Digital Extra: The Journal's 175th Anniversary

07.21.2004

1987. Flexo process keeps readers' hands a little cleaner

The paper's color-splashed special section published Sept. 13, 1987, was entitled: A New Era.

"As the Journal-Bulletin unveils a new look and a new printing and distribution plant, the eyes of the newspaper industry are turning to Providence," the paper said in the lead story of the section.

"What the industry is watching is a technology known as flexography, a new way to print newspapers. These pages were printed on the Journal-Bulletin's flexographic presses using a technique borrowed from the packaging industry."

The "flexo" process prints from flexible, raised printing surfaces and uses water-based inks, which don't rub off on a reader's hands. Flexo was an established printing process in 1987, but no daily paper in America had ever before gone all-flexo.

"Newspaper publishers around the country, some of them with out-moded presses that must be replaced are asking: Will 'flexo' work under the pressure of daily deadlines? Is the printing quality good enough? Are the cost savings as great as advertised?"

The Journal had bet $60 million on flexo. ($20 million on flexographic presses, $12 million in an automated distribution center and $28 million in a new plant and other equipment.) "For the paper's regular readers, the most noticeable change will be the use of color," The Journal explained. "With the new presses, the Journal-Bulletin can print sharp, vibrant color for the first time."