Is flexographic ink or offset ink used for drug packaging?
Date: Jul 30 2024 From: Star Color
Flexographic ink is an ink specifically designed for flexographic printing technology. It is mainly based on water-based or alcohol based systems, mixed with pigments, water-based or alcohol based resins, solvents (such as water or alcohols), and a series of additives. Flexographic inks are known for their excellent environmental performance, as they have extremely low volatile organic compound (VOC) content, are non-toxic, and have a low odor. It can easily adapt to various packaging materials such as paper, plastic film, aluminum foil, etc., especially suitable for packaging printing in sensitive industries such as food and medicine.
Offset ink is an ink designed for offset printing. It is usually an oil-based ink that contains pigments, petroleum based resins, solvents, and additives. Although traditional offset printing ink performs well in printing high-quality graphics and text, the VOCs it contains may have a certain impact on the environment. However, with the increasing awareness of environmental protection, many environmentally friendly offset printing inks have emerged in the market, such as soy ink and plant-based ink, which are committed to reducing their impact on the environment. Offset printing ink is renowned for its high precision, high color reproduction, and excellent printing quality, and is widely used in fields such as books, magazines, posters, and high-end packaging.
When printing drug packaging, the choice of ink needs to be comprehensively considered based on specific packaging materials, printing processes, environmental requirements, and the special properties of the drug. The following is a detailed analysis of the applicability of offset printing ink and flexographic ink in pharmaceutical packaging printing:
Environmental friendliness and safety
Flexographic ink: Water based ink is commonly used, which has excellent environmental performance, low VOC (volatile organic compound) content, non-toxic and odorless, and is friendly to operators and the environment. In drug packaging, environmental friendliness and safety are crucial because drug packaging needs to ensure that it does not contaminate the drug during storage and use, nor does it pose a threat to human health.
Offset printing ink: Although there are also environmentally friendly offset printing inks such as soy ink and plant-based ink, traditional offset printing inks are mostly oily and contain harmful substances such as VOCs, which have a certain degree of pollution to the environment. In pharmaceutical packaging printing, if traditional offset printing ink is used, special attention should be paid to whether its environmental performance and safety meet relevant standards.
Printing effect and adaptability
Flexographic ink: It has good fluidity and fast drying, suitable for printing on various packaging materials such as paper, plastic film, aluminum foil, etc. In drug packaging, these materials are often used, so flexographic ink has strong adaptability. In addition, flexographic printing can also achieve printing of large areas of color blocks and fine patterns, meeting the diverse needs of pharmaceutical packaging.
Offset ink: High printing accuracy, good color reproduction, suitable for printing high-quality graphic and textual content. But in pharmaceutical packaging, if high printing accuracy and color reproduction are not required, the advantages of offset printing ink may not be obvious. In addition, offset printing ink has relatively limited adaptability to printing materials and may not be suitable for certain special pharmaceutical packaging materials.
Cost and Efficiency
Flexographic printing: The production cost of printing plates is relatively low, suitable for small and medium-sized printing needs. In the field of pharmaceutical packaging, due to the varying packaging specifications and demand for different drugs, flexographic printing has high flexibility and cost-effectiveness. In addition, the production efficiency of flexographic printing is also high, which can meet the demand for rapid delivery of drug packaging.
Offset printing: Although offset printing has advantages in high-precision and large-scale printing, it may face high costs in the field of pharmaceutical packaging. Especially for small batch and multi variety drug packaging, the cost of offset printing may be difficult to bear.
Overall, flexographic ink is more suitable for printing pharmaceutical packaging.
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