Industry News

As an advanced printing machine, flexo printing machine is sought after by water bottle labels, trademark labels, advertising stickers, rotein whey jar packaging labels and other label manufacturers due to its multi-process integrated operation. It can integrate multiple processes directly into the printing process, realizing the multi-functionality in one, effectively reducing manual intervention, greatly improving production efficiency and label value. This article will introduce flexographic printer in label printing common pre-press process, printing process, post-press process, to help manufacturers better understand flexography machine.

Stack Type Flexo Printing Machine for Mineral Water Bottle Labels

Pre-Press Process

Common prepress processes for flexographic printing machines include web guiding, dust removal, and corona treatment.

Web Guiding

The auto web guide system of flexographic press automatically detects and corrects substrate deviation during transport, ensuring smooth and accurate material placement. This process effectively avoids printing defects caused by material deviation and improves the overall quality of label products such as QR code labels, cans sticker labels, waybill barcode stickers and thank you sticker labels.

Label Printing Machine for Plastic Bottle Stickers

Dust Removal

Dust or impurities on the surface of label printing substrates can affect printing quality of products such as thermal printer label, beer bottle labels and juice bottle stickers, and even result in product rejection. A flexo printer's dust removal device cleans the substrate surface before printing, removing dust and impurities and creating optimal conditions for subsequent printing steps. This process significantly improves the clarity and aesthetics of printed images.

Corona Treatment

Corona treatment increases the surface tension of the substrate and enhances ink adhesion. This is crucial for ensuring that designs on products like luxury logo labels remain firmly fixed and prevent fading. Corona treatment is particularly important when printing on materials that are difficult for ink to adhere to.

Stacked Flexo Printing Machinery for Art Paper Sticker

Printing Process

Multi-layer label printing, hot stamping, etc. are several common printing processes of flexo printing machinery.

Delaminating and Relaminating

Delam-relam unit is a major highlight of flexo presses. In the production of multi-layer labels (such as self-adhesive labels), the surface material is first delaminated from the base paper or lining material, printed, coded, and anti-counterfeiting marked on the adhesive side, and then relaminated. It enables layered label presentation, making it particularly suitable for labels that require multiple layers of information, such as vitamin bottle stickers, shipping sticker thermal labels and medical bottle labels. Multi-layer label printing effectively saves space while providing clearer and more organized information.

Foil Stamping

Foil stamping can be used to emboss a metallic sheen on the surface of labels, with common colours being gold and silver. This gives the label design a more metallic feel and is often used for high-end decoration on perfume bottle stickers, cosmetics bottle labels, hot stamping clear gold foil stickers, etc. , enhancing the product's quality and visual appeal and helping to improve the product's brand image.

Vertical Flexographic Press for Drinking Water Bottle Label

Post-Printing Process

Common post-printing processes for flexographic machines include die cutting and waste removal, lamination, etc.

Die Cutting and Waste Removal

Flexographic printing press can precisely cut printed protein whey jar packaging labels, direct thermal labels, waybill barcode stickers, waterproof self adhesive label sticker and other labels. At the same time, it can directly remove waste during the die-cutting process, eliminating excess material and improving production efficiency. This process not only saves time and labour costs but also reduces waste generated during production, in line with environmental protection concepts.

Lamination

Lamination is an important part of the post-printing process for flexo printing machines. It not only protects labels such as barcode shipping address adhesive label sticker, plastic bottle label sticker, gold foil shampoo stickers and drinking water bottle labels from external influences such as water and dirt, but also increases the gloss of labels such as wine packaging labels, making the colours of the graphics and text more vivid.

Stacked-Unit Flexo Printer for Matt Finish Sticker

With its multi-process integration, the flexo printing press has tremendous potential in label production lines for transparent logo stickers, brown paper stickers, and more. From pre-press to printing and post-press processing, the flexography printing machine can meet the diverse needs of customers and achieve high-quality, efficient label production. Flexography presses can easily handle both common basic processes and high-end decorative techniques. With continuous technological advancements, flexographic printing equipment will play a greater role in label printing, bringing more innovation and breakthroughs to the printing industry. We hope this article will help label manufacturers better understand flexography presses and help enhance the value of their label products.