- in-line presses,
- stack type presses and
- central impression presses.
Artcraft's in-line presses consist of the following components in order of start to finish: feed section, print section, cold foil insertion, laminating or coating, die cutting or sheeter and unwind when the sheeter is not used.
The sheeter is seldom used due to the fact that the main advantage of roll labels is the ability to use them on high speed automatic filling and labeling lines.
Both flexo and letterpress printing use a raised type
of printing plate, similar to a common rubber stamp. In fact, many of
the so called rubber stamps are now made using photopolymer plate
material.
All photopolymer plates are traditionally made by contacting a special negative in a
vacuum frame and exposing ultra violet light through the negative. The
ultra violet light cures or hardens the areas left open in the negative
and the remainder of the non image area will be washed away. After
exposure the non image area is washed out in a machine with a large flat
brush using either water or a solvent depending on which system is being
used.
Thinking Green!
Artcraft now uses a
computer-to-plate, digital laser method of burning the image to the
polymer plate. As we go further to make the company more "green" no film
or harmful chemicals are being used. This benefits the environments
state and the Artcraft's employees good health. The results in
printing are a better dot, screen and longevity in the plate, creating
excellent work for the client.
