Flexographic printing is a rotary relief printing method that transfers fast-drying, low-viscosity ink from a flexible relief plate onto the substrate as the web runs roll to roll through the press. It’s the main printing process behind flexible packaging, labels, corrugated boards, and food packaging, because a flexible plate prints cleanly on plastic films, foil, and paper at high speed.
This guide covers flexo presses, plates, inks, how flexo compares with offset and digital printing, and the chemistry that keeps print quality consistent.
A Short History of Flexo Printing
Flexo printing began in the late 1800s as rubber stamp printing, with an early rotary press built in Liverpool in 1890. Early aniline dye inks gave the flexo printing process its first name, aniline printing, and the printing industry renamed it flexography in 1952. Synthetic polymers replaced rubber through the 1950s and 1960s, photopolymer plates arrived in the 1970s, and computer-to-plate digital technology later cut plate setup from days to hours.
How the Flexographic Printing Process Works
Each color on a flexographic press has its own printing unit built around three cylinders: the anilox roller, the plate cylinder, and the impression cylinder. On an open system, a fountain roller turning in the ink pan, or ink fountain, lifts ink to the anilox roller, an engraved cylinder covered in cells. A doctor blade wipes the excess ink off its surface, so only the ink inside the cells remains. That’s how flexographic printing presses meter ink to a consistent film thickness.
Anilox rollers transfer ink to the raised image on the printing plate, and the impression cylinder presses the web against the plate with light kiss pressure for clean ink transfer onto the substrate. Hot air dryers or UV lamps between stations set each color before the next one lands.
Because the flexographic process runs continuously from unwind to rewind, the press can varnish, laminate, die cut, and apply cold foil stamping in the same pass. That mix of printing and converting is why converters choose flexographic printing for high-speed production of packaging materials.
Types of Flexographic Printing Presses
Flexographic printing presses come in three common designs. Stack presses arrange color stations vertically and can print both sides of the web, which suits paper bags and sacks, though they hold register less tightly on stretchy films. Central impression (CI) presses wrap every station around one large impression cylinder, which holds register on thin plastic films. Modern flexographic presses in CI configuration commonly run 300 to 600 meters per minute, the standard for wide web flexible packaging. In-line presses set the units in a horizontal row, and narrow web in-line models print and finish self-adhesive labels, often with UV curable inks.
Anilox Rolls and Ink Metering
The anilox roller controls the amount of ink that reaches the plate, so it shapes flexographic print quality more than almost any other part of the press. Line screen counts the cells per linear inch, and cell volume is measured in billion cubic microns (BCM). Fine halftones need a high line screen and low volume, roughly 1 to 4 BCM, while heavy solids need the ink capacity of deeper cells, often 5 to 9 BCM.
Most presses meter ink with a chambered doctor blade that seals ink away from air at high speed. Cells still wear and plug with dried ink, and a roll that’s lost volume prints weak solids and drifting color. Cleaning with an anilox roll cleaner from our flexo plate chemistry range keeps volume closer to spec and supports enhanced quality control.
Flexographic Printing Plates
Flexographic printing plates are flexible relief plates, usually photopolymer, with the image raised above the plate floor. The plate material is soft, generally 25 to 55 Shore A, so a rubber or polymer plate can print rough corrugated liners and thin films alike. Too much impression, though, spreads the dots and costs print quality.
Most shops now run digital photopolymer plates. A laser ablates a black mask, UV light exposes the image, and washout removes the unexposed polymer with solvent, water, or heat, so the processing chemistry has to match the printing plate.
For plate mounting, operators fix flexo plates to the plate cylinder or a sleeve with double-sided adhesive tape. Firmer tape suits solids, while softer tape cushions halftone dots and limits dot gain. Each flexible plate needs a uniform thickness and square mounting for tight register and consistent quality control. After the run, clean plates with a compatible wash, dry them, and store them flat in the dark, away from ozone sources such as electric motors, which can crack photopolymer plates.
Flexographic Printing Inks and Ink Properties
Flexographic inks are low-viscosity and fast drying, and the substrate decides which family fits. Water-based inks are standard on absorbent paper and corrugated boards. They release far fewer VOCs than solvent-based inks, but on nonabsorbent plastic films they dry slower and are less durable. Solvent-based inks dry quickly under hot air and bond well to films and foil, which keeps them common in flexible packaging materials, though their emissions need capture. UV curable inks cure instantly under UV lamps and hold sharp dots for label work, and UV inks for food packaging need low-migration ink formulations.
Quality control before a run covers ink properties such as viscosity, drying speed, adhesion, and plate compatibility. Ink technology keeps moving, and water-based inks now run on many films that once took only solvent inks.
Flexographic Printing Applications
Flexographic printing handles a wide variety of substrates, which makes it the usual printing method for long runs in the packaging industry:
-Flexible packaging: snack bags, pouches, and wrappers on plastic films and foil, much of it food packaging.
-Labels: self-adhesive labels for food, beverage, and household products.
-Corrugated boxes: shipping cases and retail displays printed on corrugated boards.
-Paper products: folding cartons, paper bags, cups, napkins, and gift wrap.
Flexographic vs Offset Printing
Offset printing is planographic: ink and water separate on a flat aluminum plate, and a rubber blanket carries the image to the sheet. It’s the standard for commercial work on paper and board, with fine halftones and predictable dot gain on coated stock, and an offset printing plate costs less per job than flexo photopolymer plates.
Flexographic printing handles diverse substrates better than offset, including plastic films, foil, and corrugated, and it pays off on long roll-fed runs where high speed and inline converting outweigh plate costs. Digital printing suits short runs and variable data but can’t match flexo’s speed, and gravure printing carries higher setup costs because its engraved cylinders cost more than flexographic plates. Our guide to types of printing methods compares each printing process.
For offset work, browse our offset printing inks, including process blue quickset ink, process black ink, PMS 185 Pantone red ink, and AquaDot waterless black, or order offset printing ink by the can. A blanket fix solution raises low spots in blankets, and a press wash for offset presses handles cleanup between jobs.
Press Chemistry for Flexo Printing
Match the press wash to the ink system. Water-based inks clean up with water-based washes, solvent-based inks and UV inks need washes made for them, and a wash too aggressive for the plate can swell photopolymer. Our flexo plate chemistry collection carries flexo press washes and anilox roll cleaners. For rollers that glaze over, a rubber rejuvenator restores ink receptivity on offset and flexographic presses, and our printing chemistry collection covers other pressroom cleaners.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Flexographic Printing?
Flexographic printing is a rotary relief printing method that prints roll-fed substrates at high speed with flexible photopolymer plates, an anilox roller, and fast-drying inks. It’s the main process for packaging materials and labels, with good print quality and consistent brand color on long runs.
What Are the Disadvantages of Flexo Printing?
Plates and makeready add fixed costs, so short runs usually cost less with digital printing. Soft plates gain dots, which makes fine type and vignettes harder to hold. Flexo printing also creates waste from unused ink and plates, uses significant energy for drying, and solvent-based inks need emission controls.
What Are the Biggest Flexo Printing Companies?
Rankings change yearly, but lists of the largest flexo printers, mostly flexible packaging converters, usually include Amcor, Mondi, Huhtamaki, Constantia Flexibles, and Sealed Air, each running flexographic printing alongside other printing techniques.
How Much Does a Flexographic Printer Make?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics groups flexo operators with printing press operators, who earned a median annual wage of $45,780 in May 2025. Pay varies with region, shift, experience, and press type.
How Much Does a Flexographic Printer Cost?
There’s no typical figure, since flexographic printing presses range from narrow web label presses to multi-color CI lines, and each quote depends on web width, color count, drying, automation, and inline finishing. Used printing presses sell for far less than new ones. Budget for plates, anilox rollers, inks, and chemistry too.
What Are the 12 Types of Printing?
There’s no official list, but most 12-item lists include offset lithography, flexography, gravure, letterpress, screen printing, inkjet, laser toner, pad printing, thermography, foil stamping, dye sublimation, and 3D printing. Our types of printing methods guide covers the six that commercial printers use most.
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By the Printing Supplies Direct Team.