Waterless offset

Introduction

For CODIMAG, the choice to go waterless offset was natural. Being a short-run fast set-up press, we could not be dependant on time-wasting ink-water balance issue when printing offset.

Waterless offset allows printing offset quality through a blanket, without having to adjust the ink-water balance.

On the VIVA 340, you do not change cylinders for set-ups. The plate is installed onto the cylinder thanks to a predictable clamping system. The same blanket is used for any repeat length, and is adjusted on the press.

The VIVA 340 Waterless has been widely accepted among the wine label printers, in most wine regions.

Today, waterless offset is also accepted into new areas, such as health and beauty, food, or household products, where multinational consumer products companies require offset technology.
Highest print quality, reduction to 4 or 5 colours, low plate & pre-press costs and flexibility, especially with the development of CtP systems, are new reasons to look into offset technology.

Waterless offset		Temperature Regulation on VIVA 340
Waterless offset with the TORAY plate relies on a layer of silicone on top of the plate to repeal the ink in the non-image areas. The key to success in Waterless Offset is temperature regulation. Indeed, you need to control your ink viscosity to make sure that the silicone does not accept the ink.		On the VIVA 340 Waterless, we chose the option implemented on sheet-fed presses of temperature regulation through cooled water circulation into the oscillating rollers, plate cylinders, and UV bases.
Waterless offset technology started in Japan, is quite well-accepted on sheet-fed equipments, and is the most common offset technology implemented on DI presses… You can get more information on the TORAY waterless offset technology on the following link http://www.waterless-print.com/en/index.html

Benefits of Waterless offset

• High Quality - 200 lpi is common practice in offset
  While in flexo, you need digital pre-press, specific anilox rolls, high-technology equipment, in order to print at 200 lpi, waterless offset achieves that result naturally… Most of our customers work 200 lpi daily, and even 300 lpi or FM screening.
• Economical Pre-Press - Cost of plate under 5 $ a piece
  Offset plates are aluminium-based photopolymer plates. They are very inexpensive and most users do not even keep plates for re-run. They are better-off starting the re-run with a new set of plates.
• Flexible and Quick Pre-Press - Cost of plate preparation is very low : 5-minute work per plate
  Exposure is 1 minute and wash-out process is around 3 minutes. No drying is required. Putting an urgent job on press at the last minute is not a problem anymore. Changing a damaged plate during the run is a matter of 10 minutes.
• Possibility to reduce the number of colours compared to other printing processes
  With a very low dot gain value, easily corrected, it is possible to work with a minimum number of colours. Printing intense black solid and fine text on the same unit is viable.
  Many jobs can be brought back to 4-colour process, and colour separation is much easier and forgiving.
• Possibility to print on any materials from synthetics to vellum and wine stocks
  Eliminating the water element of the traditional offset process, it becomes easy to print on many substrates.
  Even rough substrates can be easily printed thanks to the ink transfer through a rubber blanket.
  Waterless offset is the most common print process for plastic card printing, or CD printing…
• Environmental compliance
  Concerns for the environment began 25 years ago in Japan and spread to the rest of the world with Kyoto and Rio meetings.
  Printing industry contributes significantly to VOCs emission and will need to contribute as well to VOCs reduction. Waterless Offset, with 75% fewer VOCs and no Isopropyl alcohol, as been identified already as an environment friendly solution.
  CODIMAG choose waterless not only because of the greater quality but also because it is a more environmentally compliant solution.

For any additional information regarding waterless offset, you can visit www.waterless.org or contact wpaone@waterless.org (Arthur Lefebvre)