Anilox roll manufacturer, Zecher GmbH, successfully completed a project to demonstrate how consistent, high quality results can be achieved with a variety of packaging applications that are produced on flexo using CMYK process colours and advanced technologies.
The project, executed in cooperation with a range of partners, including Miraclon that provided the plates, aimed to prove that uniform colour and image reproduction on a range of different substrates can be achieved using flexo, to ensure that the packaging communicate a brand’s identity and message consistently and provide consumers with an incomparable, positive shopping experience.
To maximise the practical relevance, complex images typically found on packaging for foods, coffee, tobacco, cosmetics and animal food were chosen. Subtle gradients in the highlights and fine details in the high tonal ranges were features shared by all the designs. A subject rich in contrast and showing a woman’s face completely covered in gold make-up proved to be a particular challenge for CMYK flexo printing. It was this subject that also inspired the motto for the project – ‘Together for Golden Results’.
Three applications were produced: flexible packaging (printed on BOPP film), corrugated preprint on 135 g/cm2 paper fully coated on one side, and a paper carrier bag made from 100 g/cm2 white-coated kraft paper. The corrugated preprint application was produced at Christiansen Print in Ilsenburg, Germany, using Flexcel NX plates from Schawk Goslar.
All three applications were produced using Flexcel NX plates, made with Kodak Maxtone SX Screening – which is optimised for the Flexcel NX System – and a 60l/cm (152 lpi) screen. “We selected Flexcel NX Plate technology based on its strong presence in the flexo market and the controlled ink transfer it delivers,” explains Jörg Rohde, Head of Application Technology at Zecher. “We succeeded in demonstrating the high colour consistency and comparable results that are achievable across a range of products and substrates with flexo printing today,” says Rohde.
“We are delighted to be part of a project that pushes the boundaries of flexo printing,” adds Nilgun Turan, Marketing Manager, Europe at Miraclon. “With the stability, optimised ink transfer and the wide tonal range it delivers, Flexcel NX plates enable the large colour gamut that is a condition of applications like gold in CMYK – every time. The results of this project are clear evidence that innovation will continue driving flexo’s growing success in the market.”
