Laser-assisted alignment of multi-station flexographic printing system

1. A method of aligning a plurality of flexographic printing stations comprising:

printing a Fresnel zone pattern on a substrate in a unique position for each flexographic printing station;

directing light through the Fresnel zone patterns on the substrate;

capturing the light focused by the Fresnel zone patterns with a sensor device;

using the light captured by the sensor device to identify a misalignment of one or more flexographic printing stations of the plurality of flexographic printing stations;

and

correcting the misalignment of the one or more flexographic printing stations by adjusting operational parameters of the one or more flexographic printing stations.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

directing a flash of light from a light source to an electro-optic modulator.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

directing the light from the electro-optic modulator to a polarizer.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

directing the light from the polarizer to a beam expander.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

reflecting the light from the beam expander with a periscope reflector.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

directing light from the periscope reflector through the Fresnel zone patterns on the substrate.