Comparative study of print quality attributes on bio-based biodegradable plastic using flexography and gravure printing process

Abstract

Printing has revolutionized not only the religious and educational world by providing printing on paper but also the commercial world by providing end-to-end solutions for packaging by printing on materials like plastics. Print quality refers to level of details and sharpness of printed products for wider acceptability. Print quality has an important role in maintaining consistency during printing on selected surfaces to provide desired satisfaction. Printability and runnability of substrates, substrate surface characteristics, and printing ink properties are attributes of print quality and are considered important for determining good quality printing. Solid ink density (SID), Hue error, grayness and ink trapping are some of the important measurable printability factors that play an important role in determining the print quality irrespective of substrates. Gravure printing and flexography printing are high-speed printing suitable for printing on flexible substrates so, attempts were made for explore the mutual compatibilities of new-generation printing substrates with established printing processes, which will prove to be a boon in the future by replacing conventional plastics with bio-based biodegradable plastics in printing for packaging and its other applications. So, multi-color printing on selected bio-based biodegradable plastics were explored for determining printability by measuring and maintaining print quality attributes during print runs.