What are the characteristics of flexographic printing ink?
Time:2026-01-30
Views:116
Characteristics of flexographic ink
Due to the wide range of applications and diverse printing materials of flexographic ink, the flexographic ink used should be matched with it. However, in terms of the main components of flexographic ink, they are all composed of colorants, resins, solvents, and additives. Most of them are liquid inks mainly based on volatile drying, but there are also a few dry inks in the form of oxidation film, permeation drying, etc.
Flexographic printing ink has two significant characteristics: low viscosity and fast drying. It is precisely because of low viscosity that flexographic printers can adopt a simple mesh roller ink delivery system, resulting in good ink transfer performance. Due to the fast drying and quick drying of flexographic ink, adjacent colors can also achieve dry overprinting, which not only avoids overprinting failures caused by poor drying, but also achieves high printing speeds and makes flexographic printing suitable for non absorbent materials.
Classification of flexographic ink
1. Water based ink (mainly used for printing on paper)
The biggest feature of water-based ink is the use of water-soluble or water dispersible resins as binders, which significantly reduces the emission of organic volatiles. Compared with solvent based ink, it can completely eliminate the harm of certain toxic substances to human health and the pollution of packaged goods.
Water based ink reduces investment in environmental protection, eliminating the need for fire prevention devices, solvent recovery, and pollution-free discharge devices. Water based ink has stable viscosity during use and does not require viscosity control equipment. The cleaning of printing machines is convenient and cost-effective, with strong coloring power.
The disadvantages of water-based ink are that it is not suitable for film printing, has slow drying speed, poor glossiness, poor water resistance, affects the paper‘s elasticity, and corrodes the printing machine.
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2. Solvent-based (including alcohol-soluble) inks (primarily used for plastic printing)
Solvent-based ink is a commonly used type of ink in various printing methods, characterized by vibrant colors, fast drying speed, and excellent gloss. In recent years, flexographic printing ink has been vigorously promoted and applied in plastic film packaging printing, as alcohol-based solvents are the least toxic among organic solvents and do not erode or damage flexographic plates. High-quality alcohol-based ink features good fluidity, rapid drying, strong adhesion, high gloss, and vibrant colors. Of course, alcohol-based solvents pose certain environmental and safety hazards.
3. Flexible UV ink (universal, printable on paper and plastic film)
UV ink uses a certain wavelength of ultraviolet radiation to transform liquid UV ink into solid ink through photochemical reactions. The characteristics of UV ink are: safe and reliable, solvent-free emission, non flammable, non polluting to the environment, suitable for packaging and printing materials with high hygiene requirements such as food, beverages, tobacco and alcohol, drugs, etc.
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