Omet and Asahi cooperate for standardized flexo printing

Omet, manufacturer of narrow web press technology, and Asahi Photoproducts, photopolymer plate supplier, have forged a mutual cooperation agreement to create a synergy that will standardize flexo printing techniques.

The cooperation began at Omet’s headquarters in Lecco, Italy, where technical personnel from both companies met to discuss the project. The aim is to create a strong partnership in which Asahi Photoproducts supplies its pre-press expertise and printing plate manufacturing, while Omet supplies its know-how in high quality printing. The resulting standard procedure will define all parameters that influence printing, including machine, plate, inks, and anilox.

To achieve this, Asahi Photoproducts’ Graphic Arts Center in Brussels, Belgium, has designed a specific printing test that features colorful images and technical elements.  Images have been specifically retouched and separated for flexo printing. Technical elements have been selected to measure the impression results not by traditional densitometry, but by spectrophotometer and color management. 

Using this method, the latest generation of digital printing plates AFP DSH 1.14 have been produced in a controlled environment at the Brussels Graphic Arts Centre. The plates are then shipped to Omet’s Lecco factory for use on a Varyflex line, using Sun Chemical inks and a Burgo paper substrate. For both standard and monitored printing conditions, additional trials have been set up to assess the possible deviations when modifying the settings. The results achieved were ‘outstanding’, said the company.

A complete analysis of the printed samples has since been made at Asahi’s Graphic Arts Centre in Brussels, where standard measures for establishing print characteristics like dot gain curves, ink density, and tonal contrasts were evaluated, in addition to which, a color profile of the press has been generated. According to a statement, ‘the readings confirmed exceptional quality, with very low dot gain, extremely fine highlights with first print dots at 4 per cent, open screen reverse up to 96 per cent, wide tonal range, high contrast and a very broad color gamut’.