mark andy 2200 max screen resolution

[alexinessex]

hi wonder if anyone can help please.
have a friend who is in need and my area of pre-press and press is limited to sheet fed litho so a little lost on the following.

they have a: Mark Andy 2200 Flexographic, lines on rollers range 200-800 , depth 10-25, 6 stations.

pre-press wise the rip they use is: Agfa Avantra 30 running with an Agfa Apogee PDF rip and run negative films and make: Ace Nyloflex plates.

they want to find the best settings to run 4colour print - so my questions are:

1. what is the maximum screen they can run on the mark andy?
we run 200 screen on our B1 speedmaster but cant find the info for a flexo machine

2. can anyone suggest the best dpi to output films once the screen is determined?
all our images are 300dpi and gives us great results. again no idea for flexo

many kind thanks all in advance

 

[Bill W]

Re: mark andy 2200 max screen resolution

Greetings,

The general rule of thumb is that the anilox roller line count needs to be 6 times the screen line count. Example - 150 line screen "should" not be run on less than a 900 line anilox. Our default line screen is 175 and we have run 225 line screen on a job or two. There are trade offs when running a higher line screen on film with the main one being dot gain in the highlights which in turn will shorten your tonal range.

I have felt for many years that anything above 150 line or a max of 175 line is a just "ego" printing. This does not mean that some jobs demand a higher line screen, only that most jobs do not. There are hi-bred screens that help some images but none is the best for all types of work.

It is also important that they work with their plate supplier to insure proper back and face exposure to hold all dots on the film. Process work demands less relief which can cause a battle with press operators who would really like relief all the way to the polyester backer.

Remember that cell volume (depth) is also important and one must use a doctor blade to successfully print process work.

As with other printing types, imagesetter dpi needs to be 1 1/2 to 2 times line screen.

 

[disbellj]

Re: mark andy 2200 max screen resolution

"As with other printing types, imagesetter dpi needs to be 1 1/2 to 2 times line screen."

Hey Bill, mind if I change that to:

As with other printing types, rip's CT dpi needs to be 1 1/2 to 2 times line screen. Say the dpi is 150, the CT's need to be 300 (I use 300 dpi on my CTs whether printing 150 or 175 l.s.). The imagesetter/platesetter res will be much higher than this (e.g. 2400).

Don

 

[Mike Howard]

Re: mark andy 2200 max screen resolution

If they havent already they may want to consider the following as well...

In order to reproduce good 4c work on a flexo press and be able to match a proof or repeat what has already been printed / run they are going to want to fingerprint their press and record all values for what that press and operator are capable of reproducing on the equipment. You should be able to find a lot of info on fingerprinting a flexo press through a google search.

UV flexo is the way to go for process and screen work in flexo (although cost prohibitive entry for a lot of printers) as the screens and dots stay much cleaner and color consistency is much better throughout the run and from run to run vs. conventional Waterbased inks.

Edited by: Mike Howard on Feb 13, 2008 12:55 PM