The Label Printing Blog

Technology in the print industry continues its rapid evolution, especially where label printing is concerned. Thanks to constant change and innovation, there are now several ways to print labels on ribbons. Whether thermal transfer technology, digital offset, dye sublimation, hybrid or ink jet technology is employed, businesses seeking options for printing on ribbon labels are certainly spoiled for choice.

Heat transfers or Tagless labels for apparels offer a cost-effective alternative to traditional fabric labels for label produces to offer garment manufacturers. For the consumer, it means not having to remove an itchy label from clothing. For the manufacturer, the convenience of heat transfer labels means happy customers as well as the high visibility of your brand whenever they don your apparel.

Any kind of textile processing, including the production of garment labels, relies on the continued efficiency of printing machinery. Without it, the quality of your textile printing will be inconsistent. There are many ways to maximise your machine’s efficiency.

1) Manage Humidity and Static

Regardless of the type of textiles you print at your facility, humidity will play a role. Too-high humidity will negatively affect your machinery, causing damage and slowdowns in production. Adding to this, any change in the moisture content in the air can impact the textiles themselves. For example, added humidity will lessen the elasticity and tensile strength of some fabrics.

Printing on ribbon involves either one or two-sided printing. For wash care labels, this usually depends on how much information needs to be printed on the label . When considering the best method for printing your labels, a combination of understanding the available printing processes and expert information from a printing professional can go a long way to helping you make an informed choice.

The Flexographic Printing Process

Flexographic printing is a high-speed process which can be used for printing on several types of materials. There are three types of flexographic printing: central impression, in-line and stacked. Where the printing of textile ribbon is concerned, the central impression drum press is used in order to maintain good tension control and print registration.

Historically, printing on elastic products was no easy task. Thankfully, technology has advanced to the point where label printing equipment can handle the unique challenges of elastic printing. Elastic printing requires machines that can not only transfer ink to the substrate, but also ensure accuracy by adequately stretching the elastic throughout the printing process.

Elastics Label Printing Equipment

There are several processes that can be used for printing onto elastic garment labels.

Paper prices have seen a steady rise of 3% each month since May this year. This has caused significant concern among printing companies, and rightfully so. But what’s behind this increase? The answer is anything but simple, as several factors have contributed to the paper price rise.

The current situation is seeing the European market suffering most of all from a globally-restricted supply of pulp, leaving the UK at a disadvantage. From Paperlinx to production costs, and the cost of crude oil to paper capacity, this article will explore many of the factors affecting paper prices, along with possible solutions those in the label printing industry can implement to lessen the blow.

The first Flexo type printing presses were patented in the late 19th century. Originally, flexographic printing was rudimentary in quality with its limitations in ink control and rubber printing plates. Commercial print applications were open to all but the most basic of print & packaging products. As the consumer industry grew, packaging & labels requiring high-quality print were generally being produced using the offset & letterpress processes until more recently. Since 1990, great advances have been made to the quality of flexographic printing presses, printing plates, printing units, drying systems & inks. These advances have combined to rival offset quality with improved practicality, higher production speeds, and lower capital investment.

Anilox scoring seems to be a never-ending challenge: It can occur immediately at the start of a new production run, other times it can appear suddenly and other times it comes and goes. Yet it never seems to totally go away.

In This Article We Will Cover The Following:

• What is anilox scoring?
• Why does anilox scoring occur?
• Doctor Blade Selection
• Steel v Synthetic v Composite
• How to minimize anilox scoring.

Regardless of the level of pressroom knowledge, anilox scoring can rear its head and if left unchecked it can become very expensive. Firstly in replacing the anilox and then the time and material cost because of the spoiled production.

With such a wide range of options to choose from, choosing the best label printing machine for your application can be a daunting prospect, especially if you know very little about ribbon printing technology and what is on the market.

Among the many products that exist, there are two machines that are definitely worth further consideration in the ribbon printing realm: our B4 range, and the LX range.

A key element in Letterflex technology & directly printing textiles is the anilox roll. In order to achieve the best print quality possible the anilox roll should transfer the minimum volume of Ink to the printing plate to achieve the desired coverage. Factors that need to be considered are the type of image, substrate & ink types. All of these will affect the specification of the anilox roll that needs to be selected for the optimum result.