Esko HD Flexo

[tommrz]

Anyone out there using HD Flexo from Esko? We are interested in it and I would like to hear from folks who actually use it. Any input would be appreciated.

[Lukas Engqvist]

This place where I'm doing my pre-servivce teaching is Esko HD flexo certified. I'm not sure who to talk to since I only been here 2 weeks and will be here another 4 weeks for this period.

see The Packaging Print Park II Blog

Perhaps offering internship to one of the flexo printing students would be a way to get the information you need

[WI-Flexo]

The HD Flexo is one of the few Esko products that we are really happy with. We are still using HD 1.0 and they are soon to be coming out with 3.0. If you have specific questions I can probably offer a little more insight.

[Stephen Marsh]

Tommrz, it may also be beneficial to see what competitors to Esko are doing when it comes to imagesetters, plates and associated flexo technologies.

Stephen Marsh

[Gramshi]

Esko try to catch Kodak ThemoFlex WideII 's quality with HD Flexo.
Good luck Esko....

[tommrz]

Thanks WI-Flexo, I do have some specific questions. As far as file and image preparation goes, do you find yourselves performing the same edits as you would before HD was in place. What I mean to say is are you still taking gradients that end in 0% and adding a min dot out to 1%? Do you still need to edit Photoshop files to breakup the edges of drop shadows and remove scum dots? I understand that in some cases this will still need to be done but I am curious about how much of this will not be a worry anymore.
Also, do you run 100% HD plates or are you mixing these with normal plates as well? Is it necessary for you to run a conventional plate for a change to a legacy job or are you able to replace one regular plate in a 6 color job with an HD plate and still have it work on press? If an old job is pulled from archive that has already been through the normal flexo edits before plating will plating it as HD make any difference at all?
I know, theres a lot I am asking but the price is high and I would like to hear from someone other than Esko about real world production scenarios. Thanks again...
_Tom

[WI-Flexo]

Tom
As far as the image prep is concerned you do still have to manipulate files much the same way you always have. Granted you could not touch the images and get a better result than the standard plates but not as good as you can get with some image work. One thing Esko does not tell you is they actually want you to drop off images at .78% and not run to 0%. The only easy way this is achieved is with Flexo Tools for photoshop so that is an additional charge. So basically you can do nothing to your images and be better than you are today or you can do some image cleanup and be much better than today.

For the plates you cannot mix HD and standard. First your standard plates are probably exposed at 2540 and HD plates are exposed at 4000. So you cannot mix on press but you also cannot mix in platemaking on the CDI. You have to run one or the other. It is easy to switch on the CDI between 2540 and 4000. But yes legacy jobs need legacy plates and HD needs HD plates. You will also have to make sure your CDI has compatible lasers for 4000dpi. Anything else let me know.

[Armya Inc]

Anyone out there using HD Flexo from Esko? We are interested in it and I would like to hear from folks who actually use it. Any input would be appreciated.

Many people ask me the difference between HighRes CDI and HD Flexo:

To make HD plates you need a machine which is licensed to that and which can output 4000dpi files. A CDI which can image 4000dpi files is called HighRes CDI. You can use this machine without HD files. Just use 4000dpi files which already improves the quality. If the customer bought HD they will also get the HD screens on the Nexus or FlexRip. This is a special screening to improve the highlights and the solid ink density. All of this is independent from the productivity of the machine.

PS: Special Thanks to my colleagues at ESKO Technical Support for clarifying this.

[Tesaroller]

We have been working since 2009 with HD Flexo. So far we have had very good experiences with this technology and also the feedback from customers has been extremely positive. However, there is a long step up to that: Many tests are needed to get the optimum result. HD Flexo does not automatically mean an improvement in quality. If you want to know more, feel free to address specific questions for me!
Photopolymer plate-making and-sleeves with HD Flexo