Home  >  Printing Machinery  >  Pre-Press Equipment

1. No film flexo plate making, 2. Direct black image on photopolymer plates - details see: https://www.machineto.com/flexo-ctp-ctp-inkjet-10072759

NozzleBlackdigital direct inkjet –Flexo CTP

Hilson Huang / CEO - Flexo Technology

In May 2012 during Drupa, a new machine of digital inkjet printing press was shown and have been commended as a great innovation after Mr. Johannes Gutenberg had invented a printing press. As a matter of fact it was derived from electronic image forming technology by liquid electro-ink method in 1993 during IPEX, by using magnetic field reaction to form an image on a roller then transfer to paper or substrate.

After 20 years, direct image to photopolymer plate by inkjet printer – CTP INKJET for photopolymer plate making without using any film is also becoming popular.

Actually, this is an extensive development of CTF (Computer To Film), due to new Nano-ink technology, CTP (Computer To Plate) INKJECT is now practical, ordinary, economic and substantial with more versatility of wider range for substrate selection. NozzleBlack can inkjet black image to any untreated film and uncoated paper as tracing paper which is a cheapest translucent paper material for negative making as a film in stead of photosensitive films. in May 14-17 2013, CTP INKJET for photopolymer plate making was announced in China Print by which a new era of Flexo CTP is opened.

Conventional photographic film manufacturers have announced to terminate their production, this has scared most of the users, film price increase day by day thus has forced consumers to pursue other methods in stead. Due to Nano-ink technology, nowadays to prepare a dye in 20 nano as raw material is no longer difficult, plus additives for the dye, it is easy to have a ink layer by inkjet at 40-50 nano and reaching the same density as offset ink layer which is 400-500 nano, however the consumption of ink is only 10% only, no matter it is an ink layer of color reflection or black opaque to block light transmission when forming the plate image by UV lamps. This is the reason why we can use the ink to spray image directly on the photopolymer plates as a negative film with 0-distance with plate, despite it’s a letterpress plate or flexographic plate in any thickness from any brand.www.ctpinkjet.com

Specialty of nano-ink

Nano-ink can absorb and reflect more light than a regular ink so that reproduction of a dot is showing sharper, slippery, even and more shining in order to reflect more colorful areas of YMCK inks and most important is 15% more color reflection than an offset printing ink layers. This is the specialty of nano-ink which is reducing ink absorbed by the substrate in order for shining up more colorful. Moreover, with thinner layer of nano-ink inkjet printers can spray it at higher speed, no mater it is a treated or untreated surface, film or paper with no coagulation or spreading at all or even on any photopolymer plate material which is available from the market.

CTP Inkjet spray

NozzleBlack CTP inkjet is using a spray head with 2 sets of YMCK each for color printing in total of 8 nozzles. For negative image spray we use only K ink in black color. Depends on the ink density, once the opaque is not good enough then we suggest to use 2 nozzles to spray K ink at a time, thus will assure the black optical density over 3.50 which is excellent enough during plate making in order to block out the UV light and keep image sharp despite of it is a rough image or fine image. Meantime, the other

6 nozzles can be spared for future use.