MOUNTING AND PROOFING

OF FLEXO PLATES

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Purpose –

• To prove that the job which is to be printed is press ready.

• Job to be properly laid out and positioned to end use specifications.

• To mount correct copy on approved colour cylinders.

• To register appropriately

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PREPARING FOR MOUNTING AND
PROOFING
1. Checking the equipment

(i) Leveling the machine –

• Make the machine level across the plate cylinder pedestal support beam
and across the side frames.

• Out of level machine will have a twist causing the cylinder to be out of
parallel with the impression cylinder.

• To level correctly –
• clean all foreign matter, dust and dirt
• For side-to-side leveling, place a properly adjusted machinist’s
level, on top of impression cylinder and square on scribe line.
• For front-to-back leveling, place the level on the support frames
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• Raise and lower the adjustable feet as necessary.
 (ii) Impression cylinder concentricity –

• Impression cylinder is the cylinder against which, all other parts must be judged
and made parallel. It must be perfect in zero taper, concentricity and surface
conditions as possible.

• Use dial indicator, which is magnetic based capable of showing divisions of

0.0001 inches. Take reading in the middle and about 5 inches from each end.
Total run out should not exceed 0.0005 inches.

• Use an outside diameter micrometer, measure the cylinder’s accuracy for zero
taper. Take readings every few inches along the cylinder length. Deviations
should not exceed 0.0005inches.

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 (iii) Plate cylinder to impression cylinder relationship

• Mechanical relationship between plate and impression cylinder must be such that
repeated proofs under the same settings will yield the same results.

• Position the plate cylinder, without gear attached.

• Insert three 2 inches wide strip of cellophane between plate and impression
cylinder.

• Bring the impression cylinder into contact with the plate cylinder.

• Pull the strips of cellophane individually, the strip should pull out with the same
amount of resistance.

• If not, mechanically correct the equipment, until parallelism is achieved.

• Check the verticality and / or height trueness of the plate cylinder pedestals.

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 (iv) Conditions of gears and cylinders –

• Gear must be clean.

• Free from damage or missing teeth.

• Plate cylinder gear must fit the cylinder journal with no more than 0.002 inches
total tolerance.

• Plate cylinder walls must be clean, free from foreign matter, including cuts, dents
and other surface damage.

• Plate cylinder journals must be clean and free from surface damage.

• Plate cylinder must be concentric and deviation should not exceed 0.001 inches.

• When sleeves are used, concentricity of the sleeve, the shaft and the complete
assembly must be checked very closely.

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2. Understanding mounting instructions

• Plate cylinder size should be equal to design repeat size or multiples of it.

• The reading direction of plate –vertical, horizontal, right-sideup, upside-down

etc., in relation to the web direction at rewind.

• Gear pitch diameters must be equal to plate cylinder diameter with plate mounted
in place.

• The position of the plate across and around the cylinder is correct .

• Side of substrate to be printed –either surface printing or reverse printing.

• No. of colours and colour sequence and key colour.

• Study should be made on layout, design, printed sample or blue print.

• Instructions regarding package construction specifications.

• Make sure all tools needed for the job are available and ready.
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 MOUNTING AND PROOFING A
COMPLETE LINE JOB.
(i) Assembly –

• Assemble plate cylinder, gear and bearings.

• Check each for correct size, mechanical fit and cleanliness.

(ii) Positioning Plate Cylinder –

• Measure the distance between 2 PC journal bearings, center to center .

• Position the plate cylinder support pedestals the same distance apart –
permit the gear to align with the impression cylinder gear.

• Place and move the cylinder to allow gears of both cylinders to align.

• Lock the support firmly in position. Avoid too much forward pressure.
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(iii) Positioning the dividing head –

• Place the dividing head on the plate cylinder journal opposite the gear end for the
jobs requiring multiple repeats around cylinder.

(iv) Applying proofing paper –

• It should be of proper thickness to bring the impression cylinder on gear pitch.

• Most impression cylinders undercut for 0.003 inches proofing paper.

• Paper should be white with a machine glaze or machine finish and minimum
smoothness.

• Apply proofing paper to impression cylinder using masking tape, aligning the
paper’s edge with the scribe line on impression cylinder

• Paper should be pulled tight and securely taped to the impression cylinder, to
eliminate the possibility of movement. 9
(v) Drawing the design and plate layout –

• Draw the layout on the optical or mechanical mounter

• A complete layout should be drawn with all information given on the job order or
printing instructions.

(vi) Corrugated Impression cylinder layout –

• Draw the layout of the actual box on the paper covered on impression cylinder.

vii) Applying sticky back –

• Two ways:

1. Job requiring few small plates, each not longer than one-fourth of cylinder
circumference, sticky back may be applied directly to the plate and then backed
plates may be mounted to the bare cylinder.
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2. Apply sticky back to the plate cylinder alone, when mounting individual plates
longer than a quarter of the cylinder circumference to prevent plate buckling.
• Join the sticky back with butt joint.
• Take the sticky back longer by around 2 inch than cylinder circumference.
• Remove about 6 inch of backing along the leading edge.
• Hold the entire piece squarely with the cylinder.
• Place the leading edge about 0.5 inch above the horizontal scribe line and hold
the side edge as square with cylinder as possible.
• Remove the rest of the backing sheet, rotate the cylinder smoothing and pressing
the remaining portion of the sticky back firmly into position all around the
cylinder.
• Using grooved scribe line in the plate cylinder as a blade guide, trim the leading
edge of the sticky back using a sharp blade.
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• To make perfect butt joint, press the overlapping trailing end down firmly over
the groove and leading edge, trim off the overlap.

• The protective cover should be still on the top side of the sticky back.

(viii) Plate Thickness Matching

• When working two or more complete design repeats - all plates mounted on
the same cylinder need to be precisely the same thickness. Eg. Measure the
thickness of each plate at all point, place two thickest plates on the right end of
plate cylinder, two at the left end having minimum thickness and remaining
two in the center, set the impression to print two thick plates, then to print two
thin plates

• With trial and error and specific make ready, can be able to achieve acceptable
results.
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(ix) Mounting the first set of plates

• Always mount plates over the sticky back’s butt seam.

• Rotate the plate cylinder so that to position the butt seam near the top.

• Remove an inch wide strip of protective liner near the horizontal center, extend
center lines in the non printing area of the plate.

• Position the plate on plate cylinder, horizontal and vertical scribe lines in the non
printing area of the plate corresponding to the lines drawn on the proofing paper.

• Use optical type mounting and proofing unit, to align scribe lines.

• When two scribe lines are in position, gently tap the plate onto the sticky back.
Now remove the remainder of the sticky back protective liner and press the plate
gently on it.

• Avoid air trapping between plate and sticky back.

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• Repeat the same procedure to lay the opposite side of the plate, near the
impression cylinder.

• Final check need to be made, to make sure that the plate is in perfect alignment,
with the layout guidelines.

• Repeat this operation with each of the other plates of this colour.

• Reason for mounting plates from center – To reduce the alignment error by half

• Place eye spot if necessary – for automated register.

• Larger plates with most printing area should be placed first (for film printing –
white plates; for paper printing – black plates).

• Corrugated printers use sticky back to hold the plates to the carrier or backing
sheet, many still use glue that is brushed on.

• Glue applied unevenly can create highly uneven plates, reducing glue to
recommended viscosity to avoid brush marks and uneven coat.
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(x) Proofing First set of plates

• Cover the proofing paper, showing the layout, with clear 0.004 inch to 0.005 inch
acetate.
• Make sure that there are no wrinkles or movements.
• This helps to take proof over proofing paper and to check the position and
printability without destroying the original.
• The first proof can be washed off the acetate using solvent.
• If all plates print up fully with acceptable impressions, then acetate can be
removed and the proof taken directly onto the proofing paper.
• Move the impression cylinder closer to the plate cylinder or vice versa a distance
equal to the acetate pre-proof thickness, will ensure the same impression on the
proofing paper.
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• A thin uniform film of ink should be applied to the plates for each impression
made, using brayer with a minimum ink.

• With the first colour plates mounted and proofed, tape the sheet of acetate over
the proofing paper after it has been dried to protect it during mounting of
subsequent colour plates and to provide a trial proof of the second colour over the
first.

• Remove the first colour plate cylinder and set up the plate cylinder for the second
colour in a similar manner as that of the first.

• Mount the second set of plates.

• Using mechanical type machine use the same marks or divisions as that of first
colour, for optical machines, match the design into each other for best register.

• Ink the plate and proof the second colour on acetate overlaying the proof of the
first colour.
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 Proofing for Printability or Press-related proofing
Benefits –
• Reduced downtime
• Reduced wastage
• Improved quality
• Better production
Steps -
(i) Proofing paper –
• Smoothest surface with least thickness variation
• Thickness equal to undercut of impression cylinder, 0.003 inches is common.
(ii) Securing the paper –
• Must be secured to impression cylinder very tightly and snugly
• No wrinkles, no looseness.
(iii) Palette or rollout surface
• Use a sheet of ¼ inch flexiglass or glass
• Put white paper under it to show the ink film applied.
• Keep the surface clean, allow only minimum of ink on it.
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(iv) Brayer –
• Must be concentric.
• No dirt on surface and about 50 shore A durometer.
(v) Ink –
• Use water based or oil based ink.
• Strong, thin, moderately fast drying & slow drying on plate.
(vi) Inking the plate –
• Practice to achieve very thin, strong, even coat of think on the roll out glass,
brayer and mounted printing plate.
• Proper amount of ink will just fill the grain of proofing paper.
(vii) After Inking –
• After the plates are inked, re-examine the surface for evidence of brayer marks,
either of stops, starts or brayer edges.
• Roll over the plate repeatedly, without adding more ink, smoothing out the ink.
(viii) Paralleling the plate cylinder –
• Use feeler gauge on both ends of the plate cylinder.

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• Using both cylinders together until the gauge can be removed with a minimum of
drag.
• Gauge the opposite end and middle to make sure that drag resistance is identical
at all locations.
• If not adjust the plate cylinder.

(ix) Establishing zero contact –

• Most perfect plates, sticky back and plate cylinder combination will have some
minor variations in concentric printing height.
• With the plate properly inked, bring them into contact with the paper, by trial and
error, when the first visible ink is transferred, Roll a complete proof.
• ‘Zero contact’ is that distance between the plate cylinder and impression cylinder
that allow some small amount of total plate area to print up on proofing paper.

(x) Setting the gauges –

• Having established this zero contact, the dial indicator or gauges on mounting and
proofing machines are set to zero.
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(xi) Getting a complete print

• The goal is to get all the plates, all the way around and across cylinder to print
completely with the least possible forward motion of plates to impression cylinder.

• For process work, this should be minimal, generally within 0.001 inches additional
impression.

(xii) Slim parameters –

• Remember, 0.002 inches more impression, may be the difference between good,
sharp printing and a completely unsatisfactory job.

• Inking should be always consistent in film thickness.

• Skip outs are an indication of low areas that need to be built up so that, they will print
up without additional impression squeeze.
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 Methods of Prepress Makeready
Lowering high areas –
• Remove all the ink from plates.
• Pull proof with about 0.010 inches to 0.012 inches additional impression to set the
plates at the high point into the sticky back and level them out.
• Clean and re-ink the plates, find new zero contact and proceed.
• If setting the plate to stickyback fails, then any of the following procedures is used.
• Clearly outline the area needing correction. Lift plate from stickyback by the end
closest to the high plate area until the backing substrate behind the area is
exposed. High spots in the photopolymer plate can be lowered as much as
0.002inches by manually sanding the backing substrate.
• Remove the plate from the cylinder, lay it flat with image area facing down. The
high spot area is clearly identified and outlined. Gently sand the backing
substrate within the outlined area.
Check periodically with plate micrometer.
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Building up the low areas –

• Areas of poor or no ink transfer, known as skip-outs, are a possible indication

of low areas that need to be build-up with make-ready.

• False skip-outs may be caused by incomplete plate ink-up, dried ink on the
plate before transfer or low areas in the proofing paper itself. These 3
possibilities should be checked before opting for make-ready.

• Methods of building up low areas are,

(i) Partially lift the plate from sticky-back, then apply a thin coat of cement to the
back of the plate in the low areas. Make several thin applications, proofing
the area being worked on after each application.

(ii) Double-sided adhesive tape in thicknesses from 0.0009 inches to 0.005 inches
can be used to raise one or several lines of type or larger area.

(iii)Liquid adhesive

(iv) Shellac.
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 Additional off-line time savers
• To reduce downtime and waste during a job setup there are several additional steps
that can be taken while the job is in the mounting and proofing machine.
(i) Web edge guide marks:- To save time at press, mount the small plates, having a
printable line about the thickness of a pencil line and about 1/8 inches to ¼ inches
long, placing them to identify the precise edges of the press web.
(ii) Web trim mark:- When using web slightly wider than that required for the job and
a surplus edge must be trimmed, mount a small plate to identify the correct location
for the trim knife.
(iii) Slitter knife marks:- The same principle can be applied in locating multiple-up
slitting knife locations.
(iv) Bag folds former-guide marks – After multiwall Bags are printed, the web is folded
into a tube in which formers are set to create side folds and gussets.
• The same principle can be applied to locating the formers, the small marks can be
located at bag cutoff and will not be visible in the finished bag.
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Wrapping the mounted cylinders –
• A firm bond of plate to cylinder and for the elimination of captive air pockets can
be achieved .
• Low density polyethylene film (about 2.5 inch wide) is used
• Make tension snug, but not enough tension to compress the plate creating highs
and lows in them.
• The tape should be wrapped around the cylinder in a spiral manner from one end
to the other.
• Each winding should overlap the other .
• Reverse to crisscross back over the first layer of windings.
• Tape ends can be secured with a pressure sensitive tape or by tucking it under one
of the last turns.
• Wrap should remain in position at least several hours, over night if possible, but
more than 24 hours.

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 Miscellaneous procedures
1. Removing plates from cylinders

a) Molded rubber plates –

1. If the plate is firmly bonded that peeling off will damage the sticky back – pull just
a corner
2. With a small artist’s brush, apply naphtha or toluene in small bits between the plate
and the adhesive, gradually pulling the plate away as the solvent softens and
releases the adhesive.
3. Let the solvent to evaporate completely before remounting or storing the plate.

b) Film backed photopolymer plates –

1. Will release with minimum efforts
2. Always remove photopolymer plate by loosening the leading edge all along its
width and pulling it squarely from the cylinder.
3. To pull it from corner - will buckle the film backing and possibly ruin the plate.
4. Do not use solvent of any kind to help release the plate, solvent will get between
the plate and its rigid film backing and cause the plate to delaminate.

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2. Mounting the metal-backed plates:-
a) With plain metal backed plates – align the notches along the sides of the
metal with the scribe lines on the cylinder
b) With punched metal backed plates – position the holes in the backing on
the two corresponding pins in the cylinder.
c) Either type of metal back – secure the plate to cylinder by tightly clamping
the hold –down bands.

3. Plate staggering:-
a) Small repeating plates should be staggered across the span of the cylinder
rather than in straight banks.
b) Plate mounted in straight banks across the cylinder are very likely to
produce irregularities in the final printing because of bounce.
c) As open ‘valley’ between plates rotates into position against the
impression cylinder, a ‘bounce’ effect occurs as the leading edge of the
plate’s printing surface comes into contact with the impression cylinder.
d) To prevent this plates should be staggered around the cylinder to provide
continuous bearing surface through the full rotation.
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4. Reusing stickyback

5. Use of release agents- use shellac to remove rubber plate.

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 Plate mounting without a mounting &
proofing machine
• Stickyback is applied to the PC in the conventional manner.

1. Project the scribe lines from the PC to stickyback with a sharp pencil or any
other suitable instrument.

2. Bevel the edges of the plate with scissors, or a knife by cutting at an angle,
or a paper cutter, or a commercial plate trimmer designed for this purpose.

3. Clean the back of the plates thoroughly. Clean rubber plates with alcohol and
photopolymer plates with water. Dry the plate properly.

4. Holding the plate with both hands, align the horizontal line on the plate with
projected lateral scribe line on the stickyback. The vertical line must also line
up.

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5. Carefully position the center of the plate on the stickyback without
stretching. Gradually smooth the plate, pressing down evenly from
center to head and from center to foot.

6. Examine the mounted plate for any trapped air bubbles between the
adhesive and plate. Pierce the air bubbles in non-printing areas or by
pressing down firmly against the adhesive.

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 Recent Developments In Mounting
And Proofing Systems
1. A computerized mounting and proofing system –

Two key features – accuracy and efficient in mounting and proofing

• System comes in a range of sizes for plate cylinders from 60 inch to 120 inch.

• System does not use pins or punching of negatives, it does use conventional
sticky back for holding plates to sleeves or integral cylinders.

• Accurate registration is aided by a TV camera (magnifies register marks up to

30 to 40 times actual size), making it possible to position plates across and
around the cylinder to ± 0.002 inches.

• Computer driven or preliminary programming functions are contained in hard

drive C.

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Series of procedural steps –
(i) Apply proofing paper to impression cylinder manually or automatically.
(ii) Printing cylinder is brought into position and locked in place. Sticky back is
applied to plate cylinder.
(iii) The plate is placed on hold on table allowing some of them to hangover the front
edge, using vacuum.
(iv) The TV camera is moved over a defined registered point. Its position is entered
into the computer and then a second register point is located and also entered.
(v) The computer determines the plate position on the positioning table then turns the
table to bring the plate square with the cylinder face.
(vi) Two pressure rollers move down and contact a printing plate. Holding it in place
when the vacuum is shut off. The computer rotates the plate cylinder and the plate
is mounted.
(vii) Plate cylinder is proofed, proofing cylinder moves down and away allowing the
plate cylinder to be removed and next cylinder brought into position.
Repeat procedure with each plate to be mounted, cutting down mounting time. 31
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2. Pin register mounting system for precast photopolymer plates –
(Adaptation was difficult with the rubber plates)

Operating principles-

• Ideal pin registration system consists of placing holes for registration pins in all
films and plates to be used.

• In practice, it involves punching holes in the films and plates and placing these
materials on registration pins for all steps of the film, plate and press mounting
process.

• Whenever thick plates are used drilling holes is a suitable method as they cannot
be punched easily.

• In addition to this, a procedure is required to use pin registration to obtain

accurate register, is to mount a temporary pin registration bar on the printing
cylinder.
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 System Components
Pin registration system for solid sheet photopolymer plates consists of two parts:
• a film and plate drill
• a registration bar.
• The drill is used to place up to 11 registration holes in a line across the film and
plates.
• The drill can be positioned to avoid drilling in image areas and individual drills
can be removed.
• The standard drill accepts plates up to 42" but can be modified to accept wider
ones.
• The registration bar is a portable bar that clamps securely to the printing cylinder.

• Registration pins on the bar can be aligned with those

already drilled in the plates. Plates mounted on these
pins are in precise alignment with the cylinder.
• Registration bars are available up to 112" wide with
either fixed or sliding pins.
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Preparation for Pin Mounting
•Choose the hole locations for drilling the film. Avoid any image areas. Unwanted
drill bits are removed.
•Drill pin registration holes in all finished plate films simultaneously while they are
held in place by the registration pins in the punched holes used during the film
preparation steps. During this step, a transition is made from the punched film
register system to the drilled plate register system. This is a critical step.
•Prepare printing plates for drilling. Cut plates to size for each color, then back
expose. (This will produce smoother holes.) Don't expose the face for imaging. Drill
pin register holes in prepared plates one at a time.
•The first drilled plate and negative are placed on the registration pins for exposure.
Standard plate making procedures for precast sheet photopolymer plate making are
used to process the plates. Repeat this process until all plates for the job are
finished.
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Procedure for Pin Mounting

• Pin registration bars can be mounted to the plate cylinder either on the cylinder
rack or in the mounting and proofing machine for an inked proof before going to
press.

• Attach the registration bar to the plate cylinder by clamping the bar end-plates to
the bearing surfaces of the plate cylinder shaft. This accurately aligns the pins on the
bar to the plate cylinder (Figure 9-14).

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• While selecting drill hole locations, some of the drills may have to be removed to
avoid piercing image areas. If this occurs, unused pins are removed from the
registration bar.

• Apply sticky back to the plate cylinder, then remove a small portion of the
backing paper. Put the printing plate into position over the pins on the pin bar.

• The plate is held tightly between the bar and the plate cylinder while contact is
made with the sticky back. Smooth the first portion of the plate down onto the
sticky back (Figure 9-16).

• Remove the plate from the pins and remove

the pin registration bar from the plate
cylinder. Take the rest of the backing sheet
off the sticky back and finish smoothing the
plate onto the plate cylinder.
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Advantages of Pin Mounting

Easy mounting: Complex, normally time consuming mounting jobs can be reduced
to few minutes per cylinder.

• It permits step and repeat imaging techniques to produce and mount one large
plate carrying many small repeats, eliminating the time and registration difficulty
of many small plates per cylinder.

• Reduced press setup and mounting times are multiplied as jobs are rerun.

• It minimizes differences in labor-intensive conventional mounting skills.

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3. A Pin Registration Mounting System for liquid or Precast
Photopolymer Plates
• Provides for the alignment, plate cylinder pre-plate positioning and punching of
negatives and photopolymer plate for accurate register and mounting.

• Equipment includes a planning grid sheet, target punch, optical plate punch,
plate mounter and pin-bar mounter.

• The planning grid sheet is a 30" X 40" polyester sheet laser plotted with 37
intersecting lines spaced in 1" increments.

• The intersecting grid lines are identified by numbers and letters along the side and
bottom margins. Along the top edge is a series of five punched slots, one vertical,
flanked by two pairs of horizontal slots.

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• The target punch is a precision, air-actuated film punch that can punch target
slots in the negative at any selected grid line intersecting point with an accuracy
within ± 0.001". A vacuum table holds the film flat and immobilized during
punching.

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• The optical plate punch puts a series of registration slots in the fully processed
printing plate aligning with the target slots in the negative. It uses a high-
resolution, closed circuit, split-monitor TV screen at 20 power magnification to
facilitate operator location and alignment of punching targets. Punching
accuracy is ± 0.001" punch to target and ± 0.0005" repeatability plate to plate. It
uses a center zeroing vertical slot and a series of

horizontal slots left and right of center along one

edge, which causes less buckling or stretching of the

plate.

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• The plate mounter is a free-standing, plate cylinder holding device under
which is a plate mounting pin bar that pivots up and permits the
retractable plate holding pins to contact the sticky back covered cylinder.
Procedure for Punching Negatives

• A transparent, pre-punched acetate "carrier sheet" is placed over the planning grid
sheet to be seen clearly. The first negative is placed on top.

• Let the planning grid sheet represent PC. To select the position for the printing plates
on the PC, move the negative in that position on the grid. Tape the negative to the
acetate carrier sheet in that position.

• Two target punch positions are selected off the image areas along the grid sheet line
"A" or "B". Record these corresponding grid intersecting point numbers and letters on
a job specification sheet

• Next, establish the plate punch positions on the "Y" line along the top of the negative
and record the positions on the job sheet.

• Move the carrier sheet with its negative taped into position, to the target punch.
Reposition the air-activated target punch to coincide with the target locations chosen
on the grid. Activate the device that punches the two targets in the negative
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simultaneously.
Procedure for Punching Printing Plates

• The vacuum table on the optical plate punch is laid out with the same grid
reference points as the negative target punch.

• The two closed-circuit video cameras and plate punch heads can be moved into
the same positions. The cameras project electronic crossed hairs, and the plate
punch targets on the split-screen monitor enlarged to 20 power.

• To set up the plate punch, first take from the job specification sheet the recorded
grid reference target points selected in the planning stage.

• Move the two cameras and the two plate punch heads into those same target
points; refine the alignment of the camera crosshairs and the punch targets with
the micrometer adjustments provided.

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• Place the fully processed printing plate on the vacuum table. Align the plate target
register marks with the TV monitor target positions and refine this alignment by
moving the adjustable vacuum table holding the plate.
• Next, move the cameras and their transverse holding bar to the plate punch
positioning line recorded on the job sheet. Move the punches into the recorded
punch positions.
• When camera crosshairs and plate target marks are precisely aligned on the video
monitor, press the punching button and the plate is punched. This whole
procedure takes less than a minute and is repeated for each printing plate.

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Plate Mounting Procedure

•Put the first plate cylinder on the plate mounter.

•Apply stickyback to the plate cylinder in the conventional way.

•Put the pins in the pin bar in the numbered positions given on the job sheet.

•Attach the first plate to the pivoting pin bar, which has retractable, spring-loaded
pins that hold the plate to the pin bar (Figure 9-22). Pivot the pin bar until the
leading edge of the plate come into contact with the sticky back. An additional push
retracts the pins as the plate sticks to the cylinder across the entire leading edge and
is released from the pivoting bar.

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• Move the pin bar. Slowly rotate the plate cylinder and smooth down the remainder of
the plate. The first plate cylinder is mounted.
• Repeat these steps for all plate cylinders for the job. The actual mounting of the plate
takes less than a minute. In most cases, cylinder handling and mounting for a six-
color job takes less than an hour.
Some Advantages of the System Include:

•Accuracy and speed of registration and mounting is afforded.

•Responsibility for registration is moved to the planning stage when plates are
prepared in stead of during mounting on proofer or press.

•It provides the ability to accurately mount multiple plates around and across the
cylinder. This often eliminates the need for step and repeating negatives.

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4. Plate Mounting to Pins in the Plate Cylinder
• This system requires the printer to have his inventory of plate cylinders drilled
with tiny holes to accept the 0.094“diameter shaft of the pins used for mounting.

•This has to be done with precision in order to correlate to the holes punched into
the printing plate.

•The system will work with any PC width or circumference from 6" to 80".

System works as follows:

1. Mechanical artwork is produced with pin placements indicated at the center of

the repeat and on each edge of the web. A rough web layout showing pin
placement and dimensions is made.

2. One-up negatives are prepared and made the pin placements as shown on the
black and white mechanical artwork.

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3. Negatives are punched blind (unimaged) with the holes for the pins and
"stepped" up in multiples.

4. A photopolymer plate is punched with the same hole placement as the

negatives. This is done before imaging.

5. Pins are placed into the punched holes of the photopolymer plate.

6. The negative is placed over the pins.

7. The negative is exposed to photopolymer plates.

8. The negative and pins are removed and the plate is processed, dried, cured and
finished.

9. The plate cylinder is covered with stickyback as usual.

10. Pinholes in the cylinder are uncovered by removing only a small piece of
stickyback.

11. Remove the small strip of cover paper from the sticky back between pinholes.
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12. Pins are inserted into the pin holes which are in cylinder. The plate is
placed onto the stickyback with punched holes fitted over the pins.

13. The rest of the stickyback cover paper is removed and the plate uniformly
smoothed around the cylinder.

14. The pins are removed from the cylinder. It is then ready to be positioned
in the press for run-up.

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5. Video mounting systems
• Registration through micro dots placed on plate and imaged with video
camera at magnification of 140X.

• Microdots are 0.01 inch in diameter and are put exactly the same place in
each color plate.

• They are placed on the left and right side of the copy and in the center of
the copy’s web direction.

• When jobs are in register, they overprint each other and appear to be a
single dot (black dot for process colors).

• Using micro dots, plate-to-plate registration to within 0.001 inches can be

achieved.

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6. Sleeve mounting systems
Features of sleeves:

• Limited number of PC is needed for a particular print repeat size.

• Repeat jobs can be stored in sleeves –saves mounting time, plate and
stickyback costs.

• Can be easily remounted –saves times in difficult-to-register jobs.

• Reduced press downtime.

• Continuous design printing plates can be formed on sleeves.

• Sleeve storage is easy and convenient than PC storage.

• Flexible – sleeves of various thicknesses.

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Mounting procedure

• Make inner diameter slightly smaller than outside diameter.

• By means of compressed air, the sleeve is expanded sufficiently to slide

onto the PC.

• Once, it is in position, the air is disconnected and the sleeve clamps tightly
onto the PC.

• Sleeves are used on cylinders with diameters ranging from 2 inches to 22

inches and in lengths upto 110 inches.

• Special handling equipment may be required for large sleeves.

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