A Call For Action

The "ideal" of flexo is for the raised image on the plate to just "kiss" the raised ink film on the anilox roll and then deposit that ink on the substrate with another "kiss." However, Sharkey said, flexo press operators often must use a plus impression to overcompensate for the ± tolerances in the plate material, the compressible mounting tapes, the cylinder as well as the anilox roll. This results in too much ink being applied which eventually will build up on the plate. The final result is a printed image that grows—producing dot gain and dirty print. This is why a flexo dot often looks like a donut.