A professional who sets up and operates flexographic printing press to print designs or lettering on rolls of flexible plastic film, paper, and nonabsorbent stock for use in making products, such as plastic, paper, or waxed paper bags, and paper drinking cups. Responsibilities include:

• Reads job order and mounts specified rubber plate and printing dies on cylinder, installs cylinder on shaft, and secures assembly in bed of press.
• Fills dye fonts with prescribed inks or dyes.
• Moves levers to engage dye rolls, adjusting position of cylinder to print two or more colors without overlapping or smearing previously printed area.
• Inserts shaft through core of paper or plastic roll and secures roll on press in feed position.
• Splices end of roll to trailer sheet remaining in press, using tape, and turns handwheel to regulate roll tension and feed as directed.
• Starts press, adjusting speed, tension, and alignment of printing plate as necessary.
• Cuts sample of printed material from end of printed roll and inspects for imperfections, such as blurred or off-center impressions.
• Cleans rubber plate, cylinder, and dye fonts, using solvent, and lubricates press as needed, using grease gun.
• May mix inks or dyes to produce desired colors.
• May operate press equipped with laminator attachment to print and laminate polyethylene or cellophane sheeting.
• May operate press that prints, cuts, and folds paper stock to make paper napkins.