are chosen according to the subject matter being printed and the material being printed on. If, when printing fine subject matter, the screen ruling is too coarse or the cell volume too great, too much ink will be transferred to the plate resulting in dirty printing and the filling-in of fine type and halftone screens. If the volume is too low, the solids will be low in density and may have poor coverage. Typically, high screen rulings of low volume are used for printing fine subject matter on non-absorbent materials and low screen rulings of high volume are used for printing solid areas on absorbent material.

Flexography (the principle of the process)

Inks and ink drying

The process uses a liquid ink and the enclosed compact nature of the flexo inking system allows it to use liquids that evaporate quite quickly. There are three basic classifications of flexographic inks: solvent-based, water-based, ultraviolet (UV)-cured.

Solvent-based inks
The bulk of flexographic inks fall into the solvent-based class. Ethyl alcohol is the most general solvent as it has many desirable properties: it is a good solvent for various resins, does not swell or degrade either

rubber or photopolymer printing plates, evaporates rapidly, has low toxicity and is free from residual odour. These last two properties are important in food packaging.

Water-based inks
Water-based inks are mainly used when printing on paper substrates. Their main advantages are that there is no fire hazard, and water reduction and wash-up of the press is possible. However, all water-based inks have a tendency to foam and, because they are water insoluble when dry, can plug the cells of the anilox roller if allowed to dry on the press. Water does not evaporate as rapidly as alcohol, so the drying rate of water-based inks is slower.

Ultraviolet ink systems

Ultraviolet-cured inks for flexography are 100% solid systems with no solvent component. They do not dry by evaporation like conventional flexographic inks but, when exposed to ultraviolet light, cure to form an ink film with very good end use resistance properties. Because UV-cured flexographic inks are not subject to evaporation, it is much easier to maintain consistent colour on long print runs.

Press types (Configurations)

Stack presses
The individual print units of a stack press are mounted one over the other, usually on both sides of a main press frame, and the rollers of each individual print unit are generally arranged in a horizontal plane. Stack presses are made with between two and eight colour units and, because of the arrangement of these units, it is possible to accommodate large plate cylinders and print long print repeats. These presses

Illus. 4.19 A sixcolour web-fed stack press

also offer great accessibility, which facilitates changeover, wash-up, impression setting etc. The stack press can be used for printing almost any type of substrate but it does have register limitations when printing substrates that are extendable or of a thin gauge. With materials such as fairly heavyweight papers, thick films and laminated structures that can tolerate fairly high levels of tension, commercially acceptable register can easily be achieved.

Common impression presses

Illustration 4.20 shows the arrangement of the print units on a four-colour common impression cylinder press, usually referred to as a CI press, and sometimes called a central impression cylinder or drum press.

The greatest advantage of the CI press is its ability to hold excellent register, even when printing very thin, extendable packaging materials.

Illus. 4.20 The arrangement of the print units on a common impression cylinder press.

Inline presses
The inline press is the only one of the three flexographic press types that can be used for the printing of rigid sheet materials such as corrugated board. Inline presses have the advantages of good accessibility and quick changeover, can be manufactured with any number of colours and, since a single frame does not have to support all the print units, they can easily be designed to handle extremely wide web widths. Inline presses are commonly used for folding box, corrugated and multi-wall bag printing. They are also common in very narrow-web widths where they are used for printing pressure sensitive label stock. Inline presses often have inline converting operations such as bagmaking, carton cutting and creasing, embossing, label or form sheeting etc. built in. For example, carton board can be fed into an inline press from a reel, printed, creased and rotary die cut, at high speed in one continuous operation.

Illus. 4.21The arrangement of the print units on an inline press.

Web-fed press designs for multicolor flexographic printing. a Central impression cylinder system; b Unit or in-line design; c Stack-type design

Gravure
Gravure is an intaglio printing process, in which the image to be printed is formed by cells which are recessed into the surface of the image-carrier. Printing is achieved by flooding the surface with a liquid ink and fills the recessed image cells; the excess is scraped away by a doctor blade, leaving the surface, non-image areas, clean. The substrate is then pressed against the image-carriers surface. Under impression the ink in the recessed areas is drawn from the cells and transferred to the substrate. Gravure does not have a plate system like other processes: the image has to be formed directly in the outer copper surface of a cylinder. This makes the image-carrier expensive to produce, and the gravure process is therefore suited only to long production runs. Recent developments and trends have focused on digital cylinder imaging and quicker cylinder changeover on the printing machine.

Principle of Gravure printing (schematic diagram)

The main strengths of the process are: very high-quality colour reproduction is possible on suitable substrates; waste levels are relatively low and print quality is very consistent through the production run; the inks use relatively volatile liquids which key to a wide range of substrates and dry without requiring a lot of energy; it is possible to print continuous designs; very high production speeds are achieved. The main process limitations are: the cost of producing the gravure cylinder is significantly greater than the cost of producing plates for other processes; the lead times for producing the cylinders are lengthy; corrections present a problem; the high prepress costs mean that the process is only viable for run lengths greater than 300 000; all images have a cell pattern which is detrimental to the reproduction of line images and the legibility of text; print quality can be very poor if paper surface roughness is not within the minimum specification.

Typical work Gravure is mainly used for the printing of high-volume publications and packaging. The main types of work are: _ magazines and catalogues; _ flexible packaging and confectionery wrappings; _ folding box cartons, liquid cartons and cigarette packets; _ postage stamps.

Production of image-carrier
Conventional gravure is unique, compared to other printing processes, in being able to print grey levels without using the halftone principle. Illustration 4.22 shows an area of tonal gradation on a conventional gravure image-carrier. The printing area is divided up into cells which

Illus. 4.22 Tonal gradation on a gravure image-carrier.

have the same surface area but vary in depth. The variation in printed grey levels results from this depth variation: deeper cells hold more ink, printing a darker tone than shallower ones. However, the methods currently used for gravure cylinder imaging actually provide cells that vary in area or in both area and depth. There are two basic options for imaging the gravure cylinder: chemical etching, mechanical engraving.

Printing unit
The gravure printing unit is very simple in concept. The inking system is the simplest used in any major printing process. No long trains of inking rollers are needed to distribute and meter the ink, for the inks are fluid and flow easily and metering is taken care of by the volume of the cell. The gravure cylinder rotates in a liquid ink, contained in an ink duct. The cylinder then carries a relatively thick layer of ink on its surface. This layer of ink is wiped off the surface by the doctor blade, leaving ink only in the cells. The doctor blade is normally made of thin spring steel (although for certain purposes plastic blades are available), with a thicker back-up blade behind it to give rigidity. The edge of the blade must be perfectly smooth and free from nicks. Any nicks in the blade will leave thin streaks of ink, known as doctor streaks, on the cylinder, which will print unwanted lines of ink on the paper. As the cylinder rotates, the doctor blade mechanism traverses backwards and forwards across the face of the cylinder. This movement helps to spread any wear evenly over the doctor blade surface and to dislodge any paper fibres or particles that may be trapped under the blade. Pressure is needed to transfer the ink from the cells to the substrate. The substrate is fed into a nip between the gravure cylinder and an impression roller, with the cylinder and roller being squeezed together. The substrates surface roughness and compressibility is the main factor affecting the pressure required. Unsuitable papers or insufficient pressure may result in speckle or cell skips. To avoid or minimize this problem, a technique known as Electro Static Assisted ink transfer (ESA) is in common usage. Electro Static Assisted ink transfer requires the rubber on the impression roll to be formulated so that it will be able to conduct an electrostatic charge. As the paper web comes into contact with the charged roller, the electrostatic field attracts the ink from the cells onto the paper.

Illus. Single color Unit (tower) of gravure printing unit.

Inks and ink drying

Gravure inks are very similar to the solvent-based inks used in flexography. A wide variety of solvents can be used, the most common being toluene, xylene, petroleum fractions, various alcohols, esters and ketones. Some water-based inks are being used but not widely. Most gravure solvents are flammable and have low flash points. Safety precautions have to be taken to avoid fires, explosions and detrimental health effects. Many installations have solvent recovery or dispersal systems to remove the vapours and, where appropriate, recover the expensive solvents. As with flexography, it is necessary to dry each ink film before the next can be printed. After printing the paper web passes through a drying chamber where the ink is dried by the removal of the solvent with jets of heated air. Rapid ink drying by solvent evaporation allows printing on nonabsorbent materials without the danger of wet ink rubbing off onto rollers or sticking in the rewound reel. Thus gravure is the ideal process for a wide variety of packaging printing on films and foils. Alcohol-based inks are particularly suitable for food packaging, as they are free of residual odour.

Press types (configuration)

The gravure presses are available in IN-LINE configuration only because of its method of working, and following factors: 1. Image carrier (gravure) cylinder are bigger in size i.e. width and diameter. 2. Cylinders are too Heavy weight to handle beyond certain working height. 3. Extensively expensive cylinders. 4. Highly liquid inks their drying property and need of their replenishment. 5. Need of huge pressure between gravure cylinder and impression roller for better lifting and transfer of ink from image cell depth. Gravure printing machines are installed in In-line set up only, but these are always classified according to their specific application area and the same is referred as the type of the press, which are :

a. Publication presses b. Packaging presses c. Sheet-fed gravure presses Publication presses-Illustration 4.27 gives some idea of the size of a gravure publication press. From
each printing unit the paper passes into a drying hood, where a balanced supply of air is blown onto the web to remove as much of the solvent as possible. Normally these presses consist of eight or 13 units and are used to print complete magazines or catalogue signatures. On an eight-unit press, four colours can be printed on both sides of a web of paper. The printing cylinders can be up to three metres wide. The cylinder circumferences typically provide four or six pages around the cylinder (normal circumference being about a 1000 mm or 1500 mm, respectively).

Packaging presses
A wide range of gravure presses is used for packaging printing. The webwidths cover a range from 350 1400 mm, and there are special presses built for very narrow web-widths that can be as low as 50 mm. Presses can be built to easily accommodate cylinders of different diameters. This is an important point in packaging printing as it enables different print lengths to be printed on the one press. A gravure press for flexible packaging would normally be fitted with a rewind as the product would be supplied in reel form.

Sheet-fed gravure presses

Most gravure presses are web-fed rotary. There are, however, a few sheetfed presses in use. They are mainly used for high-value, speciality carton package printing and labels.

Screen printing
Screen printing is a development of the stencilling process. Images printed by simple stencilling are encumbered by the connecting links which are required to hold the elements of the images together. In screen printing a mesh is used to support the stencil, allowing the connecting links to be eliminated, and a more natural printed image is achieved. Illustration 4.28 shows the basic principle employed to transfer the image. The prepared screen is placed over the material to be printed and a fluid ink poured into one end of it. The ink is spread over the screen and forced through the open mesh areas with a rubber or plastic squeegee. Screen printing differs from the other printing processes in a number of ways. It is the only process that prints through the image carrier, rather than from it. The screen acts as an ink reservoir, or duct, for a working supply of ink, while other processes need independent inking systems preceding the printing stage. The main strengths of the process are: it can print very intense colours with very good covering power and opacity; it can print onto almost any substrate; it can print onto curved, uneven and fragile surfaces; it is possible to print very thick, opaque ink films; it can print unusual ink formulations and coatings. The main process limitations are: print production speeds are slow; it is difficult to reproduce fine detail and small type; halftone reproduction requires coarse screen rulings.

The screen
The screen has two principal functions: to provide a supportive structure for the stencil; to meter the ink film deposit. Screens are made by fixing a fine mesh material over a wooden or metal frame. The mesh is tensioned to precise specifications prior to fixing, using mechanical or pneumatic tensioning devices. This ensures evenness of tension and controlled dimensional stability.

Mesh materials
Modern screen meshes are monofilament materials made from single, smooth, wire-like threads. The threads are woven together to form a very regular and even gauze structure, which is important for optimum ink transfer and easy screen cleaning. Nylon and polyester are the two most commonly used mesh materials. Nylon is used for many applications where dimensional stability and close registration are not critical requirements. It is extremely durable and commonly used for high volume production of single colour work, particularly in container printing and other three-dimensional objects or uneven surfaces. Monofilament polyester mesh has the same structural qualities as nylon, but it is more dimensionally stable. For this reason it is more widely used, especially in applications where fine registration tolerance in multi-colour printing is required. The screen may also be made from stainless steel wire mesh. The relatively high cost (as much as five times that of polyester) limits its use to applications where the following requirements are essential: screen durability; resistance to abrasion from inks; heavy ink deposits; extreme dimensional stability; and reproduction of fine image detail.

Mesh grade and mesh count

Mesh materials are classified by mesh count and grade. The selection of an appropriate grade of mesh material with a suitable thread count is important as it determines the: ink film thickness that will be achieved, stencil detail that will be possible,

 and the support given to the stencil.