Corrugated Post-print: Conventional or Digital? Dan Rosen Accounts Manager BASF Printing Systems BASF

A Frequently Asked Question: With CTP growing rapidly in other flexo markets, are there any benefits to using CTP in Corrugated Post-print? Does it improve workflow? Does it make better plates? Does it yield better print capability?

Indeed, CTP Is Growing Rapidly Installation of Laser Systems - World wide 2 10 30 80 125 175 250 320 420

Do The Benefits Of CTP Apply To Corrugated?

Some Qualifying Comments This is a real world discussion: B flute, not E flute or micro flute boards Kraft and mottle white, not “high holdout” specialty liners Average presses with standard aniloxes Thicker plates (.155”), not ultra-thin with foam Line Screens in the range of 42, 65 and 85 LPI

Just One Commercial… BASF

Yes, We Have The Digital Plates! 62° ACE DII ° 58 FAH DII 42° ART DII 32° FAC DII 0° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° Shore A Hardness

End Of Commercial. BASF

CTP Handling Today's laser imagers are well suited for thicker photopolymers (.125” - .250”) RPMs are now lower, high throughput Plate loading & gripper bars are improved Vacuum assist is very effective Ergonomic designs allow for single operator loading of very large plates                                                                                  

Let’s Look At A Few Aspects: The standard points about film elimination Pre-flight workflow, Mounting Imaging / Printing – “where the rubber hits the road” Summary

Let’s Look At A Few Aspects: The standard points about film elimination Pre-flight workflow, Mounting Imaging / Printing – “where the rubber hits the road” Summary

Film Elimination With CTP No films to file or strip No dings, dust, or film quality issues Set-up of plate exposing is simple A big plus, since most platemaking for corrugated involves large films that are difficult to handle.

Image Layout Some strong advantages to using digital layout – compared to traditional film stripping Some aspects of digital layout can be done with film image setters today Other aspects, such as last minute image changes, plus pre-mounting techniques are better suited for CTP The Following Three Slides Are Courtesy of Esko Graphics

PlatePatcher Software For Post-mounted Jobs Post-mounting support for corrugated workflow Automatic reduction of full-format jobs with scattered images - into patches, saving polymer Automatic generation of cut marks – for higher/easier accuracy Parameter file sent to cutting & post-mounting video devices Decreases post-mounting time

PlatePatcher Software For Post-mounted Jobs Time savings opportunity: Allows for accurate post mounting using coordinates from the graphics file… less guessing Workflow description: Job File PlatePatcher  Datafile (plate cutting)  CAD CAM table  Datafile (positioning)  Post Mounting Device Video / Electronic Mounting Device

Productivity In Pre-Mounting Images Before Platemaking Unimaged polymer pieces pre-mounted on the carrier sheet using templates generated by the job file NO “image” mounting, ONLY blank pieces Laser imaging time managed by “Superskip” software Image placement on the mount is digital-perfect Normal plate processing on the carrier, die sealer added afterward Best on large mounts * Used at Rudolf, Schawrtz and Tiesen

The Print Test… BASF

Team Involved BASF Printing Systems: Plates, Data, & Reporting Fox Valley Technical: Printing Schawk Chicago: File Prep., Platemaking, Mounting, & Data

Materials & Conditions BASF’s nyloflex FAC Conventional & Digital Imaged on Esko 5080 Power Beam Mounted on 30 pt. Carrier with 2 mils tape and underpacked with 90 mils foam Printed on FVTC Workhorse Industries 3-color press with a Harper 400 line, 3.8 bcm anilox roll Menasha Corp. KLA white & Kraft b-flute substrate INX Brite II Process Black ink @ 9.7 ph and 24s with #4 DIN Speed was 50 sheets / minute Ran @ equal SIDs and Impression levels

Image Target Designed

Image Target Designed

Keeping Things Fair… BASF

Light Scattering Light (UV) Scattering area Scattering area Vacuum film Film base Silver emulsion Release layer Relief layer Black mask Relief layer Scattering area Scattering area Conventional plate Digital plate

Dot Reduction From O2 UV Light Black mask ablation Polymer

Dot Reduction From O2 Ø conventional Ø digital O2

Dot Reduction From O2

We Worked To Make All Dots Physically Equal On The Plates File Film Plate =

In Other Words, A 10% Dot Is The Size Of A 10% Dot Mask Plate File

Measured Dot Physical Surface Diameters On Plates

The Print Results… BASF

Solid Ink Density Comparison

Side By Side Comparisons

Side By Side Comparisons

Side By Side Comparisons Digital Conventional

Side By Side Comparisons Conventional Digital

Dot Gain: 42 LPI White

Dot Gain: 65 LPI White

Dot Gain: 85 LPI White

Dot Gain: 42 LPI Kraft

Dot Gain: 65 LPI Kraft

Dot Gain: 85 LPI Kraft

Side By Side Comparisons Digital Conventional

This was one test. Many more should be done! Summary of Advantages Filmless Output, Layout And Imaging Possibilities For Imposition Digital Mounting Ability To Hold Finer Highlights Shadows Fine Type & Reverses Less Dot Gain on 85, 65, even 42 LPI White Marginal Print Improvement on Kraft This was one test. Many more should be done!

Dan Rosen Accounts Manager BASF Printing Systems rosend@basf.com Thank You! Dan Rosen Accounts Manager BASF Printing Systems rosend@basf.com BASF