3Dresyns for making printing plates
Our 3Dresyns PP for printing plates have been designed to print Printing Plates "PP" with affordable SLA, DLP & LCD 3D printers for different printing systems, including stereo plates for flexo and letterpress as well as other printing systems.
Our Printing Plates 3Dresyns PP have the benefit of manufacturing cost effective printing plates "in house" for a broad range of traditional 2D printing systems such as flexography, letterpress, etc, and a broad range of applications, including specialty customized Graphic Arts, publishing, micro & nano rigid and flexible Electronics, suitainable printing manufacturing, etc.
Durometer Shore Hardness
Durometer is a measure of the hardness of the plate material as determined by its resistance to indentation by a standard test instrument.
The most commonly used measure for flexo printing plates is the Shore A scale. The useful Shore A hardness range is between 20-70 units. For general printing of paper or plastic, plate durometer measurements are in the 45-55 Shore A range. Results reflect that photopolymer 3D printed plates can be 5-10 units higher than commonly used rubber compounds and still produce similar printing qualitty. Softer plates can cause dot gain and poor printed ink resolution.
A wide range of shore A hardness flexo plates can be designed and 3D printed according to the final application, with around 60-65 being the average hardness except for printing on soft substrates or corrugated paper when a Shore A of around 55 is acceptable.
Letterpress plates typical Shore D hardness range is 25-75
Click on this link to order our ready to use 3Dresyns PP for printing plates at your specific chosen Shore A or D hardness (printing plate type dependant).
As Computer To Plate "CTP" replaced Computer To Film "CTF" technology, eliminating the stripping, compositing, and traditional plate making processes, our direct & selective 3D printer to plate "3DTP" can change the printing industry for a more eco-friendly and customized printing plate production, which can lead to reduced prepress times, lower costs, improved print resolution and the usage of a broader variety of technical properties and materials (optical clear, flexible, durable, biobased, etc).
Benefits of direct 3D printer to plate "3DTP" vs traditional technologies:
- in house customization of plate design and manufacturing
- higher resolution quality, dependant on printers X,Y, Z resolution (X, Y <30-40 microns pixel diameter and Z down to 1 micron with some affordable SLA, DLP & LCD 3D printers
- time and cost savings since there is no material waste (selective printing) and the removal step of the non image areas during plate imaging can be eliminated
- higher durability vs less durable existing technologies e.g. uv curable water based emulsion coatings used in CTP
- ecofriendly, sustainable
Our 3Dresyns PP have these features:
- synthetic and/or bio-based, renewable and biodegradable
- high precision and resolution below 30 microns for SLA, DLP & LCD printing
- excellent balance of mechanical properties to minimise Ink and Over Print Varnishes "OPV´s" dot gain and splattering
- excellent chemical resistance to withstand chemical attack by agressive inks and OPV´s
- cost effective vs existing technologies
- customized-production and design of 3Dresyns PP for customized "in house" 3D printing plate production