Flexo distortion generally refers to the need to compensate for the differential stretch that occurs between the top and bottom of a flexo plate when it is mounted on a flexo press cylinder. Flexo distortion is different from the compensation that may be required when a substrate is unstable on press. Some substrates will grow in size as they move through the press; this is commonly referred to as web growth. Other substrates may actually snap back or shrink as they move through a press, and this is referred to as shrink.
This chapter describes compensating for distortion of a flexo plate on a flexo press cylinder. If you need to compensate for web growth or shrink, you can only do it after applying distortion compensation for flexo plates. There is an explanation in this chapter on the use of web growth with flexo.
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