PS plate: the shining pearl of the printing industry

In today's era of information explosion, the printing industry, as an important carrier of information dissemination, has always attracted much attention for its technology and material development. Among them, PS plate, as the core material in lithography, has become the shining pearl of the printing industry with its unique performance and wide application.

PS plate, that is, pre-sensitized plate, is a commonly used printing plate material in lithography. Its base is usually an aluminum plate with a thickness of 0.5mm, 0.3mm or 0.15mm. After a series of complex process treatments such as electrolytic roughening, anodizing, and sealing, a photosensitive layer is coated on the plate surface to finally make a pre-coated plate. This structure makes the PS plate have both oleophilic and hydrophobic image and text parts and hydrophilic and oleophobic blank parts, providing a solid foundation for high-quality printing.

According to the photosensitive principle of the photosensitive layer and the platemaking process, PS plates can be divided into positive PS plates and negative PS plates. The platemaking process of positive PS plate includes exposure, development, dirt removal, plate repair, plate baking, developing ink application and gluing. Gluing is the last process of platemaking, which aims to make the hydrophilicity of the blank part of the non-image more stable and protect the plate from being dirty. The negative PS plate is made by negative film exposure. Its platemaking process is different from that of positive type, but it can also produce high-quality printing plates.

The reason why PS plate is widely used in the printing industry is due to its many advantages. PS plate has the characteristics of high resolution, full dot reproduction, and rich layers, which can ensure the image of the printed product is clear and colorful. The water-ink balance of PS plate is easy to grasp, and the printing durability is high, which can meet the needs of large-scale printing. PS plate also has good hydrophilicity and lipophilicity, so that the ink can be evenly attached to the image part, while the blank part remains clean, thus ensuring the quality of the printed product.

The application field of PS plate is very wide, covering almost all industries that require high-quality printing. In the field of publishing and printing, PS plates are used to print books, magazines, newspapers and other publications, providing readers with a clear and beautiful reading experience. In the field of packaging and printing, PS plates are used to print various commodity packaging, such as food packaging, pharmaceutical packaging, cosmetic packaging, etc., which not only improves the grade of the product, but also protects the commodity. In the fields of advertising printing and label printing, PS plates also play an irreplaceable role.

With the advancement of science and technology and the continuous development of the printing industry, PS plates are also constantly innovating and upgrading. On the one hand, in order to improve the printing quality and efficiency of PS plates, researchers are constantly exploring new photosensitive materials and platemaking processes. For example, by improving the formula and structure of the photosensitive layer, the resolution and printing durability of PS plates can be further improved; by optimizing the platemaking process, the platemaking time can be shortened and the production cost can be reduced.

On the other hand, with the improvement of environmental awareness and the increasingly stringent environmental regulations, the environmental performance of PS plates has also become the focus of industry attention. At present, some environmentally friendly PS plates have appeared on the market. They are made of halogen-free and low-toxic materials, which can reduce environmental pollution during the printing process. In the future, with the continuous advancement of technology and the continuous improvement of environmental protection requirements, environmentally friendly PS plates are expected to become the mainstream products in the market.