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Offset printing Sheet fed offset printing is one of the three main printing techniques of the modern printing industry. This classic technology is ideally suitable for printing on coated, lowly-coated and non-coated papers and boards. Offset printing assures excellent printing quality, high precision of color rendering and reproduction of minute elements of the printed image. Besides printing with primary colors (CMYK), it is possible to introduce additional palettes (pantone), as well as varnish. Production printed with this traditional method can be processed by any of existing finishing techniques, including hot foil stamping, relief stamping, spot UV varnishing, lamination, die cutting, folding, creasing, gluing etc. Because of its simplicity this printing method is represented in the majority of modern printing plants. The quality of the end product depends on the skill of operators and the conditions of the printing equipment. At our plant, high quality offset printing is guaranteed by the new equipment of German firm KBA, a 6-color printing press of B1 size (700 * 1000mm) RAPIDA 105 with UV varnishing section of chamber-type and the skilled operators with over 15 years of experience. The plates are made at CTP system of thermal type. Minimum print dot is 20 microns. Efficiency and quality of preparation for the new order is achieved by using CIP3-CIP4 protocol, which allows performing all necessary presetting of inking units and the print size at the pre-press stage. Offset printing with UV inks Sheet fed offset printing with UV-baked inks is a relatively young technology, which promises a lot. UV inks make it possible to print on non-absorbent surfaces, such as metalized papers and boards, plastics and films, self-adhesive materials, including transparent ones, and lenticular lenses for stereo vario effects. Due to their chemicophysical nature the UV inks have excellent adhesiveness over difficult materials and can be easily processed on the finishing stage of production. The inks do not fade in the direct sunlight for long periods of time, so UV-printed products are suitable for outdoor street advertisement. In comparison with folic inks that had been used by the industry before the introduction of UV inks, the printed quality is higher by an order. This can be explained by exclusion of anti-set-off powder from the production process, and the fact that the UV printing method is not so demanding regarding the production conditions - this directly influence the stability of quality. The range of materials for UV printing inks is very broad: from the conventional coated paper and cardboards to plastic materials: polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), acrylic, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), metalized paperboard, synthetic adhesive film, lenticular lens, stereo-vario. Drip-off, Hybrid Printing Hybrid inks combine the best qualities of conventional offset inks and advanced UV printing technologies. The hybrid offset method allows UV varnishing in wet-on-wet mode, in-line, without additional primering with water-based varnish. But the principle advantage of this technology is unique visual effects of the ink surface finish due to the hybrid ink with so called "varnish effect". Such surface finish cannot be reproduced by using any other known printing technique or material and substrates. The technical specifications of hybrid inks declare impossibility to print over plastic or metalized surfaces. However the production specialists of our plant have developed a unique method of hybrid printing on plastic materials with good and stable quality, including printing on metalized papers and boards, saving the unique visual effects of hybrid ink finishing Hybrid printing (Drip-Off) widens the limits of possibilities and allows not just glossy accentuation of selected areas, but makes it possible to combine them with matt effects and relief elements. The special attention should be devoted to hybrid offset printing on metalized boards. If compared with conventional printing, in this case the method of hybrid printing makes it possible to combine the relief textures, imitating the textures of plastic surface, with the effect of 3D-like image and high degree of surface gloss. Printing on metalized cardboard Metalized cardboard is a special type of board that has been laminated with metalized films. Nowadays this substrate is widely used for production of various kinds of packaging. Printing over metalized board is gaining more and more popularity. Flexible packaging from metalized board is used for production of premium grade boxes for confectionary, cosmetics, perfumes, greeting cards etc. In order to print over this substrate a producer needs to implement UV-printing methods. As a rule, recycled or cellulose boards of various weights are used for lamination with metalized film. The board can be laminated with films that give a range of visual effects, such as matt, glossy, pearly, mirror, holographic, colored etc. In order to ensure the good quality of printing over metalized board it is necessary to provide adequate adhesion of inks to the printed substrate. It is not only important to select correct ink and fountain solution, but the good-quality laminated substrate. Such substrates should undergo corona treatment to increase the surface tensions and improve the ink adhesion. Screen printing with UV inks UV screen printing is used for printing with inks and other materials that are polymerizable by the UV radiation. The polymerization of inks and varnishes is instant and due to this advantage the materials do not require long time for drying of ready product, as it happens when printing with traditional solvent inks and other inks used for screen printing. At our printing plant this method is mainly used for finishing of traditional offset printed production. Our production specialist can chose from such methods as spot varnishing (matt and gloss), application of special varnishes - glitter, blister and high viscosity (Braille). Tin this way our screen printing division is truly a treasure for designers, it makes it possible for them to bring to life any kind of creative ideas, by combining UV materials with different substrates. It goes without saying that screen finishing of printed products is not the most budget method. On the other hand it is an excellent tool to manufacture elite packaging bringing your products to a higher level of quality. Special types of varnishing Specialized varnishes with exclusive decorative or physical properties are used for production of high-priced elite class packaging. Due to special features of UV screen printing methods there are practically no limitations as far as the substrate is concerned: cardboard, synthe3tic materials, plastics, metalized substrates. Glitter varnish - transparent glossy UV varnish for screen printing with incorporated tiny particles of glitter, golden of other color, looking like very small glittering flakes. It is often used for finishing of greeting cards, underlining some elements of the design in a flashy way. It makes the product look in a festive way. The glitter varnish comes in several fractions and shades: golden, silver, holographic, "acid" and iris. Iriodine varnishes - a transparent varnish, containing Iriodine agents. The composition gives it a very nice-looking pearly shade. It is used as a reliable method to give a noble and reserved look to a printed product. Depending on the formula, the iriodins can come in various shades: pearly-white, pearly-gold, red, and blue or green etc. Relief varnish (Braille) - a glossy varnish of very high viscosity and low fluidity, which can imitate the relief stamping. Sometimes it is called a Braille varnish similar to Braille type font, which is used for fingertips reading by blind people. Braille varnish is very spectacular when used for finishing of small decorative elements and fonts, where the relief stamping is not applicable. At the same time our printing plant can apply specialized varnishes on your specific demand. For instance, it can be a varnish with unilateral sliding direction направлением скольжения, or an anti-slippery varnish лак, satin matt varnish, flavored varnish or a varnish that is luminescent in UV radiation. Such specialized varnished are efficient means for protection of products from counterfeiting. Flexographic printing of tea labels and sachets Tea tag is an essential element of a tea bag packaging. Our printing plant is the only printing facility in Ukraine that has established production of tea tags. It is printed on a roll-to-roll flexo printing press Mark Andy 2200 equipped with additional options. The face and backs printing of tags is made in a single run. The technical specifications allow production of cardboard and paper tags, as well as sachets, individual paper bags for tea packing. Outwardly simple, in practice this production requires well-developed printing technology. The result of our collective work is that today Vesna Packaging Printing Plant is the undisputed leader of Ukrainian market of paper and cardboard tea tags. Die cutting Die cutting is one of the main finishing techniques that gives the printed layout of a packaging box its final shape. The die cutting equipment cuts the shapes of the printed product from sheets of cardboard or plastic, afterwards it is usually folded and glued. It is possible to combine creasing of the substrate with die cutting with cutting knives. As a result, one gets the shapes of any level of complexity. Embossing This kind of finishing operation is done on semi-automatic and automatic embossing and hot stamping presses. The foil (metalized or pigmented or other kind) is stamped to the substrate by hot or cold method and is used for adding more attractiveness to packaging and advertising products. The stamping process is divided into several methods:
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