Let&#;s start with the Cylinder Base. This is an easy target for detractors of gravure to attack since it has not changed much since its inception. Cylinder bases are the machine parts made to fit the Press and support the engraving layer of copper at the appropriate circumference.
Bases can be made from various materials and are manufactured to specific circumference sizes.
Ordering new bases for a print job adds considerable cost. However, in fairness, these costs can be amortized across multiple press runs and subsequent jobs at the same, or similar repeats. The more a specific cylinder base is used, the less it actually costs over time. In other words, cylinder bases are an investment, so it&#;s important to know the different material types available as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Steel Bases, for example are extremely durable and stable. A disadvantage is that they can only be used for a very limited range of circumferences and they are relatively heavy.
Steel bases are typically constructed by attaching (via shrink fit, or welding) shafts and heads to a steel tube. The constructed piece is then machined to the appropriate circumference and the correct shaft configuration for the intended press.
Shaftless cylinder bases are made in the same way, with the obvious exception of shafts. It is vital that the bases are constructed to precise tolerances for run-out, size, finish, and balance.
Gravure printing is a type of intaglio printing, suitable for printing which requires very fine & detailed shades at high accuracy and quality.Excellent at high-speed printing, it is commonly applied for printing package which requires large volume per production.The word "gravure magazine" nowadays was actually coined in the past when these magazines used to be printed by gravure printing method.
Ink enters the cavities called "Cell" on the printing cylinder surface.
Doctor blade then scrapes off the excess ink, leaving only the ink within the cells.
The paper or film material where printing requires is clamped between the printing cylinder and pressured roll, and is pressed so as the ink can be transferred from the c 3 ells onto the film (or paper).
For more information, please visit PIONEER.
The film (or paper) then goes direclty under drying lamp, where the ink dries.
Then it moves to the next color unit.
These processes are repeated for the number of times equal to the number of printing colors.
Including gravure printing, color printing are commonly produce d by 4 color layers Cyan (Blue), Magenta (Red), Yellow, and Black.Theoretically, it can be done by "Three primary colors" Cyan (blue), Magenta (red), Yellow; however, due to the fact combining these 3colors only manages to produce something "Black-like", not complete "Black",black ink then is added making it 4-colors-print method.Taking the initial letter from these 4 colors forms the term "CMYK". The method of combining and mixing "CMYK " to reproduce various colors in print is called "Process printing".E.g. In process printing, most chromatic colors are reproduced by method in which the darkest color area is formed by applying 100% of 4solid color, while light color tone is recreated by tiny dots.
Nevertheless, practically, there are colors that are hard to reproduce by "CMYK" or "P rocess printing".The spot color method has its limits in reproducing colors that are sharper than what 100% of 4 solid colors combination can achieve, and also for very light pastel shades.Furthermore, in "Process printing", colors might become dull due to multiple overlapping of the same degree of dark color spots, making it hard to achieve clear and bright colors. Especially, vivid colors like orange, green, purple or pastel pink, lavender are those considered difficult to reproduce.Metallic colors like gold, silver, etc. and flourescent colors also belong to this category .To produce these colors, "Special color ink", which is blended first by several color ink s to achieve the intended shade, is used.
In gravure process printing, the role of cylinder is inevitable.In making cylinder, the steel core is first cooper-plated. Then the printing pattern is engraved on the surface, which is later covered in thinly chrome-plated finish to enhance durability. These excellently durable cylinders endure the rapid, mass production of gravure printing.Regarding the engraving of cylinders, there are "engraving cylinder" in which the copper-plated surface are etched directly by engraving needle using machine to form c ells; and "Chemical corrosion cylinder" in which the cooper-plated surface is pre-treated with resist, and the cells are formed through chemical corrosion by a special chemic al solution.It is never an overstatement to say the "making of cylinder" mainly decides the result of gravure printing.
To meet the demand for industrial printing application, in , Manno factory has
installed clean multiple-color printing machine.
It enables production for high-end application products which r equire for high
accuracy and high immaculacy.
We are known for our specialization in printing & coating thin, soft and stretching film.We have developed our own techniques in handling traditionally problematic substrate such as thin polyester film, super ultra-thin polyeste r film, etc. We are capable of printing full-color for 2μm thick polyester film.
In blending ink, we scan the desired color sample first, and use computer to calculate the best composition from the colors that have been p re-registered in our data.With the calculated composition, we produce sample ink in small quality first; and check the finished color by test-print.In this way, we manage to avoid the inconsistency in ink blending caused by operator's technique level and intuition. This shortens the time to reproduce the desired ink and reduces greatly ink wastage when the blending fails.Since the excess ink will event ually become industrial disposal waste; this process also helps to reduce th e waste to environment.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Gravure Cylinder Making Machine.