Microscopic studies of the influence of technological conditions on technical parameters of photopolymer flexographic plates

Microsc Res Tech. 2006 Aug;69(8):675-83. doi: 10.1002/jemt.20341.

Abstract

The quality of printing plates is one of the important factors influencing the accuracy of flexographic printed copies. The essential technological parameters determining the quality of flexographic plates comprise the dot gain, resolution, and profile of the printing elements. In this work, these parameters were studied using stereoscopic microscopy. These studies enabled us to determine the effect of technological parameters of photochemical preparation of flexographic plates on their resolution, tone transfer characteristics, and the profile of printing elements. It has been found that the quality of flexographic plates depends on the time of the preliminary and the main exposure of the photopolymer plates, the time of solvent washout, and the washout brushes height.

MeSH terms

  • Microscopy / methods*
  • Photomicrography / instrumentation*
  • Photomicrography / methods
  • Printing / instrumentation
  • Printing / methods
  • Reproducibility of Results