’Round, ’Round, Get Around …

Direct laser engraving

DLE denotes the engraving of the printing form material itself. For relief printing processes like flexo, dry offset, and letterpress, DLE is used to engrave plates that are mounted on the drum or on the sleeve, which is then used on the press. In this workflow, the sleeve is coated with an elastomeric material—typically rubber, polymer, or hybrid composite—and a high-powered laser is used to burn away the non-image area of the sleeve, leaving the image carrier surface intact. Says Profitt, “DLE is a simpler workflow requiring fewer steps, less machinery and machinery maintenance, incurring lower consumable costs, and yielding fewer variations. It is regarded as the purest form of computer-to-plate available.”