A method of manufacturing a printing cylinder. The method comprises providing a moulding apparatus comprising a cylindrical moulding vessel defining a moulding cavity (101). The vessel comprises at least one inlet for the ingress of moulding material. The method comprises performing an injection moulding operation comprising: injecting moulding material through the at least one inlet to substantially fill the moulding cavity with moulding material; and effecting hardening of the moulding material within the vessel (102). The method comprises removing the printing cylinder (103). At least part of the injection moulding operation is performed in the presence of an active pressure being applied to the moulding cavity.

A method for fixing and treating a flexible plate on a drum includes: providing a flexible plate comprising a support layer made of a first material and at least one additional layer made of a second material which is different from the first material, wherein one or more thin film side wings are connected to one or more sides of the flexible plate. The one or more thin film side wings have a thickness which is at least 5 times smaller than the thickness of the flexible plate. The method further includes positioning the flexible plate on the drum such that the lower face of each thin film side wing of the flexible plate covers at least one vacuum suction opening, and performing a treatment on at least one layer of the flexible plate while rotating the drum.

A laser-engravable pad printing plate comprising at least (a) a metal support, (b) an adhesion layer, (c) a laser-engravable recording layer having a layer thickness of 20 m to 200 m, (d) a cover film,
characterized in that the laser-engravable recording layer (c) comprises (c1) 40 to 95 wt % of a polyvinyl alcohol, (c2) 5 to 50 wt % of an IR absorber, (c3) 0 to 30 wt % of an inorganic filler, (c4) 0 to 20 wt % of a crosslinker, and (c5) 0 to 10 wt % of further additives.

A laser-engravable pad printing plate comprising at least (a) a metal support, (b) an adhesion layer, (c) a laser-engravable recording layer having a layer thickness of 20 m to 200 m, (d) a cover film,
characterized in that the laser-engravable recording layer (c) comprises (c1) 40 to 95 wt % of a polyvinyl alcohol, (c2) 5 to 50 wt % of an IR absorber, (c3) 0 to 30 wt % of an inorganic filler, (c4) 0 to 20 wt % of a crosslinker, and (c5) 0 to 10 wt % of further additives.

A method of improved screening to increase stability in flexographic printing is provided. The method is performed by a flexographic printing system. The flexographic printing system includes a computer system and a flexographic printing device. The method includes analyzing the first proposed graphical input of the printing job to identify at least one highlight area containing a plurality of halftone graphical elements in the first proposed graphical input, determining an amount of white space between the plurality of the halftone graphical elements in the first proposed graphical input, assigning at least one graphical element to be placed in a spatial relationship with each of the plurality of the halftone graphical elements, generating a second proposed graphical input by placing the at least one graphical elements on the first proposed graphical input based on the respective assignment, and instructing the flexographic printing device to print the second proposed graphical input.

A can imprinting device includes a blanket wheel having a plurality of blankets. Each blanket has a printing surface and at least two of the printing surfaces having a first part and a second part that each have raised and recessed portions. The first raised portion is configured to form a positive image on a can body of the plurality of can bodies. The first raised portion of at least one of the blankets is different in form from the first raised portion of at least one other of the blankets. The second recessed portion is configured to form a negative image on the can body. The negative image is inverse to the positive image. The first part and the second part are disposed relative to each other such that the negative image aligns with the positive image on the can body.

A method for providing a textured surface finish to a substrate includes providing an image having a contrast ratio; altering the image to increase the contrast ratio; determining an engraving profile for an ink transfer tool based on the contrast ratio of the image; etching the ink transfer tool in accordance with the engraving profile; coating the ink transfer tool with an ink; transferring the ink from the ink transfer tool to a substrate; applying a top coat to the substrate while the ink is set; and curing the ink and top coat on the substrate in an oven. The etching creates a plurality of wells in the ink transfer tool for holding the ink. The engraving profile is not identical to the altered image.

A method for writing an imageable material using multiple beams includes preparing subsequent patterns each having Y rows of N pixel locations, said subsequent patterns including first and second patterns; where the first and the second pattern overlap with each other in an overlap area consisting of O columns and Y rows of pixel locations; selecting for each row i of said first pattern Mi1 pixel locations; selecting for each row i of said second pattern Mi2 pixel locations; writing simultaneously, for each row i, said Mi1 selected pixel locations by moving the N beams in a fast scan direction relative to said imageable material; and moving said N beams relative to said imageable material in a slow scan direction over (NO) pixel locations; writing simultaneously, for each row i, said Mi2 selected pixel locations by moving the N beams in a fast scan direction relative to said imageable material.

The invention relates to a method for producing pictorial relief structures on a layer construction. The method comprises the provision of a layer construction having a substrate layer. After this, at least one fluid containing at least one first reactive component is applied pictorially to the substrate, wherein the pictorial application takes place in the form of a plurality of droplets with a droplet volume of less than 2 l, and wherein the droplets are positioned pictorially. After this, there is an at least partial diffusing of the at least one first reactive component into the substrate layer for a predefined exposure time and/or an at least partial diffusing of at least one second reactive component into the pictorially positioned droplets of fluid for a predefined exposure time, wherein the substrate layer comprises the at least one second reactive component. The created relief is then fixed under the influence of heat and/or radiation via a reaction involving the first reactive component and/or the second reactive component.

Further aspects of the invention relate to a pictorial relief structure produced according to the method and to the use of the pictorial relief structure as a printing form, as a microfluidic component, as a microreactor, as a phoretic cell, as a light-controlling element for color representation, as photonic crystals or as flexible parts of items of clothing.

The invention relates to a method for producing pictorial relief structures on a layer construction. The method comprises the provision of a layer construction having a substrate layer. After this, at least one fluid containing at least one first reactive component is applied pictorially to the substrate, wherein the pictorial application takes place in the form of a plurality of droplets with a droplet volume of less than 2 l, and wherein the droplets are positioned pictorially. After this, there is an at least partial diffusing of the at least one first reactive component into the substrate layer for a predefined exposure time and/or an at least partial diffusing of at least one second reactive component into the pictorially positioned droplets of fluid for a predefined exposure time, wherein the substrate layer comprises the at least one second reactive component. The created relief is then fixed under the influence of heat and/or radiation via a reaction involving the first reactive component and/or the second reactive component.

Further aspects of the invention relate to a pictorial relief structure produced according to the method and to the use of the pictorial relief structure as a printing form, as a microfluidic component, as a microreactor, as a phoretic cell, as a light-controlling element for color representation, as photonic crystals or as flexible parts of items of clothing.