A thin, flexible sheet mounted onto a press cylinder to transfer ink to paper or to an intermediate rubber blanket. In offset printing, plates are usually made of aluminum and chemically treated so only the image areas accept ink. In flexography, they are made of photopolymer rubber with raised image areas.
Heard on the job
Hang the cyan plate first and let's check the registration before we mount the rest of the colors.
Insider tip
A scratched or bent plate is usually ruined and must be remade, which stops the entire press run.
Also heard as
- printing plate
Do not mix it up with
- Block: A block is a thick, rigid relief surface used in letterpress, while a plate is a thin, flexible sheet used on cylinder presses.