Editing Laser engraving (section)

===Direct laser engraving of flexographic plates and cylinders===
Direct laser engraving of [[flexographic]] printing cylinders and plates has been an established process since the 1970s. This first began with the use of a carbon dioxide laser used to selectively ablate or evaporate a variety of rubber plate and sleeve materials to produce a print-ready surface without the use of photography or chemicals. With this process there is no integral ablation mask as with [[#Direct photopolymer laser imaging|direct photopolymer laser imaging]]. Instead a high-power [[carbon dioxide laser]] head burns away, or ablates, unwanted material. The aim is to form sharp relief images with steep first relief and contoured shoulder supported edges to give a high-standard of process color reproduction. A short water wash and dry cycle follows, which is less complex than in the post-processing stages for direct laser imaging or conventional flexo platemaking using photopolymer plates. After engraving, the photopolymer is exposed through the imaged black layer and washed out in the traditional photopolymer process requiring photography and chemicals.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hitz |first1=C. Breck |title=Introduction to laser technology |date=2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |location=Hoboken |isbn=978-0470916209 |pages=229–237 |edition=Third}}</ref>

Before the year 2000, lasers only produced lower-quality results in rubber-like materials due to their rough structure. In the 2000s, [[fiber laser]]s were introduced, giving a much-increased engraving quality directly into black polymeric materials. At the [[Drupa|Drupa 2004]] printing exhibition, the direct engraving of polymer plates was introduced. This had also an effect on the rubber developers who, in order to stay competitive, developed new high quality rubber-like materials. The development of suitable polymeric compounds has also allowed the engraving quality achievable with the fiber lasers to be realized in print. Since then, direct laser engraving of flexo-printing forms is seen by many{{according to whom|date=November 2019}} as the modern way to make printing forms for it is the first truly digital method.

As a competitive process, more recent{{as of?|date=March 2024}} laser systems have been introduced to selectively engrave the thin opaque black layer of a specially produced photopolymer plate or sleeve.