Flexo printing

troubleshooting guide

Page 1
 Introduction

Flexographic printing is a highly specialized Index

process and many parameters can affect the Plate edge lift Page 3
quality of the final product. To achieve best print Pinholing Page 4
quality, all components have to be coordinated. Dot gain Page 5
Slur Page 6
If you are experiencing problems during Air collection Page 7
printing, consult this guide for possible solutions. Foam delamination Page 9
Here we share our view on common print issues when demounting tape
that may affect your operation of the printing Plate damage upon Page 10
press, to ensure you continue to get the best demounting

quality print and most efficient processes. Misregister Page 11

Bouncing Page 12

Page 2
Plate edge lift
You might find a plate is trying to revert to its original, flat form
after having been mounted on a round sleeve. This then results
in the plate edge lifting off during storage of mounted plates or
later during printing. Naturally, this causes machine downtime
and production delays when plates must be re-mounted.

With a root cause during mounting With a root cause during press run
Problem Problem
The plate edge is lifting after the plate has been mounted, Once a job has begun printing, the plate edge may start
especially when mounted plates are stored for a longer lifting from the tape, and transfer ink to the substrate.
period of time. Or the plate edge lifts later during printing, (The tape remains on the sleeve – only the plate is lifting.)
even though the root cause lies in the mounting process.
Potential causes and solutions:
Potential causes and solutions: 1. Excess solvents used in in-machine plate cleaning can
1. The back side of the plate is not sufficiently clean. Contam- dissolve the adhesive on the plate side if the solvent
inants such as soap, oil, grease, and photopolymer resi- sits on the adhesive for too long. Avoid using too much
dues reduce tape performance. Clean the plate thoroughly solvent when cleaning, and keep excess solvent from
with a rag and clean solvent, dispensed from a spray or dripping onto the plate edge with a dry sponge or
squeeze bottle. Wait until the solvent dries completely. compressed air.

2. Sufficient pressure has not been applied to the plates 2. The in-unit dryer temperature is too high or blowing air
during mounting. Use a rubber roller or lay-on roller – towards the sleeve / cylinder. Check to see that dryer
a lay-on roller should be checked to ensure it applies equal settings are correct and in-unit dryer seals are in place.
pressure across the whole width of the sleeve/cylinder.

3. Older, deformed plates tend to curl toward the image Other tips:
side. Store plates flat or curled to the PET side, and keep Ink splashes or dirty print which need exces-
them in an air-conditioned room away from UV light and sive cleaning up could be an indicator of other
ozone, with a separator placed between each plate. issues such as ink viscosity or air flow in the
press. Check carefully for these issues and
4. There may be wrinkling or creasing on the plate edge. avoid the need for in-machine plate cleaning.
If possible, trim the plate edge to reduce the effect.
• Check ink viscosity regularly
Or use an adhesive promoter to increase adhesion.
• Check for air flow in the press
5. On the edges of PET backing of the plate, there may be • Reduce ink and web temperature
burring. Use deburring knives to take out these defects.
• Get the ink/solvent mixture right
6. Plate lift can be caused by a small repeat length of – contact your supplier if needed
sleeve or cylinder when there is 100% coverage on the • Check doctor blade life and blade
plate, fitted edge to edge with no gap. Use an adhesive unit calibration/pressure
promoter to increase the adhesion.

Other tips, especially for long-term storage Our recommendation:

of mounted plates before printing: Our assortment of plate mounting solutions features
• Use an edge sealing tape on plate edges. a variety of adhesives formulated to securely bond to
all different types of plates. We also offer the perfect
• Use an adhesive promoter on plate edges.
product for every print shop environment, taking factors
• Wrap the mounted sleeves with a stretch like humidity, temperature, and cleanliness into account.
film or plastic film during storage. Reach out to your local tesa representative to have your
• Use bevel cuts while trimming the plate, processes analyzed, resulting in a tailored plate
to reduce tension on the plate edge. mounting product recommendation.
Page 3
Pinholing
Flexo printing can be susceptible to the pinholing effect,
which describes the uneven or incomplete distribution of
ink over a solid area, resulting in the appearance of small
‘holes’ in the print area. This can result in reduced dynamic
range of color, and a loss of density.

Potential causes and solutions:

Our recommendation:
1. The ink dries on the anilox roller and does not transfer
To eliminate pinholing effects, the right combination of
to the plate. Use solvents that take longer to evaporate;
anilox, plate, and plate mounting solution needs to be
decrease the hot air dryer temperature; or increase the
considered. Our assortment of tesa® Softprint plate
speed of the press.
mounting tapes offers six different hardness levels,
2. The ink forms an uneven film or does not form on the so that the perfectly matching foam hardness can be
substrate. The surface tension of the ink may be too found for each motif. Our tesa® Twinlock self-adhesive
high to flow into place on the substrate. Check the ink sleeves feature an especially thick foam layer and
viscosity and adjust accordingly. It may also help to therefore have a larger print latitude than traditional
check the surface tension of the substrate and use tapes. Our tesa flexo experts will gladly help analyze
a more suitable solvent for cleaning. your process to recommend the best fitting plate
mounting solution.
3. If the anilox is worn or plugged, it is unlikely to achieve
a consistent, even ink film on the substrate. Examine
the anilox and clean or replace if necessary – an anilox
roller with higher volume could also be a solution.

4. There may be dirt on the impression cylinder. Clean

the impression cylinder using the right solvent.

5. If there is insufficient pressure during printing, use a

higher impression setting or use a tape with a harder
form.

Page 4
Dot gain
Dot gain is when the dots that make up the image on the
print become larger than they should be. The printed image
then appears darker than intended, details become fuzzier,
and there are changes in hue and saturation. Due to the
pressure in the print process, you will always have some dot
gain – only if there is too much does it become a problem.

Dot gain is a particular problem in soft vignettes down to zero. 5. A mounting tape that is too hard or a plate that is too
Here, the smallest still-printing dots are printing larger than thick means the contact pressure of halftone dots to
intended. This causes a visible line before the non-printed substrate is too high. This can make a noticeable
area starts, meaning there is no smooth transition between difference in dot gain. Plates also must be mounted
the smallest dots and the non-printed area. correctly to avoid trapped air underneath, which would
also result in a thicker build-up and increased pressure.
Potential causes and solutions: Select the correct foam hardness level of your plate
1. Dot gain can be caused by excessive pressure within mounting solution and mount plates thoroughly. Also
the settings of the print cylinder, impression cylinder, check if the thickness of your printing plate is correct,
and anilox. Check your impression settings of the print since swelling can be a side effect of solvent-based
cylinder to the substrate and anilox roller to the plate plate making processes.
when encountering dot gain during printing.
6. Too much pressure can also occur due to press damage
2. There will always be pressure in flexo printing, resulting and wear, for example, of a gear, mandrel, or cylinder.
in dots increasing in size. To achieve the desired outcome This will impact how the plate contacts the substrate,
and obtain a printed dot of the right size, apply “dot gain which can again cause dot gain. Perform regular
compensation”. This means the original dot on the plate maintenance and cleaning of all machine components.
is reduced in size to a certain extent during plate making.

3. Another cause for dot gain is when dots on the plate enter Our recommendation:
the cells of the anilox, picking up more ink than intended, Besides the tips listed above, it can also make sense to
which results in larger printed dots. This is also known as adjust the foam hardness level of your plate mounting
'dot dipping'. Make sure that dots are larger than the cells solution. Our tesa® Softprint assortment comes in six
of the anilox so that they cannot dip into the cells – the line different hardness levels to match all requirements when
screen of the anilox should be at least 5 times higher than it comes to pressure during printing. Our tesa® Twinlock
the line screen of the plate. Too much anilox cell volume self-adhesive sleeves feature an especially thick foam
equals more ink being transferred from the anilox to the layer and have a larger print latitude than traditional
plate where it builds up and then transfers to the substrate, tapes. Our tesa flexo experts will gladly help analyze
also resulting in dot gain. Use an anilox with a lower cell your process to recommend the best fitting plate
volume or higher cell count if this occurs.
mounting solution.
4. If ink viscosity is too low, ink spreads too much across
the substrate before drying. Monitor ink viscosity levels
at all times.

Page 5
Slur
You can recognize “slur” by the smearing of the trailing
edge of your printed image or by the appearance of a double
image. You will tend to see elongated oval shapes instead
of round dots, the dots are distorted in printing direction.

Potential causes and solutions:

Our recommendation:
1. During printing, the surface of plate, substrate,
We produce our plate mounting products with a
and anilox must run at the same speed. If they do not,
focus on thickness tolerances. Contact your local
the surface of the plate (with the ink) will slur over the
tesa representative and arrange a visit to analyze
substrate and the anilox.
your processes, resulting in a tailored plate
2. Reasons can include mechanical problems such as mounting product recommendation.
tension control or machine wear, or an incorrect
undercut.

3. The plate being “too fast” can be caused by too thick or

too hard plates or mounting tapes, or by a sleeve with a too
large diameter. All this affects the actual circumference of
the printing repeat. If the plate runs slower than the other
surface, the causes are vice versa (e.g. the plate being too
thin or soft).

4. Solutions would be to check sleeve diameters, and the

thickness of plate and tape as well as the substrate
caliper. The anilox-plate and plate-substrate impressions
should also be checked.

Page 6
Air collection
Air collection leads to bubbles forming either between the
sleeve and tape, or between tape and plate. Depending on
where the air collects, there are different procedures used
for dealing with it.

Air bubble forms between Other tips:

sleeve/cylinder and tape • Avoid using steel blades to cut on sleeves,
to reduce damage to the surface. Any
scratches in the sleeve surface will lead to
Potential causes and solutions:
less contact area between sleeve and tape,
1. Leftover solvents from cleaning agents used to clean
and bubbles will form more easily. Also,
the sleeve are evaporating under the tape. Give the
cleaning agents can collect in the scratches
sleeve sufficient time to dry before mounting the tape.
and cause bubbles when they evaporate.
2. Differences in temperature between the tape and • When using a mounting machine with a lay-on
sleeve/cylinder could cause trapped humidity. roller, make sure it is firm enough to supply sufficient
Make sure the tape and sleeve/cylinder are all at pressure and that the lay-on roller is applying
the same temperature before mounting. pressure equally across the sleeve or cylinder.

3. High pressure on the mandrel can cause thin-walled • If you are struggling with air bubbles, it is a good
sleeves to expand and therefore stretch the applied time to review whether your adhesives and your
tape. When the sleeve returns to its original diameter, plate mounting tape product design fit to the
the tape might lift from the sleeve in some places. sleeves you are using, and your ways of working.
Keep air pressure on the mandrel within recommended
levels and as low as possible. Use a tape that is more
flexible and will therefore expand and contract with the
sleeve if needed.

4. The plate mounting tape has not been applied with

enough pressure, thus creating a weaker bond. Apply
tape with a squeegee to ensure sufficient pressure and
better wetting properties compared to application by
hand. Use a lay-on roller, when available, on mounting
machines for a balanced, fast, and high-pressure
application.

5. When a plate needs to be repositioned during mounting

and the adhesion to plate is higher than adhesion to
sleeve, the repositioned plate might pull off the tape
from the sleeve and leave an air pocket underneath.
Make sure to use a plate mounting tape with adhesion
levels fitting your requirements and be careful when
repositioning plates.

Page 7
Air bubble forms between tape and Air bubble forms between
plate during application and storage tape and plate during printing
Potential causes and solutions: Potential causes and solutions:
1. Smaller air pockets trapped between plate and tape 1. High impression settings can squeeze small pockets of air
are pushed together when applying pressure during together to a non-image area on the plate. This causes
plate mounting, forming a visible bubble. Applying the non-image area to print as well. Try to adjust the
pressure in smooth movements, line by line, can avoid impression settings.
this, as can structured adhesives / tape liners.

2. If the plate is not applied with enough pressure, Our recommendation:

the bond between tape and plate is not sufficient, Available within our tesa® Softprint plate mounting tape
causing the plate to come back off. Use a rubber assortment, our structured easy-application ‘EA’ liner
roller for manual plate mounting, and apply consistent creates microchannels in the adhesives on both the
and slow pressure. For mounting machines, make sure sleeve and plate side. These channels prevent air from
that the lay-on roller provides enough pressure and accumulating underneath the plate, allowing for simpler
reduces the rotation speed of sleeves if needed. mounting and printing.
Also check for any damaged or other low spots in
the sleeve.

3. If the back side of a plate is not thoroughly cleaned,

contaminants such as soap, oil, grease, and photopoly-
mer residues can affect tape performance. The back
side of the plate needs to be cleaned with a rag and
cleaning solvent dispensed from a spray or squeeze
bottle. Wait until the solvent is completely dry before
plate mounting.

4. Wrinkles on a plate can cause the plate to pull away

from the tape. Try using heat to smooth out wrinkles,
or adhesion promoters to increase the bond in the
affected area.

Other tips:
• Do a thumb test to check pressure: press
your thumb firmly on an image area after
mounting the plate. If the area under the
thumb gets too visible and too dark in color,
not enough pressure was applied. Increase
application pressure or slow down the roller
during mounting.

Page 8
Foam delamination when
demounting tape
After printing, the tape is removed from the sleeve or
cylinder. If the adhesion between tape and sleeve is
too high, tape removal becomes extremely hard and
the tape’s foam could split, leaving damaged tape
on the sleeve. Softer foam hardness levels are more
susceptible to being damaged.

Potential causes and solutions:

Our recommendation:
1. Ink residues on the sleeve during tape mounting can
Our tesa® Softprint 'Flex' design protects the tape's foam
react with the tape’s adhesive and create a stronger
on both sides with a PE layer. This way, no delamination
bond. Always make sure to clean the sleeve with a
of the foam will occur.
suitable solvent before applying the tape.

2. When having a combination of long press runs, high

impression settings, and long storage time after printing,
the adhesion of tape to sleeve might increase over time.
So if possible, it is good to demount the tape shortly
after use.

3. Different sleeves have different surface characteristics

and different surface energies, and they all react
differently to pressure-sensitive adhesives. Make sure
that the tape you use and the sleeve are suitable
for each other, and that the sleeve's surface is not
damaged.

4. In order to not apply too much stress to the tape, try

pulling it off in a different angle. For example a 90°
instead of a 180° angle can help to protect the tape.

Page 9
Plate damage upon demounting
A flexo photopolymer printing plate can be damaged if
excessive force is used to remove it during the demounting
process. Damaged plates result in production disruption
and additional costs for replacement plates. There is also
the environmental cost to consider of a plate going to
waste and having to be replaced.

Potential causes and solutions:

Our recommendation:
1. Not every plate mounting tape fits every printer.
Make use of our expertise to analyze your processes
Individual requirements, operating procedures,
and recommend a suitable plate mounting solution.
plates, and inks can affect the performance of a tape’s
adhesive. The wrong combination can lead to hard
plate demounting after printing, and can even lead to Other tips:
plate damage. Consult with your plate mounting tape • More aggressive solvent: If needed, clean
supplier for your ideal tape solution. the back of used or improperly cleaned
plates with a more aggressive solvent
2. Ink residues on the back side of the plate can act like
before mounting. To remove ink residues
an adhesive promoter, causing the bond between tape
(especially after storage), multiple applications
and plate to become too strong, resulting in hard plate
of 100% IPA might be required.
demounting and possible damage. Check for the
following: • Use spray or squirt bottles: To keep the cleaning
solvent clean and reduce contamination, avoid using
• Manual plate cleaning: Cleaning the plates properly plunger cans. Every time solvent is dispensed on to a
on the sleeves/cylinders will limit ink contamination. dirty rag, residues might transfer to the solvent in the
Allow the cleaning solvent to dry before demounting. plunger can, potentially contaminating the solvent.
Clean the back of the plate with a suitable solvent on the • Separators: Use a separator in between each plate to
surface dedicated to cleaning. If the plates are cleaned avoid cross contamination of the front and back side
after demounting, use two different stations to clean the of the plate.
front and back side of the plate. After cleaning the front
• Separate rags: Use separate rags for cleaning sleeves
side, dry off excessive dirty solvent with a rag before
and plates. Sleeves contain a lot of dried ink residue
placing the plate on the other station to clean the
due to ink spills in the press. Using the same rag can
back side.
create cross-contamination between sleeves and
• Plate cleaning machines: With any plate cleaning plates.
machine, the back side of the plate will come in contact
with the cleaning solvent during cleaning. The cleaning
solvent is gradually contaminated with more ink over
time, which can settle on the back side of the plates
during plate storage. It will be hard to remove as ink
tends to bond to filmic substrate. After the machine
cleans the plates, dry any excess solvent from the front
and back sides of the plate first, then immediately clean
with a suitable solvent to remove any ink residues.

• Cleaning before mounting: Clean the back side of the

plate with a suitable solvent directly before mounting
and let it dry. Plate storage or handling plates during
mounting can leave oil or dirt residue on the back side
of the plates, which may increase or decrease adhesion
to the plates.
Page 10
Misregister
In flexographic printing, “misregister” describes a printing
defect in which the separate colors of the print image
are not correctly positioned, resulting in a blurred image
because the dots did not print in the position they were
intended to.

For high-quality prints, all separately printed colors need

Our recommendation:
to be aligned perfectly. Today’s multi-color and demanding
When you use our self-adhesive tesa® Twinlock
print designs call for special attention to the topic of print
sleeves, you can delete “tape” from the equation of
register. Misregister by even the tiniest fraction will result
circumference buildup - printing plates are directly
in waste, machine downtimes, re-prints of jobs, and delays
mounted on the self-adhesive sleeve, no tape needed.
in delivering the orders to the end customer.
One factor which could lead to deviations from the
required repeat length is therefore eliminated.
Potential causes and solutions:
1. Plates: The printing plates might not be mounted
in register, or feature an imprecise repeat length.
Remount with special attention to the register.
“Differential stretch” of the plate, a wrong distortion
factor, or mistakes in the production process will
directly affect the print repeat length and the separate
colors will print out of register. Check all processes
for precise results.

2. Circumference: The buildup of sleeve, tape, and plate

needs to be consistent in thicknesses for consistent
circumferences and therefore repeat length. Check the
condition of your sleeves, and measure plate thickness
and relief depth, as well as tape thickness, to find the
root cause.

3. Machine settings: Make sure that impression settings

between printing units are equal to ensure printing in
register. Also check web tension, temperature (reduce
if necessary), drive gears, and settings of a variety
of rollers.

Page 11
Bouncing
Bounce or resonance effects can occur when different
roller speeds and print images hit hard leading edges,
causing part of the printing unit to vibrate. In most cases,
the print quality is affected, but often there are also
complete print failures.

Potential causes and solutions:

Other tips:
1. The standard measure is a reduction in press speed,
• Check for excess wear on the sleeve,
which often improves the quality of the run, but will
plate, and tape. Replace as needed.
of course slow down the job production, affecting
deadlines and productivity. • Check for the correct hardness levels.

2. The printing form design can also cause bounce.

Staggering the design might help to avoid hard
leading edges.

3. Bounce can also occur from machine mechanical

wear or cylinder balance. All machine parameters
and conditions should be carefully monitored.

Page 12
Thank you for reading
If you have any questions or want to
book a consultation, please visit:
tesa.com/print/consultation

tesa SE
Phone: +49 40 88899 0
tesa.com/company/locations

tesa.com

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