An etched plate on the plate cylinder contains the printing pattern. This
cylinder is coated with ink by rollers and it transfers the pattern onto an
intermediate roller, called the blanket cylinder. Several color stations can
be placed around the blanket cylinder for multi-color designs. The blanket
cylinder transfers the ink onto the part to be decorated.
The process is characterized by thin, transparent ink films on a white or
cream substrate. Fine details are possible and the registration of colors is
very good. The different colors are printed wet on wet, and are then dried.
The section on in-mold decorating gives
information on this topic. This also avoids the need of a separate printing
line.
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