Waterless offset printing and its application in foreign label printing
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In recent years, with the continuous improvement of ink technology, equipment digitization and printing plate formulation, waterless offset printing has developed rapidly, and even has a fundamental change. However, in China, especially packaging and printing enterprises, there is little understanding of waterless offset printing, and it has been rare to carry out waterless offset printing. The following is a brief introduction from the latest developments in the use of waterless offset printing technology, waterless offset printing technology, and the application of waterless offset printing in the foreign label printing industry. Let's take a look!
Advantages of waterless offset printing
The so-called "waterless" offset printing is relative to conventional "wet" offset printing. Traditional offset printing uses the principle that oil (ink) and water (dampening solution) are incompatible by oil and water to replicate the text on the printing press. However, it is difficult and complicated to handle the relative balance of the two liquids on a printing press, and it is difficult to ensure the quality stability of the continuously printed product. Moreover, during the printing process, the fountain solution repels the ink in a relative manner, and as a result, the partially contaminated liquid remains in the device, causing pollution to the environment. The waterless offset printing relies on the silicone oil coating to repel the ink, does not require fountain solution, does not use water, alcohol or alcohol liquid, is a green printing technology, and has high printing quality.
The advantages of waterless offset printing are mainly reflected in the following aspects.
01 is conducive to environmental protection
●Waterless offset printing does not use solvents such as alcohol. There is no water bucket device on the equipment, so there is no need for wastewater treatment and no pollution to the water source.
● The application of solvents and chemicals is reduced or eliminated during the plate-making process of waterless offset printing plates, and VOCs emissions are small;
● Compared to water offset printing, the noise of waterless offset printing presses is relatively low.
02 printing quality is good
●The waterless offset printing has high resolution and is suitable for random frequency modulation network printing of small dots;
●Because there is no effect of dampening solution, the dot enlargement is reduced, the color density is increased, and the overprinting is easier;
● Waterless offset printing also increases the color gamut space, making the color richer and more eye-catching;
● Consistent ink density can be unaffected by the printing speed, and the color density of the printed product is basically unchanged.
03 improves production efficiency
● Waterless offset printing does not require dampening solution and dampening water bucket, water roller system, reducing printing costs;
●It is not necessary to adjust the ink balance, it can also save preparation time and improve production efficiency;
● Overprinting and chromatic aberration are easy to control, reducing waste in the production process;
●The quality is continuous and stable, and the design requirements can be met in a short time after starting up, reducing paper consumption;
● The device structure is simple and easy to operate, the operator does not need training, and the operation is quick and convenient.
Application of waterless offset printing in foreign label industry
In recent years, the use of waterless offset printing in Japan and western developed countries has increased, especially in the field of label printing. According to the European Waterless Offset Association's journal Waterless Current, the proportion of offset printing in Europe's self-adhesive label printing is about 10% to 15%, while waterless offset printing accounts for 30% of the total offset printing. That is to say, if the total amount of self-adhesive materials in Europe is 5 billion square meters in 2016 (data from AWA), waterless offset printing consumes 150 to 225 million square meters, which is the total amount of self-adhesive materials. 3% to 4.5%, and this ratio is still increasing at a rate of 10% to 20% per year.
01 Waterless offset printing equipment use
According to information released by the European Waterless Offset Association, there are about 300 waterless offset printing equipment for label printing, which are basically narrow web printing equipment and reciprocating paper feeding (intermittent) equipment, and also in France's Codima Mainly, there are some Japanese equipment, such as Iwasaki, Sanjo and so on. All of these equipments are equipped with post-press processing equipment and inspection equipment, and the label printing process is completed once.
02 Process technology
Most label manufacturers use two processes, the traditional spot color printing process and the seven-color printing process. Which process is usually used depends on the customer's requirements, but a seven-color printing process is recommended.
The seven-color printing process was born based on the stable color reproduction capability of waterless offset printing. Using a seven-color printing process, the solid part is also overprinted by dots, no longer using spot color printing, which not only reduces printing preparation time, but also saves ink and improves efficiency. The seven-color printing process has been applied in some label printing plants in Europe, and its prepress design uses ESKO's Equinox software to achieve dot synthesis in the field.
Since the color of the waterless offset printing is stable, the standard graphic information of the waterless offset printing machine is transmitted to the digital proofing machine, so that the digital proofing machine can be matched with the waterless offset printing machine to realize off-line digital proofing, as long as the digital proofing machine prints the sample. The waterless offset printing machine will surely achieve the same printing effect. In this way, the digitalization of printing is realized, which greatly facilitates the printing process. The customer can pre-sign or remotely sign the sample, which is beneficial to shorten the printing period and improve the overall efficiency.
03 Business Management
European label printing companies generally adopt intelligent production management and operation management. The ERP system connects internal and external closely to form an open network. The so-called internal refers to the ERP system to integrate production information, machine quality information, warehouse raw materials and finished product information into a platform, and each functional department can timely understand the required information. The external connection refers to the connection between the ERP system and the supplier and the customer. The material supplier can provide the material and logistics information in time according to the inventory of the printing factory, and the customer can place the order directly to the printing factory through the pricing system. Label printers can ship within 24 hours of receiving new orders, as all processes are done online. Since the waterless offset printing color is stable, there is basically no color difference, and all the colors are standardized, which can be found on the PANTONE color card, so the customer can check the online color against the PANTONE color card. Customers can also equip digital printers like printers to receive and modify samples, all of which dramatically shorten the production cycle.
Waterless offset printing technology belongs to the "current time" technology, a new technology that is continuously developed and improved, and many new things are being developed in experiments. I hope that the development of waterless offset printing technology in the future will make greater contributions to the development of label printing for improving printing quality and environmental protection.