hakkında şirket haberleri What are the different between Flexo printing and Water printing？

Flexoc printing is a printing technology that is on par with offset printing, gravure printing, and others.
Water printing refers to the use of water-based ink for printing, which can be applied to different printing techniques.

Characteristics and advantages for Flexo printing
Flexo printing is a direct printing method that uses a flexible printing plate (usually made of rubber or photosensitive resin) to transfer ink through a mesh roller.
1. Core features:
The printing plate is soft: this is its fundamental difference from offset printing (where the plate is flat) and gravure printing (where the plate is recessed).
Using a mesh roller: a precise metal roller with countless tiny mesh holes, responsible for quantitatively delivering ink to the printing plate, thereby controlling the thickness of the ink layer.
Wide range of substrates: Due to its soft plate material and low pressure, it is very suitable for printing on various absorbent (such as paper, cardboard, corrugated paper) and non absorbent (such as plastic film, aluminum foil) materials.
2. Main advantages:
Environmental friendliness: Flexographic printing usually uses water-based ink or UV ink, which has low VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions and is more environmentally friendly.
Widely applicable: especially in the fields of corrugated cardboard boxes, food packaging, labeling, flexible packaging, etc., it occupies a dominant position.
High production efficiency: fast printing speed, strong online processing capability (can be combined with processes such as polishing, die-cutting, laminating, etc.).
Cost effectiveness: For medium to long plate printing, the plate making cost is lower than that of gravure printing.
3. Main drawbacks:
Printing accuracy: The dot restoration ability of traditional flexographic printing is not as good as offset printing and gravure printing, and the printing precision is slightly insufficient (but in recent years, high-definition flexographic technology has greatly narrowed this gap).
Initial investment: The investment in flexographic printing equipment is relatively large.

Characteristics and advantages for Water printing
Water printing specifically refers to printing using ink with water as the main solvent.
1. Core features:
Ink solvent is water: the dilution and cleaning of ink are mainly done with water.
Environmental safety: Contains no or very little harmful organic solvents, non-toxic and odorless, friendly to operators and the environment.
Drying method: mainly relying on infiltration absorption and evaporation drying, usually requiring a powerful drying system (such as hot air drying).
2. Main advantages:
Extremely high environmental friendliness: This is its biggest advantage, especially suitable for packaging with high safety requirements such as food, medicine, and children's toys.
Good safety: There is no flammable or explosive risk in the production workshop, and the working environment is healthier.
Good adhesion: Excellent adhesion on porous materials such as paper and cardboard.
3. Main drawbacks:
Slow drying speed: Compared to solvent based inks, water has a higher latent heat of evaporation, requiring more energy and time for drying.
Limited applicable materials: Poor adhesion and printing difficulty on non absorbent materials such as plastic films and metals, unless surface treatment is performed on the material.
Slightly inferior glossiness: The glossiness of printed products is usually not as good as solvent based or UV ink.

Flexo Printing&Water Printing: How to Choose?
You can choose from the following aspects:
1. What type of product does your product belong to?
Corrugated cardboard boxes, packaging bags, label films: Flexo printing is a natural choice, especially when using water ink, which can meet the dual needs of environmental protection and efficiency in the packaging industry.
Food, medicine, and daily necessities packaging that come into close contact with the human body: The safety requirements are extremely high, and priority must be given to using water ink for flexo or gravure printing.
High end posters and exquisite picture books: If you pursue extremely high color saturation and delicate layers, traditional offset or gravure printing may still be a better choice.
2.Is environmental protection a mandatory indicator?
If your company or client has clear requirements for environmental protection, or wishes to use the "green printing" logo on your products, then choosing the combination of "flexo printing+water ink" is the safest and most mainstream solution.
3.What are your expectations for cost and efficiency?
Flexographic printing equipment has a relatively simple structure and can be combined with post-processing such as die-cutting and polishing to form a linked production line. It has high efficiency and low overall cost in large-scale production.
Although water ink itself may be slightly expensive, it can help you save the huge investment in environmentally friendly treatment equipment necessary for solvent based ink

Summary and Relationship Analysis
You can understand their relationship as follows:
"Flexo printing " is the" method ", while" water ink " is the "material ".
The most common combination is water-based flexographic printing. This is the most mainstream and environmentally friendly printing method in corrugated cardboard boxes and many flexible packaging fields. It combines the adaptability of flexographic printing to various substrates and the environmental safety of water-based inks.

Flexo printing can also use solvent based inks (mainly used for plastic films) or UV inks (used for high gloss, fast curing scenes).
Water ink can also be used for gravure printing (water gravure printing) or screen printing, although its application in these fields is not as widespread as in flexo printing.
So, when people compare "flexo printing" and "water printing", they usually compare flexo printing using water-based ink with other printing methods (such as traditional solvent based gravure printing) in a specific context, emphasizing its comprehensive advantages in technology and environmental protection.