DOT GAIN

Dot gain is a part of flexo printing, due to nature of the pressure sensitive process. Minimising
and making Dot gains predictable are an essential task for any flexo printer.

Cause
Too great ink volume from the anilox.
Printing plate is too thick or swollen.
Mounting tape with wrong thickness or trapped air.
Printing pressure too high.
Inadequate ink setting.
Part of the press is damaged or worn-out.
Dirt on the impression or the printing plate cylinder.
Ink viscosity too low.

Solution
Use an anilox roller with a lower volume.
Use thinner plates. Replace the plate if there is residual solvent on the plate or it is swollen.
Change the mounting tape. Make sure that no air is trapped when mounting the plate. Remount plate.
Reduce the printing pressure (kiss print).
Use a metering system.
Check and replace damaged or worn parts (i.e. gears, mandrels, cylinders).
Clean the impression and printing plate cylinders.
Check, and maintain proper viscosity.
 SKIP OUT
Insufficient or missing ink transfer to the substrate of a part of the image, is
generally caused by inconsistent contact pressure between the anilox roll, printing
form and/or substrate, resulting in a poor ink transfer on to the finished product.

Cause
1 Low areas on printing forme.
2 Poor forme quality or make-ready.
3 Too low impression pressure.
4 Defective lock-up of the printing unit.
5 Printing forme cylinder bouncing.
6 Printing unit out of parallel.
7 Surface of the printing forme is not inked up. Treatment of the forme surface is
not correct.

Solution
1 Check if variation in the forme thickness.
2 Control the pressure setting on the press. Check the correct forme preparation.
3 Adjust the pressure towards the printing forme and towards the anilox roller.
4 Check the nuts of the lock-up mechanism of the printing group.
5 Check concentricity of forme cylinders (and gears). Check if shafts, bolts, bearings, gears are free of dirt
and do not show sign of wear.
6 Check the printing unit for the lateral parallelism.
7 Thoroughly wash the printing formes with the correct solvent. Replace the printing formes.
 MISREGISTER
Mis-registration is one of the most common defects in flexo printing, caused by the
separate colours of the print image, not being correctly positioned, resulting in a
blurred image or variations in colour in tonal images
Cause
1 The printing plates are not mounted in register.
2 The web tension is not correct.
3 Wrong drive-roller setting.
4 Too high web temperature.
5 The compensation roller for the print register of the machine is not centred.
6 The idle rollers are dragging or rotate intermittently.
7 The press is out of alignment.
8 Incorrect damaged drive gear.

Solution
1 Remount the printing formes in register. Check forme mounting and forme mounting equipment. Check
forme thickness. Check the relief height of the forme and if there is any distortion. Check mounting tape
thickness.
2 Adjust web tension control in the relation to substrate used.
3 Check parallel of the web guide rollers to be sure that the pressure setting is uniform across the web
width.
4 Reduce temperature in the dryers.
5 Centre the compensating roller of the side register and longitudinal register and then manually adjust
print register.
6 Replace or lubricate the idle roller bearings.
7 Realign the press.
8 Replace drive gear.
 MOTTLED PRINT
Mottled print is a common problem , when trying to print good quality consistent
solids in flexo. The surface of the print appears like orange peel, with inconsistent
colour and non-uniform appearance

Cause
Printing form with uneven or un-clean surface
Ink viscosity or concentration, too low
Residual chemicals from the plate-making process, still on surface
Dirty or scratched impression cylinder
In-correct ink transfer on the printing form or substrate
Ink not wetting on printing form or substrate

Solution
1 Increase the printing pressure between the printing form and substrate
2 Increase the ink viscosity or ink film thickness.
3 Modify ink to correct viscosity or opacity. Check the balance of solvent in the ink. If necessary change
the ink
4 Wash the printing form to remove residual chemicals. If necesary remake the printing form
5 Properly clean the impression cylinder
6 Use softer or more compatible plate or cushion tape
7 Check surface treatment of the substrate
 PIN HOLING
The ink does not form complete coverage on the surface of print. Random small
holes occur in the print. Generally this is a problem caused by poor ink transfer on
to the print and has several possible causes and solutions

Cause
1 The ink dries on the anilox roller and fails to transfer onto printing forme.
2 The printing form is not transferring ink correctly
3 The ink cannot build a uniform ink film on the substrate.
4 The anilox roller has lost volume due to dirty cells or is worn out.
5 Dirt on the impression cylinder.
 6 Substrate has strong surface variations and rejects the ink.

Solution
1 Use a solvent with a slower evaporation and adjust the power of the dryers. Increase the printing
speed.
2 Adjust the ink viscosity. Increase the ink film thickness. Increase printing forme to substrate impression.
The surface of the substrate may be irregular, pitted or polluted. Check the metering system.
3 Check the condition of the anilox roller and replace if necessary.
4 Clean the impression cylinder.
5 Use softer printing forme or a softer mounting tape. Check the validity of the surface treatment of the
substrate.
 FILLING IN
This is an accumulation of ink on the plate surface and shoulders of the printing
images especially with small type and halftone screened areas.

Cause
Too much ink transferred.
Debris or particles of pigments.
Incorrect design of letters, graphics, screen.
Ink with an incorrect solvent balance.
Incorrect setting of the rollers.
Wrongly prepared printing plate.
Ink transfer from the previous printing unit.
Excessive ink transfer.
pH or viscosity value out of control.

Solution
Use an anilox roller with a lower volume.
Use dispersed ink with small particles, check that the pump, hoses and ducts are clean.
Check that the design is suitable for printing by flexo.
Use the recommended mixtures of solvents.
Increase the pressure of the inking roller or the doctor blade or the closure of the doctor blade chamber.
Check the plate relief and the printing surface – check that the edges of the printing images are not round. If the printing plate is too soft use a
plate with a higher shore hardness.
Check the drying speed of the solvents in the different colours and ensure that they are balanced between the Different printing decks.
Maintain the correct viscosity value – check that the anilox roller has the correct cell count l/cm (lpi) and volume.
Maintain the viscosity and pH level at a constant level – check that the ink containers are always covered with their lids.
 DIRTY PRINT
Dirty and speckled print is a regular problem for flexo printers. Maintaining clean
and consistent print can lead to considerable saving in downtime and reduction in
waste

Cause:
1) Anilox roll with too high volume
2) Wrong ink viscosity
3) Excess dot gain
4) Excess pigment in the ink
5) Ink film too thick
6) Contaminated ink
7) Inadequate pressure setting between printing form and anilox roll
8) Wrong hardness or type of plate/tape package

Solution:

1) Better aniox screen count and cell volume selection

2) Check ink viscosity and keep inks consistent during the print run
3) Adjust printing pressure to kiss (minimum) impression
4) Try using softer cushion mounting tape
5) Adjust ink strength with balanced extender
6) Reduce ink viscosity
7) Adjust printing speed
8) Check doctor blade pressure is correct
9) Wash printing forms and anilox rolls
 BRIDGING
Separate dots in the screen area, connect to each other in an irregular way.

Cause
1 The volume of the anilox roller is too high.
2 The screen of the printing forme is too fine
3 The ink viscosity is too high and not suitable for printing screen jobs.
4 Dirt in the printing forme from paper dust.
5 Excessive pressure.

Solution

1 Use an anilox roller with a lower volume.

2 Check and normalise the relationship of the screen (L/cm or L/in) between printing form and anilox roller.
3 Adjust the ink viscosity or change the type of ink.
4 Wash the printing forme and check the paper quality.
5 Adjust the printing pressure.
 GEAR MARKS
Gear marks or Print Streaking is normally visible as a series of parallel mis-printed
lines across the web, the spacing distance of the line is similar and at a regular
appearance

Causes:

1) Concentricity (Total Indicated Runout, T.I.R) of rotating parts (printing form,

anilox) are out of tolerance
2) Position of the image on the printing form is creating an out of balance effect
3) Too high pressure between the anilox roll and the printing form
4) The printing form, plate/tape package is not correct
5) Too high ink pressure in the doctor blade chamber
6) Printing press is creating vibrations due to mechanical or electrical problem

Solutions:
1) Check and if necessary adjust the concentricity of the printing form and the anilox roll, to the correct specification
2) Modify the layout of the design and/or plates
3) Adjust printing pressures to normal levels, check ink transfer on printing form and anilox
4) Adjust printing form package to suit the press and the speeds
5) Control the ink flow to/from the ink chamber and ensure anilox cell volume is correct
6) Check printing press for defects
7) Modify printing speed to see if it is possible to reduce vibration or harmonic effects at certain speeds
 HALO
An unwanted halo around the edges of the print, which is generally caused by in-
correct printing pressures between the printing form and the substrate

Cause
1 Printing pressure is not uniform.
2 The printing pressure is too high and not regular and constant.
3 The printing forme or the mounting tape is too hard
4 Too much ink.

Solution
1 The forme carrier (sleeve/cylinder) concentricity is out of tolerances, control and correct.
2 Check the uniformity across the web and adjust the pressure.
3 Use softer printing formes. Check the hardness of the mounting tape.
4 Use an anilox roller with a lower cell volume.