Plates Engineered for Your Application
Every printing application has different requirements. The right plate for corrugated post-print isn’t necessarily the right plate for flexible packaging or labels.
Corrugated Packaging
From challenging recycled linerboard to demanding graphics, we engineer plates to deliver smooth solids, controlled dot gain, clean highlights, and consistent print across the sheet.
Flexible Packaging
High-quality graphics, fine highlights, smooth vignettes, and excellent ink transfer require careful control of the plate and prepress process. We help select and engineer the right solution for your film, press, and ink system.
Labels
Labels demand precision, detail, and color consistency. Our plate and prepress expertise helps deliver crisp graphics, controlled tonal reproduction, and repeatable results from job to job.
Whether the job is straightforward or technically difficult, we start with the printing requirements and work backward to the best solution. We don’t just make plates. We solve printing problems.
Technical Expertise That Makes a Difference
The quality of a flexographic plate depends on much more than the imaging device used to make it.
Our team understands the interaction between the plate, screening, anilox, ink, substrate, press conditions, and graphics. That knowledge lets us identify the factors that can affect print performance before they become problems on press.
We offer an array of photopolymer materials, plate formulations, and thicknesses, so we can match the plate to the application rather than forcing every job into the same solution.
Our technical capabilities include
- Advanced digital plate imaging
- High-definition plate technologies
- Flat-top and engineered dot structures
- Specialty screening
- Surface screening and plate surface texture
- Expanded color gamut / ECG workflows
- Color separation and process-color optimization
- Highlight and vignette control
- Ink-transfer optimization
- Plate and substrate selection
- Plate thickness and durometer selection
- Plate mounting and integrated mounting solutions
- Press characterization and print-process support
Advanced Technology. Applied by People Who Know Flexo.
CSW continually evaluates new technologies and processes that can improve what happens on press.
HD-Gen2™ High Definition Digital Plate System
High-resolution imaging combined with advanced plate surface engineering for sharper detail, smoother gradations, and excellent solid ink densities.
Designed for applications where the plate needs to push flexography closer to the quality traditionally associated with offset or gravure printing.
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WhiteFX™ Ink Transfer Solution
White ink can be one of the most difficult elements of a flexible packaging job. WhiteFX™ improves white ink laydown for a smoother, more uniform white, while helping reduce pinholing and improve the appearance of overprinted colors.
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X-Corr™ Digital Plate System
Engineered specifically for the demands of corrugated printing. Its flat-top dot structure helps control dot gain and fluting while maintaining strong solids and clean tonal reproduction.
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FlexLT™ Integrated Mount
Integrates the plate and mounting process into a lightweight, press-ready solution. Particularly useful for demanding corrugated applications and multi-out work where graphic coverage varies significantly across the sheet.
Download Info SheetAnd We’re Always Testing What’s Next
CSW works closely with technology and material suppliers to evaluate new developments in flexographic plate technology. We don’t simply wait for new products to become commercially available. We collaborate with suppliers, test emerging products, and participate in alpha and beta testing of new technologies.
That gives our team firsthand experience with new materials and processes, and helps us determine where they can deliver a meaningful advantage for our customers.
From Package Concept to Cart
A printing plate is one part of a much larger process.
Our prepress, color, and plate-making teams work together to help manage and streamline the path from package concept to printed package. Through communication, workflow connectivity, and collaboration, we help identify potential problems early and make sure the graphics are engineered for the realities of the printing process.
That can mean
- Identifying a potential press or substrate problem before plates are made
- Recommending a different screening or plate solution
- Optimizing color separations
- Improving ink transfer
- Helping achieve a broader color gamut
- Troubleshooting recurring print problems
- Working with your pressroom to understand what is happening on press
- Using print results and feedback to improve future jobs
The goal isn’t simply to make a plate that meets a specification. The goal is to make a plate that performs.
Consistency You Can Count On
For a printer, a plate that performs beautifully once isn’t enough. You need plates that are reliable, repeatable, and consistent from job to job, across operators, and over time.
CSW combines controlled processes, advanced technology, and experienced technical oversight to maintain consistent plate quality. Our customers depend on us to deliver plates that perform predictably when they reach the pressroom.
When the plate is right, everything downstream works better
- Faster makeready
- Less waste
- More consistent color
- Better ink transfer
- Fewer pressroom problems
- More predictable production
Sustainability Without Compromising Performance
We believe sustainability should be part of a better printing process, not a compromise in print performance.
Recycled Mounting Materials
CSW mounts plates on recycled mounting materials.
Recyclable Plates
Our flexographic plates can be recycled at the end of their useful life.
Plate Recovery Program
We can help you establish a program to collect and recycle used flexographic plates through Sustainable Solutionz, which recovers end-of-life plates and mounting materials and converts them into materials for reuse in the print industry.
This creates an opportunity to move from a traditional take-make-dispose model toward a more circular approach to flexographic plate materials.
Why Printers Choose CSW
A technical partner. We work collaboratively with printers, converters, brand owners, and technology suppliers. We’re not just a plate vendor. We’re a resource you can call when you need to figure something out.
Technical expertise, reliable performance, and a connected workflow, from the first conversation through the pressroom.
TECHNICAL EXPERTISE
We understand how prepress decisions affect what happens on press, and bring the experience to help you achieve the best print results at the lowest overall cost.
RELIABLE PERFORMANCE
Our plates are engineered and manufactured for consistent, dependable performance. You can count on them when they reach the press.
ADVANCED PREPRESS
Color separation, specialty screening, expanded color gamut, surface texture, and advanced plate technologies give us the tools to solve difficult print challenges.
BROAD RANGE OF SOLUTIONS
Multiple photopolymer materials, thicknesses, and plate technologies let us select the solution that fits your application, not the other way around.
PROBLEM SOLVING
The hard jobs are often where CSW makes the biggest difference. When a conventional approach isn’t working, our team digs into the problem and develops a solution with your people.
CONNECTED WORKFLOW
From graphics and color through plate production and press performance, we connect the pieces of the packaging workflow so problems are addressed before they become expensive on press.
Have a Difficult Plate Application?
Whether you’re looking for a new plate supplier, trying to solve a recurring press problem, or working on a particularly demanding package, talk to the people who understand flexo. Tell us what you’re trying to accomplish. We’ll help you find the right solution.
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