Printing on plastic films is a process that uses various technologies to produce high-quality images on plastic surfaces. From digital printing to screen printing, flexography, UV lithography, and pad printing, there are a variety of methods for printing on plastic films. In this article, we will discuss the different types of printing that can be done on plastic films and the advantages of each. Digital printing is a process that uses inkjet technology to print high-quality images on plastic surfaces. This type of printing is fast and cost-effective, making it ideal for shorter production runs.
Digital printing can produce images with high resolution, making it perfect for printing on thinner and more flexible substrates such as plastic bags, vinyl roll labels, food packaging, etc. Screen printing is another popular method for printing on plastic films. This process uses locking templates on a fine silk mesh through which ink is scraped off to transfer the design of the template to a substrate. The ink is then dried under high-power UV light for long-lasting printing with bold, strong colors.
Although image quality is limited with screen printing, vector graphics reproduce well, making this process perfect for printing on most types of laminates and fabrics. Flexography is a form of printing process that uses a flexible relief plate. It is a modern version of typography that can be used to print on almost any type of substrate, including plastic, metal films, cellophane, and paper. Flexographic printing is fast and cost-effective, making it ideal for longer production runs. Although flexographic printing can achieve better print quality than screen printing, it is not capable of producing images with as high resolution as inkjet printing or UV lithographic printing. UV lithographic printing offers many of the advantages of standard lithographic printing since it allows obtaining high-definition images in a wide spectrum of colors.
However, it uses UV drying units that bake ink on the surface of flexible substrates. The initial setup for UV lithographic printing is time consuming and expensive but executions are fast, making it more cost-effective for longer production runs. Pad printing is probably the simplest printing process that exists. The image is engraved on a silicone plate that is then flooded with ink and cleaned with a cloth, leaving the ink only in the engraved area. Once the surface of the ink becomes sticky, causing it to adhere to the printing pad and seal that side of the ink film, the pad is pressed onto the product leaving the image.
Pad printing is a great way to print a 2-D image directly onto three-dimensional objects such as promotional golf balls, rulers and bottles. As the largest leading supplier of plastic films in China, Kingchuan Packaging offers the most cutting-edge and high-quality products along with the best customer service in the industry. Therefore our experts have manufactured a wide range of flexible packaging films suitable for numerous printing processes. In conclusion, there are many different types of printing that can be done on plastic films depending on your needs. Digital printing is fast and cost-effective while screen printing produces bold colors with vector graphics reproducing well. Flexography is ideal for longer production runs while UV lithographic offers high-definition images in a wide spectrum of colors.
Finally pad printing is great for 2-D images directly onto three-dimensional objects.
