method of putting ink to paperboard is flexography, commonly known as flexo. It is an adaptation of letterpress because it uses a rubber or photopolymer printing[printing?:printing cutting finishing solution] plate with raised surfaces that carry the ink. But in flexo, the ink is transferred to an anilox roll, which, similar to a gravure cylinder, carries a fixed volume of ink on its knurled surface. This roll then transfers the ink to the raised image areas on the flexo plate .
Improvements is flexo technology are challenging the print[print?:printing image graphic cutting solution] quality of gravure and lithography. Flexo presses are always web-fed, but may have in-line rotary or flat bed die cutting[die cutting?:die cutting] units at the delivery end. This means it is possible to start with a roll of unprinted paperboard at the feed end of the flexo press, and finish with printed, die cut and scored folding carton[carton?:carton box sample cutting machine] blanks at the delivery, ready for windowing, gluing or other finishing.
