Summary

Keyless offset has now been closely investigated by IFRA for a period of three years. During this time a series of three Special Reports has been generated to provide a covering outlook on its benefits and existing problems. Special Report 3.12 ("Which Shortcomings still exist in Anilox Offset?") concentrated on optimising the inking system and on the other hand the wear of the anilox roller and doctor blade was studied. It was found out that runnability and quality aspects showed different results depending on the combination of inks and inking system selected. Special Report 3.15 ("Avoiding Ink Emulsification Problems in Keyless Offset systems") was written to find improvements to the problems found in the first report. Eight different inks were tested with different refreshing systems to find optimum conditions. This final report describes practical experiences and results from full! scale four colour printing trials to give an idea of the present situation and potentials in keyless offset. It has been proved that savings and consistent good quality can be achieved, if the process variables are optimised.