Difference between rotogravure printing machine and flexo printing machine

Lucy Wang

3月 10, 2022

Different principles - rotogravure printing machine and flexo printing machine

Rotogravure printing Machine: gravure printing is a direct printing method, it will gravure pit containing ink directly imprint onto the substrate, the shade level of the printed picture is determined by the size and depth of the pit, if the pit is deeper, it contains more ink, imprint imprint substrate left on the ink layer is thicker; On the contrary, if the pit is shallow, the amount of ink is less, imprint substrate left on the ink layer is thinner.

Flexography Printing Machine: The principle of flexo printing is relatively simple. In flexo printing, the ink feeding device of the press distributes the ink evenly, and then transfers the ink to the printing plate through the ink roller. Since the pattern design part of the printing plate is much higher than the non-graphic part of the printing plate, the ink on the ink roller can only transfer to the graphic part of the printing plate, and the non-graphic part has no ink.

Different characteristics and advantages -rotogravure printing machine and flexo printing machine

Flexographic printing: ink expressive force of about 90%, rich tone. Strong color reproduction. Strong layout tolerance. The printing is huge. Wide range of paper applications, other than paper materials can also be printed. Both water-based ink and solvent – based ink are suitable for flexographic printing presses. Products printed with water-based ink can reach food grade.

Gravure printing: anti-counterfeiting mark can be printed. Gravure printing carries ink in pits made according to the text of the original manuscript. The thickness of lines and the shade of ink can be controlled at will during engraving, which is not easy to be imitated or forged, especially the depth of ink pits.

Therefore, banknotes, stamps, stocks and other securities are generally printed with gravure, which has a better anti-counterfeiting effect. At present, some enterprises have consciously adopted gravure printing for trademarks and even packaging decoration, indicating that gravure printing is a more vigorous anti-counterfeiting printing method.

General flexible packaging materials can be used as gravure printing and flexographic printing substrate. Such as plastic, paper, aluminum foil and so on. In comparison, intaglio is more suitable for printing film, aluminum foil, flexographic printing is more suitable for non-woven fabric, paper and other printing.

Gravure printing has a large amount of ink, high printing quality, convex graphics, rich layers, clear lines and high quality. Books, magazines, magazines, packaging and decoration are mostly printed in gravure.

However, for mass printing, gravure printing has a long plate-making cycle, wasteful efficiency and high cost. But the plate is durable, so it is suitable for printing in large quantities. The larger the batch, the higher the benefit, for smaller batch printing, the lower the benefit. So intaglio method is not suitable for small batch of trademark printing.

Different application scope -rotogravure printing machine and flexo printing machine

Rotogravure printing: gravure printing is mainly used in magazines, product catalogs and other fine publications, packaging printing and banknotes, stamps and other securities printing, but also used in decorative materials and other special fields; In China, gravure printing is mainly used for flexible packaging printing, with the development of domestic gravure printing technology, has been widely used in paper packaging, wood grain decoration, leather materials, drug packaging.

Flexo printing: engraving gravure printing, because of its fine lines and difficulty in counterfeiting, is used in the printing of securities such as banknotes, stocks, gift certificates, stamps and commercial credit certificates or stationery, etc. Due to its plate printing and other costs are higher, so the general print, very few adopters.

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