How to Contribute to Plate Resistance

The printing resistance of the plate usually refers to the maximum printing quantity a plate can offer. And the printing resistance is often related to the economic benefits of gravure printing, also an important basis to reduce production costs and improve printing output. And this is so important to the paper packaging industry as well, for the packaging industry can't live without printing nowdays. The market needs colorful printed gift boxes and gift bags, for example, wine gift boxes, cosmetic boxes, jewelry boxes and shopping bags, etc.

There are many factors that could influence the printing resistance of the plate, including ink viscosity, drying speed, hard sand, dust, ink corrosivity and chemical factors. 

The ink viscosity affect the printing resistance by requiring more scraper pressure when the viscosity is high, which could possibly reduce the printing resistance. While excessive ink drying could enhance the friction between the plate cylinder and the scraper, which could also increase  the risk of reduce the life of the plate cylinder. Moreover, under excessive moist environment, printing ink tends to remain on the plate. Therefore, more pressure is required to be applied to the scraper to remove the ink, resulting in the damage to the plate.

Hard sand and dust in the ink could lead to scratch on the printing cylinder, which could affect the quality of printing products or even cause the vital damage to the printing cylinder. Impurities on the printing materials could also cause damage to the cylinder. Therefore, to keep the printing materials and ink clean is quite necessary. Constant filtering is needed to remove the impurities. 

The printing ink is also considered harmful to the plate cylinder because of its corrosivity. And it is necessary to clean the ink in time to prevent the damage.

Some certain amount of active agent is added to the ink during the production. And this agent could be sticky to the plate cylinder which is hard for the scraper to clean under normal pressure. Therefore, more pressure is required to get it clean which is also influential to the life of the plate cylinder. To solve this problem, surfactant retarder is suggested to be added to the printing ink before printing starts.