BOHEMIA, NY–Most every member of the Flexographic Technical Association has heard his name: Douglas E. Tuttle. The man’s a legend. Some recognize him as:

• The father of flexography in the U.S.
• Inventor of the anilox roll
• Founding Father of FTA
• The first, 1962, inductee into the association’s Hall of Fame—the most prestigious council of engagement in association circles

Truth is, Tuttle was all that and more. The work that brough him all the recognition dates back to the late 1930s—nearly 90 years!. His affiliation with FTA, while more recent, stretches back to Day 1—1958.  Here we take a short look back at the man and his impact.

Association Lore
Association lore points to 1936, a time when Interchemical Corp’s International Printing Ink (IPI) division developed an entire line of pigmented inks for the aniline (flexo) printing. Its new technology was intended to help the packaging industry take a giant step forward, but ink transfer and its positive control limited progress.

Enter IPI’s Douglas E. Tuttle, who while visiting a customer in Europe, noticed the client was using a coating that was transferred to the substrate using an etched cylinder. He postulated that this process could be used to transfer inks in aniline printing and began working on the improvement of ink transfer.

By 1939, he had applied to the U.S. Patent Office for a new method of printing with fluid inks affording precise control over volume achieved with minimal operator adjustment. In part, his research was based on the etched cylinder used in gravure coating operations–typically a steel cylinder with a copper plate.

Tuttle reportedly explored different options for rollers because there was concern about the durability of copper plated and chemically etched rollers over steel rollers that were mechanically etched. After several trials, the first mechanically etched cylinder was produced. Tuttle called it an “anilox” roller because, IPI was marketing different lines of inks with brand names ending in “ox.” Since inks used for aniline printing were aniline inks, IPI had started marketing them as anilox inks; hence, Tuttle named the etched cylinder an anilox roller.

In the years since, the invention has been hailed as one the most significant contributions to the aniline printing industry and the flexo printing processes

Readers may not instantly recognize the name Interchemical Corp, but quick examination of its evolution will certainly bring familiarity. Interchemical focused on producing chemical coatings, particularly printing inks. It underwent a series of transformations, became known as Inmont Corp, was acquired by BASF in 1985 and later became a part of Sun Chemical.

Member & Mentor
Back to Tuttle himself. As FTA was born, Tuttle took a seat on its very first Board of Directors. He served as membership chair way back in 1958. By 1961, Tuttle was engaged in overseeing development and execution of FTA One- Day Workshops, set for 16 different sites on the April—December calendar. Venues include Los Angeles, San Francisco , Portland, OR.; Milwaukee, WI; and New York City, where 165 printers and suppliers turned out December 2 for FTA’s 32^nd Regional Workshop, themed “Find the Answer.”  Chairing that overall program—you guessed it–Douglas Tuttle.

Simultaneously Tuttle worked alongside peers in authoring FTA’s New Manual—Flexography Principles & Practices—that went to press in March 1962. Initial distribution was set for May FORUM. Tuttle’s charge: editing the section “Material on Which We Print.”

Three years later, 1965, FTA announced that more than 7,000 people had attended Saturday Workshops in the first five years of the program. Speaking on completion of the 70^th Regional Workshop, Tuttle decreed, “Since flexography is less capital-intensive, less energy-intensive and less labor-intensive then either litho or letterpress; provides readily variable printing repeat lengths and utilizes non-polluting water reducible inks, with less waste than other graphic arts processes; we are confident that flexo’s future growth is certainly assured.”

Some of those same thoughts were reiterated as he took to the podium at The 10^th Annual FORUM, held April 23-24, 1968 at the Sheraton, Chicago. As chair, Tuttle commented, “The program is not old, but young. It is not in any way reaching the saturation point. It fills a real worthwhile need in the industry—what was really a void. It offers package printers up-to-date, authoritative information and answers to problems that are constantly arising.”

 Articulate Author
When last heard from via formal FTA channels, it was Tuttle that tackled an extensive look at flexo’s past, present and future in 1976’s inaugural pages of FLEXO Magazine.

His ode to the past, “Historians of flexography date its origin to the beginning of the 20^thcentury, but the process wasn’t really born at any one particular date. Rather, it evolved through a number of steps covering a longer time span, and of course the flexographic process is still evolving today. The name flexography originated circa 1953. Prior to that, the process was called aniline printing, and it was frequently referred to as rotary, rubber stamp printing.”

The assessment of the present, 50 years ago, “Accurate, temperature controlled central impression cylinders on modern flexo presses have made possible consistent dot-for-dot register in quality color process printing, even on thin, extensible films.”

Listing out major evolutionary milestones of flexo, Tuttle cited:

• Creation of opaque light fast, product resistant inks
• Development of the anilox metering roll
• Differential speed ink rolls and later, the constant speed/variable ratio fountain roll
• Manual, then automatic impression throw offs
• Balanced exhausts
• Sensitive and accurate unwind and rewind tension controls
• Automatic web splicing units

Pondering where things were going, Tuttle alluded to pending development of reverse angle doctor blades. More significantly, he opined, “There will be increasing design and engineering effort devoted to reducing press downtime, job changes, minimizing waste, and increasing automation. … There are many reasons to believe that the trend toward water reducible inks will continue, accelerated by increasing pressures from environmental, ecological, toxicological flammability and pollution considerations, as well as by factors of economy, energy efficiency and conservation of the world’s resources.”

He concluded with these resounding words, just as relevant in 2025 as they were in 1976.

“We are today participating in the most exciting time, with the greatest potential for growth and change, in the entire history of the graphic arts industry!  Let’s make the most of it!”