Advantage ... Digital

There are dissenters, however. The future may be digital, but among some skeptical flexo trade shops, the present still belongs to analog platemaking. During the transition, suppliers continue to develop and refine both their conventional and digital flexo plate lines.

Most flexo plates are made of photopolymer material, and there are currently a wide variety on the market (see sidebar on p. 19). After imaging, the majority of flexo plates are processed using chemical solvents, water, or heat. All processes work by removing the unexposed polymer after imaging to create the relief in the printing plate, and each method has distinct benefits and disadvantages. While photopolymer dissolves in chemical solvent, water processing works by separating the polymer from the nonpolymerized photopolymer and provides an environmental alternative to solvent-processed plates.