PureFlexo Printing from Miraclon, the technology that won the IFCA Star Award 2022 for printing innovation in flexible packaging, addresses a fundamental challenge in traditional flexographic print unwanted ink spread.

As Mahesh Kode of Creative Graphics said, "Without compromising on solid ink density and enabling CI flexo presses to run at higher speeds, and for longer runs, PureFlexo Printing supports even more challenging graphics which are typically the domain of gravure."

The evolution of flexo has been quick, with flat top dots, Digicap NX patterning and Advanced Edge Definition, and now PureFlexo Printing (2021) as part of Miraclon's Print Suite. Mahesh Kode shared with WhatPackaging? that "converters have the option of matching gravure-class output by implementing latest in flexo."

So why did PureFlexo Printing win? As per the adjudicators of the IFCA Awards,"Unwanted ink spread into areas of print where ink is not wanted is a common issue, leading to dots filling in. As graphics get more challenging, this gets even harder to manage. The only option printers have is to stop the press often and clean the plates, then start the process up again. These frequent start-stop cycles lead to wastage of precious press hours, while also adding significantly to make-ready and start-up waste. It also leads to delays downstream in other converting activities."

Mahesh Kode said, "PureFlexo Printing addresses this fundamental challenge by advancing its Advanced Edge Definition (AED) technology to create a channel for allowing ink to flow within the dot structure on the surface of the plate and reducing this effect of dirty print." This means that converters can expect the same solid ink coverage, with cleaner highlights and shadows, but with much lower dot gain. The result is clean, sharp print, with fewer unscheduled press stops, fewer defects. All translating into the printers running their flexo presses faster and more efficiently.

Prior to the Awards ceremony, Mahesh Kode spoke to the delegates. Today, Creative Graphics is one of India's largest flexo pre-press and plates service providers with multi-site presence to cater across regions and segments. CG Premedia, a new startup under Creative Graphics, which is an integrated studio that can enable turnkey design projects to speed up and support sustainability and speed-to-market goals of brands that are looking to transition existing/potential gravure jobs to flexo.