Page 8 - "How to print on flexo?" By Petra Bteich

The printing press configuration in flexography is
dependent on the material to be printed. Available

configurations are central impression cylinder system,
in-line design and stack-type design. Central impression
(CI) presses were originally developed for flexible
packaging materials. Inline printing systems may
comprise a separate unit for e.g. folding boxes.

Stack-type presses are used only for simple printing jobs
such as bags . The central impression press see Figure 3,
is the dominating design used today .

Each printing unit in a central impression cylinder press
consists of the central impression cylinder, an anilox roll
and a printing plate cylinder A CI press usually has six to
eight units. Four units are dedicated to the CMYK
process colours and the remaining are used for

specific Pantone colours or lacquer. The ink metering
system involves the anilox roll and an ink feeding
arrangement. The ink feeding entity can be

controlled by a chambered doctor blade system to
which the ink is pumped from the ink tray.