One of the secrets of print quality is generally found in the domain expertise and scientific approach to prepress. Nirav Shah, director of Letra Graphix, reveals that he first visited Kodak in 2004 when the company was doing trials of its Flexcel NX technology in Minneapolis. Shah’s pioneering use of this technology is now recognized by world awards won by Letra Graphix. He explains that the holding capacity of Kodak Flexcel NX dot is high. The technology is able to render clear, round and sharp dots from 2% to 98% for line screens from 175 lpi to 220 on a flexo plate. Shah says that there is no swelling of the plate even after nine hours of use — something which he has tried.
Shah has found that the Flexcel plates which are made for him by Pinmark Blocks in Ahmedabad have allowed Letra Graphix to switchoverfrom150 lpi to 175 lpi recently. He says that the running cost is less because of the basic strength of the dot onthe plate and because ofimproved ink transfer by the textured surface of the dot. He finds that overall ink consumption has decreased while highlights remainsharp and shadows open. The over all resultis consistently brighter andhe attributes the major awards won by the company in the last three years to the use of Kodak plates.
The use of Flexcel NX has helped Letra Graphix improve the anti-counterfeiting features of its labels without increasing their cost. In fact it has helped to move some cosmetic labels from 8 to 6 colours and others from 6 to 4 colours which then allows the company to offer more foil and screen printing while holding down costs.
