Flexographic printing system with solvent replenishment

A flexographic printing system uses a flexographic printing plate to produce printed patterns on a substrate. An ink recirculation system is used to reduce variability in system performance resulting from ink viscosity changes. A recirculation pump moves ink through an ink recirculation line connected to an ink reservoir. A metering pump adds a controlled flow rate of solvent from a solvent replenishment chamber into the ink recirculation line, thereby providing replenished ink. The replenished ink is returned to the ink reservoir through a distribution tube that includes a plurality of supply ports at a plurality of spaced apart locations across a width of the ink reservoir. A control system is used to control the flow rate of solvent provided by the metering pump.