Inhalts-Bereich:

The future of flexography - direct laser engraving

The developments in the area of direct laser engraving open new possibilities to flexographic printing with re­gard to quality and cost-efficiency. It's not only the print subject - endless or not endless - which decides today on the use of endless printing forms. Waste paper on start, register accuracy and print speed are important criteria today, favouring the decision to use direct en­graved sleeves.

The process cost calculation with consideration of ass­embly costs and set-up times of the printing machine be­comes particularly important with decreasing running metres per job. A fast job change decides on the effi­ciency in the printing hall. Here, register accuracy which is obtained by laser engraving and easy handling are clear advantages of these printing forms.

Balanced products - all out of a single source and developed with system
The development of customized solutions is a strength of Böttcher. Our endeavour to realize a comprehensive product range and a verticle range of manufacture faci­litates us a competent technical consultation. Böttcher is a system supplier and technology leader in many do­mains. We understand ourselves as partners of the graphic industry, from the improvement of quality stand­ards, via cost optimization up to the solutions of complex questions of printing technology.

The dot matters!
Only when using this technology, the digital data from the re­production are used directly for the design of the 3D form of the printing dot by means of laser engraving - quasi „true digital“.

Thus the form of the relief can be reduced from the base by means of a chamfer at the foot of the printing element up to the reduction of the height of the small dots - the so-called under­cut -. With the direct laser engraving, these fine details are also mechanically present. Thus, production of printing forms can be shaped actively and the printing process is positively affected .

  • Sleeves

    The sleeve technologie allows a fast change of the printing form, the laser engraving and the geometrical precision of the endless sleeves provide for the accurateness of the register .

     Böttcher offers a broad range of elastomers compounds which were particularly developed for laser engraving. These can be supplied to combination with hard or soft functional underlayers. Concerning the appropriate choice, we advise you gladly.

    We offer cylindrical and conical sleeves according to all cust­omary carrier systems. The base sleeves made of glass-fiber reinforced plastic (electrically conductive or non-conductive, according to your choice) likewise are manufactured by Böttcher.

  • Flexo printing blankets

    Apart from the BöttcherTop blanket series for the offset, we offer also special flexographic printing blankets for direct laser engraving.


    As surface layer, we use an elastomer compound from our flexo sleeve program. The surface layer optimized for laser engraving thus fulfils all requirements regarding aptitude for laser engraving and ink transfer - a further component of our balanced flexo product range.

  • Pan rollers

    In some flexographic printing machines, pan rollers still make up a substantial component of the printing unit. Here Böttcher has been supplying optimized pan roller materials with regard to the different ink systems for decades. Gladly we advise you with the material selection.

  • Detergents

    Cleaning after engraving and after printing contributes crucially to the print quality and the life span of the printing form. There­fore Böttcher developed high-quality cleaning products for this sector, too.


    The formulations were balanced with the elastomer com­pounds used by us and thus guarantee an optimal cleaning efficiency and a maximum of security.