page_title: History of printing
section_title: Flexography
hierarchical_section_title: History of printing / Flexography
caption_attribution_description: English: en:Flexography printing plate relief (closeup shot) Deutsch: de:Flexodruck Druckplattenrelief (Nahaufnahme)
context_page_description: The history of printing arguably starts in Mesopotamia as early as the 4th millennium BC, when clay tokens were used to record specific amounts of livestock or commodities. These tokens were initially impressed on the surface of round clay envelopes and then stored in them, and eventually evolved into early writing. Other early forms include block seals, Hammered coinage, pottery imprints, and cloth printing. Woodblock printing on paper originated in China around 200 AD. It led to the development of movable type in the eleventh century and the spread of book production in East Asia. Woodblock printing was also used in Europe, but it was in the fifteenth century that European printers developed a process for mass-producing metal type to support an economical book publishing industry. This industry enabled the communication of ideas and sharing of knowledge on an unprecedented scale. Alongside the development of text printing, new and lower-cost methods of image reproduction were developed, including lithography, screen printing and photocopying.
context_section_description: Flexography (also called "surface printing"), often abbreviated to "flexo", is a method of printing most commonly used for packaging (labels, tape, bags, boxes, banners, and so on).
  A flexo print is achieved by creating a mirrored master of the required image as a 3D relief in a rubber or polymer material.  A measured amount of ink is deposited upon the surface of the printing plate (or printing cylinder) using an anilox roll. The print surface then rotates, contacting the print material which transfers the ink.
  Originally flexo printing was basic in quality. Labels requiring high quality have generally been printed by offset printing until recently. Great advances have been made to the quality of flexo printing presses.
  The greatest advances though have been in the area of photopolymer printing plates, including improvements to the plate material and the method of plate creation. Usually, photographic exposure followed by chemical etch or water washout. Direct laser engraving of an ablative surface allows direct-to-plate exposure of photopolymer plates.
caption: A flexographic printing plate.
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