Die-cut indentation is a special process in post-press processing. It is mainly based on design requirements to consider whether to apply. In this paper, the overall process flow of die-cutting and indentation is roughly introduced from several aspects including the definition of die-cut indentation, the plate of die-cut indentation, and the manufacturing process of die-cut indentation.

What is a die-cut indentation?

The die-cutting and indentation process is based on design requirements, so that the edges of the color prints become various shapes, or add special artistic effects to the prints, and achieve a certain use function. The process of punching and cutting the substrate into a certain shape with a steel knife (or engraving with a steel plate) is called die-cutting; the steel wire is used for imprinting to stamp marks on the substrate or The process of leaving a groove mark that facilitates bending is called an indentation process.

What is a die-cut indented plate?

The plate used for die cutting is actually a steel wire with a sharp edge. Its height is about 23.8 mm. The steel wire is bent on the jig into various desired shapes and then grouped into a “printing plate”. After imprinting, the substrate is cut into the desired shape. The plate for the indentation is also a steel wire, which is slightly lower (about 0.8 mm lower) than the cutting line used for die cutting. There is no sharp product, and the row is formed into a “printing plate” and is impressed with it to make marks on the surface of the substrate. There is a unique and seamless tool that is made of a single piece of steel, which is more costly but durable.

What are the bottom plates of die-cut indentation plates?

To make a die-cutting indentation plate, you must first make the bottom plate, then bend the cable according to the required knife shape, and discharge it in the bottom plate. The bottom plate has two kinds of metal bottom plate and wood plate bottom plate.

1 metal bottom plate. Metal bottom plate has lead empty typesetting, pouring lead plate, steel type engraving, steel engraving and so on. Lead empty typesetting is arranged in layouts using lead empty groups of various sizes. Cast lead plates are cast into a master plate with molten lead alloy solution. This method is to first bend the wire into the required shape, leaving a 10mm edge around it, and the outside is fixed with a wooden strip. The molten lead alloy is then poured into the mold and cooled to form a die cutter plate. Steel type engraving is to bend the steel strip into a curve closed frame similar to that of the die cut. The joint is welded firmly, and both sides are ground to a height of about 30 mm. Then, the frame of the cut figure is accurately planed, the knife edge is pulled out according to the line, and finally a heat treatment is performed to make a die cut plate. This kind of die-cutting is difficult to make and the process is more complicated. Steel plate engraving is generally used slightly larger than the printed image, 25mm thick steel plate, the need to process one side of the grinding process, and then coated with a photosensitive solution, turn the sun. The part of the knife-edge line that is required for the graphic is milled, and then the knife-edge is carved out and finally heat-treated. Although the die cutter version is expensive, it can be used repeatedly for a long period of time. It is generally suitable for small and complex shaped products. At present, lead-air layouts are used more often.

2 wood board bottom plate. There are several kinds of wood boards such as plywood, wood board, zinc wood nail board and so on. Plywood is generally 9 to 13 layers with a thickness of 18 to 20 mm. It transfers the design pattern to the plywood, drills the hole kerf at the line, and inserts the die cutting line and the indentation line into a die-cutting imprinting plate. The die-cutting quality of this method is higher, and the die-cut version is lighter in weight and shorter than the blank lead-row platemaking. The board bottom plate is a hard-wood board that is directly sawed and used as a base plate. Zinc wood nail board is to make the negative pattern on the zinc plate. The zinc plate is nailed to the wood board. After trimming, the steel knife can be mounted on the die cutting machine. Commonly used wood board is plywood.