tesa® Plate Mounting Tape

In flexographic printing the plate mounting tape is the only compressible layer between plate and cylinder. It absorbs impression, protects the plate from over-squeeze and springs back between revolutions. A tape that is too hard for a screen job flattens the dots and prints dirty highlights; a tape that is too soft for solids lets the plate float and produces uneven ink laydown. Choosing correctly is a print-quality decision first and a cost decision second, which is why tesa® colour-codes hardness on the logo.

tesa® Softprint comes in five foam hardnesses. Extra soft (yellow logo) is for fine screens and vignettes where minimum dot gain is the priority. Soft (red) suits screens and line work. Medium (purple) is the compromise grade for shops that want one tape for solids, line work and screens. Medium-hard (blue) is for combination plates that carry both solids and screens. Hard (green) is for solids and heavy coverage, where a firm foam gives the most uniform ink transfer. Every grade shares the same foam construction, so switching hardness does not change the mounting routine.

The thickness category is the nominal build the press undercut expects, not the measured total. A 380 µm category tape (52xxx series) typically measures around 430 µm with adhesive and liner and is the standard for 1.14 mm (0.045″) and 1.70 mm (0.067″) plates on narrow-web label presses. The 500 µm category (72xxx CLASSIC and 73xxx FLEX) measures around 550 µm and is used where the undercut is deeper or a little more cushioning is wanted. Check your cylinder or sleeve specification before ordering.

Steel Master (STM) tapes are designed for steel and aluminium cylinders. Sleeve Master tapes are tuned for polyurethane, glassine and fibre sleeves. TP and TP-X variants raise plate-side adhesion for plates that lift at the edges. FE and FE-X keep bond strength from increasing over time so plates demount cleanly and quickly. Secure and Secure-X hold plates through long, high-speed runs. The 73xxx FLEX design offers extra conformability over the CLASSIC 72xxx build.

For thin plates on compressible sleeves, tesaprint® film tapes replace the foam: 52307 (70 µm) for very thin 0.76 mm plates, 52310–52325 in 100–250 µm steps, and 52916/52918 (100 µm) with differentiated adhesion. 52330 is a 380 µm cloth-backed tape for corrugated post-print and 52332 a 300 µm PVC tape for permanent bonds. Where a sleeve needs its own compressible layer, 88017, 88021 and 88026 cushioning foam add 1.7, 2.1 or 2.6 mm respectively.

Clean the cylinder with a lint-free cloth, apply the tape without stretching and roll it down with a hand roller to remove air. Use tesa® Magic Marker on PET plate backs when adhesion is marginal, and never mix hardness grades on one cylinder. Store rolls in their cartons at room temperature.