What is the function of the printing plate in pad printing?

What is the function of the printing plate in pad printing?

The pad printing plate functions as the image carrier for the pad printing process. There are several types of pad printing plates. These are laser-engravable plates and photo-sensitive plates.

In the case of the photopolymer plates, the exposure machine engraves artwork into the plate material. However, a computer-aided plate-making machine engraves laser plates.

Generally, photopolymer plates take more time to make—30–40 minutes. On the other hand, it takes about 5–7 minutes to etch a plate with a laser. Lasers have extreme precision, and they are easy to use.

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