Flexographic Technical Association, the world’s leading technical society dedicated to advancing the flexographic printing process, today announced the official release of FIRST 4.0 (Flexographic Image Reproduction Specifications & Tolerances), the flexo industry’s most hotly anticipated reference tool for achieving high quality and consistent print results, pressrun after pressrun.
Open the zip-locked seal of the eye-catching, specially produced flexographically printed poly bag shipper and you will find a rather large, heavy corrugated box. Open the corrugated box –also flexographically printed -and prepare to be duly impressed by the massive, 328-page tome that is FIRST 4.0. Incidentally, the corrugated box also doubles as an easel for display purposes.
“FIRST 4.0 has been a colossal effort by industry experts from around the world. They have worked tirelessly on the development, editing, expansion and evaluation of the book,” commented Bill Pope, FTA’s technical director. He went on to add “Countless pages have been updated to provide expanded coverage on print optimization, fingerprinting, characterization, process control, Near Neutral Calibration (G7), color management and measurement, and so much more.”
Since the premier edition of FIRST (debuting in 1997), the book has become the most comprehensive, most frequently referred to, technical resource for the flexographic industry. Its aim is to provide all participants in the flexographic reproduction process (i.e. customers, designers, prepress providers, raw material & equipment suppliers, and printers) with a common set of guidelines, tutorials, and targets and tolerances that can be used as communication and production tools. When adhered to, these specifications improve quality, reduce cycle times, minimize rework and waste, and facilitate producing a predictable, consistent result, printrun after printrun.
Chapter One
In the first chapter, Implementing FIRST: The Foundation, FIRST 4.0 maintains that effective communication during the design development, final art, and printing will result in a final printed product having fewer errors, thus decreasing costs and time to market. It goes on to say that a design matching flexo’s capabilities will yield increased production efficiencies, improved throughput, more consistent and predictable printed results, improved print quality and reduced downtime. To aid the reader, a two-page visual representation of the communication process is laid out, defining the ideal packaging workflow process, beginning with the “customer need” and aptly ending with “customer approval.”
Design Section
FIRST 4.0 boasts an expanded chapter on design, with the primary goal to assist the designer in understanding the flexographic process and to provide him/her with guidance on how to create electronic files that will enhance quality and speed of manufacturing while minimizing costs. It includes information on:
• Attributes of the flexographic print process
• Materials and information needed to begin
• File naming conventions
• Keys to understanding color management
• Process control test elements
• Typography capabilities
• Bar code design considerations
• Photography
• Preflighting requirements
Prepress Section
As packaging graphics continue to increase in complexity and production timelines continue to compress, the clear assignment of responsibilities is critical to ensure a quality printed product in a timely manner. The Prepress chapter outlines the ways in which the prepress provider must fully understand the flexographic print considerations necessary to produce quality graphics files in today’s environment of tight timelines. It details how to produce the appropriate films/files/plates, how to document the controls, and how to produce a contract proof calibrated to print –all factors that will enable the printer to meet the expectations of the customer. A highlight of the section is expanded coverage on Process Color Calibration, where the various ways that 4/color process images can be reproduced are covered in detail. This includes conventional dot gain compensation, near-neutral calibration (G7), and International Color Consortium (ICC)-based color management. There are also new process control targets to serve both prepress and print areas in the control and consistency of output.
Print Section
FIRST 4.0 provides the printer with the specifications necessary to ensure that accuracy and consistency are achieved throughout the pressrun and between pressruns. This chapter aids the printer in determining if the printing process can achieve the requirements of the job (i.e. color, tone reproduction, register, etc.), to help identify design elements that may be potentially troublesome, and to provide guidance on how to make that same print job reproducible time and time again. Expanded sections include: print optimization, fingerprinting, characterization, and process control. Additionally, FIRST 4.0 outlines a systematic approach to aid in the selection process of a substrate and addresses the different substrate properties such as brightness, ink absorbency, and moisture content and how such properties influence print quality.
Other Features
In addition, FIRST 4.0 boasts new features including: improved organization with tabbed section dividers; an individual table of contents for each section; a comprehensive, 1,200 word Index, enhanced graphics and images, and a CD containing many new process control test elements and tools.
FIRST 4.0 can be purchased at the special introductory rate of $75.00 for FTA Members and $150.00 for non-members. This rate is valid until May 31, 2009 at which time the price will be $99.00 and $198.00 respectively. Orders can be placed online or by calling FTA at 631-737-6020.
