Proses pembuatan plat

1. Print your artwork on inkjet or laser film as a mirror image. The artwork should be printed out in black
with the highest quality to enhance the density of the print. The image on the film should be solid black.
If you hold it up to a bright light and view it with a magnifier, very little light should come through the
black portions. This is important; if the image is not dense enough the plate produced will be too
shallow for printing.

2. The reason for the mirrored image is to allow the ink-side (printed-side) to touch the photopolymer
plate during exposure. This is called emulsion-to-emulsion contact. This process keeps light from getting
in between the image and the plate, ensuring there is no loss in detail.

3. When you have your printed artwork on the film, trim down the film to fit the plate. The artwork
should be centered on the pad printing plate about 45 mm (1.8”) from the top edge. Try not to trim just
around the artwork because the trimmed outline will be visible when you expose the plate.

4. Get a new photopolymer plate and peel off the plastic protector sheet.scion plate

5. Place the artwork (film positive) on the photopolymer plate.

6. Place the film positive and plate on the exposure unit face down so that photopolymer area can be
exposed.

7. Close the cover and expose for 60 seconds.

8. Open the cover, take the film positive out, and put screen tint on the plate. Be sure the duller side of
the screen tint film is touching the plate surface for good emulsion-to-emulsion contact.

9. Put them back on the exposure unit and expose for another 35 seconds.

10. Take the plate to the sink and wash it out for about two minutes in 80°F water. 80°F feels lukewarm
to the touch. Temperature is important, as water that is too cold may not wash out the image correctly,
and water that is too hot may wash away the halftone dot pattern. Wash for 1 to 2 minutes, the water
will dissolve the unexposed polymer. Note that the plate will not feel slimy when it is washed out
correctly.

11. Dry the plate thoroughly to remove moisture from the polymer so it becomes hard and smooth. Dry
at 200° F for 15 minutes. Overheating will cause bubbles in the polymer and spots in the plate

12. Put the exposed and dried photopolymer plate back on the exposure unit and post-expose plate for
at least 15 minutes. 30 minutes provides better results and will set the plate to maximum hardness.

13. Your pad printing plate is ready to be put on the machine.

1. Cetak karya seni Anda pada film inkjet atau laser sebagai gambar cermin. Karya seni harus dicetak
hitam dengan kualitas tertinggi untuk meningkatkan kepadatan cetakan. Gambar di film harus hitam
pekat. Jika Anda memegangnya pada cahaya terang dan melihatnya dengan kaca pembesar, sangat
sedikit cahaya yang masuk melalui bagian hitam. Ini penting; jika gambar tidak cukup padat, pelat
yang dihasilkan akan terlalu dangkal untuk dicetak.

2. Alasan gambar yang dicerminkan adalah untuk memungkinkan sisi tinta (sisi tercetak) menyentuh
pelat photopolymer selama eksposur. Ini disebut kontak emulsi-ke-emulsi. Proses ini mencegah cahaya
masuk di antara gambar dan pelat, memastikan tidak ada kehilangan detail.

3. Saat Anda memiliki karya seni tercetak di film, rapikan film agar sesuai dengan pelat. Karya seni harus
dipusatkan pada pelat cetak bantalan sekitar 45 mm (1,8 ”) dari tepi atas. Cobalah untuk tidak
memangkas hanya di sekitar karya seni karena garis tepi yang dipangkas akan terlihat saat Anda
mengekspos pelat.

4. Siapkan pelat photopolymer baru dan lepaskan lembaran pelindung plastik

5. Tempatkan karya seni (film positif) di atas pelat photopolymer.

6. Tempatkan film positif dan pelat pada unit eksposur menghadap ke bawah sehingga area
photopolymer dapat terbuka.

7. Tutup penutup dan biarkan selama 60 detik.

8. Buka penutup, keluarkan film positif, dan letakkan screen tint di piring. Pastikan sisi kusam dari
lapisan warna layar menyentuh permukaan pelat untuk kontak emulsi-ke-emulsi yang baik.

9. Letakkan kembali pada unit eksposur dan ekspos selama 35 detik.

10. Bawalah piring ke bak cuci dan cuci selama dua menit dalam air bersuhu 80 ° F. 80 ° F terasa hangat
saat disentuh. Suhu penting, karena air yang terlalu dingin mungkin tidak dapat menghilangkan gambar
dengan benar, dan air yang terlalu panas dapat menghilangkan pola titik setengah nada. Cuci selama 1
hingga 2 menit, air akan melarutkan polimer yang tidak terpapar. Perhatikan bahwa piring tidak akan
terasa berlendir saat dicuci dengan benar.

11. Keringkan pelat secara menyeluruh untuk menghilangkan kelembapan dari polimer sehingga
menjadi keras dan halus. Kering pada suhu 200 ° F selama 15 menit. Panas berlebih akan menyebabkan
gelembung di polimer dan bintik-bintik di piring

12. Letakkan kembali pelat photopolymer yang terbuka dan kering pada unit eksposur dan pelat pasca-
eksposur setidaknya selama 15 menit. 30 menit memberikan hasil yang lebih baik dan akan mengatur
pelat ke kekerasan maksimum.

13. Pelat cetak bantalan Anda siap dipasang di mesin.

Printing plates must have ability to transfer an image to paper, cardboard or other substrates. Printing
plates are usually made from metal, plastic, rubber, paper, and other materials. The image is put on the
printing plates with photochemical, photomechanical or laser engraving processes.

Usually, metal printing plates are more expensive but last longer and have greater accuracy.

The offset printing plates used in offset printing are thin (up to about 0.3 mm), and easy to mount on the
plate cylinder, and they mostly have a mono-metal (aluminum) or, less often, multimetal, plastic or
paper construction.

Aluminum has been gaining ground for a long time among the metal-based plates over zinc and steel.
The necessary graining of the aluminum surface is done mechanically either by sand-blasting, ball
graining, or by wet or dry brushing. Nowadays, practically all printing plates are grained in an electrolytic
process (anodizing), that is, electrochemical graining with subsequent oxidation.

printing plate

The imaging, ink-accepting coating (light-sensitive coating, thickness around 1μm) is applied to the base
material. This material is usually a polymer, or copper in the case of multimetal plates (bi-metal plates).
Light sensitive, diazo (photo-polymer) pre-coated aluminum printing plates are now the predominant
plates in print shops. The image transfer is produced via the different properties on the surface of such
plates after they have been exposed and developed. The remains of the original light-sensitive coating
or the light-sensitive coating changed by the effect of light are the ink-accepting (oleophilic) elements
that create the image.

Chemical changes occur as a result of the penetration of photo-effective (actinic) light (light containing
UV rays), causing the light-sensitive coating to react differently depending on its type and structure.
There are two types of photochemical reactions when developing the printing plate:

hardening of the light-sensitive layer by light (negative plate-making),

decomposition of the light-sensitive layer by light (positive plate-making).
With positive plate-making and conventional printing plates production, a positive film is used as the
original, that is, the non-translucent, blackened sections of the film correspond to the ink-accepting
surface elements on the plate.

In the case of negative plate-making with “negative plates” a negative film is used as an original, that is,
the ink-accepting image areas of the printing plate correspond to the translucent, light areas on the film.
For quality assurance and monitoring during plate-making, control elements are copied onto the plates.