Flexo Printing Problems & Solutions

Most printers using flexo printing technology fail to maximize their machines’ capabilities. To maximize the efficiency of their printer, one must use the right technology and the right consumables and optimize their print process. Flexographic printing has many potential problems, so optimizing the process means keeping an eye on them. Flexography may appear simple at first glance, but every flexographer has to cope with many difficulties, resulting in unnecessary loss of production time and waste. Lets look as some common flexo printing problems and it solutions

Common problems in flexo printing

There are typically 22 common defects in flexo printing. You can see them on the checklist as follows:

1.     Blocking

2.     Bridging

3.     Color strength too high

4.     Color strength too low

5.     Deformed screen dot

6.     Dot gain too high

7.     Ghosting effect

8.     Halo effect/squeezed edge on the screen dot

9.     Inaccurate printing of the screen dots

10.   Ink build-up on motif edges

11.   Ink mottling

12.   Large-area printing defects

13.   Longitudinal stripes

14.   Mechanical damage to the printed image

15.   Minor printing defects

16.   Moiré effect

17.   Pinholes

18.   Register

19.   Repeat length

20.   Tape resistance

21.   Transverse stripes

22.   Bleeding – smudging

Solutions:

Due to various reasons and factors, errors during printing can occur during working time, so it is important to minimize these errors to remain productive. Work methods, the work environment, and print conditions are the most important factors to avoid these issues.

Good results take time, and operators need the training to improve their skills. Your operator must be well-trained to control and manage the above-stated issues efficiently to ensure your future success and competitiveness!

These were some of the common flexo printing problems. Some of these problems can be daunting for printers. To help you with it, we are soon adding a series of blogs for each problem with its solution in detail.

You can read the first article in the series here: Problem of blocking in flexo printing