Margie Dana

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The Major Printing Processes - An Overview

If you're just beginning your career as a print buyer, you will benefit from knowing a bit about the different printing processes. Companies usually specialize in one of these, not all of them. Every printing company has different equipment.

OFFSET lithography is the most common printing process used by today's commercial printers. It includes sheetfed offset (stacks of sheeted paper loaded onto a press) as well as web offset. Web presses use webs or rolls of paper. In offset litho, the ink is "offset" or transferred from metal plates to a rubber blanket (cylinder) to the paper.

Most commercial printers do offset printing. Offset is used for all run lengths - from short to long. Web presses are used for long runs. Don't presume you know which press your job should run on. It all depends on the job - particulars like format, paper and quantity help printers determine which press to use for maximum efficiency.

LETTERPRESS is a type of "relief" printing. It was founded by Gutenberg in 1440. In relief printing, the images on the plate are higher than the surface - think rubber stamps. Fine letterpress is being done by fewer and fewer printers, but it is absolutely gorgeous. Special printing equipment is required.

FLEXOGRAPHY is another type of relief printing. It uses flexible rubber or photopolymer plates and is a web process. Flexo is used for packaging products that include cardboard boxes, grocery bags, gift wrap, and can and bottle labels.

GRAVURE printing (AKA "intaglio") is used for printing millions of impressions - like magazines, newspapers, and direct mail catalogs. It's also used for upholstery and textiles, wall paper, plastic laminates, and postage stamps.

SCREEN printing was traditionally known as silk-screening, but today's screens are also made of fabric like nylon or Dacron, or even stainless steel, as well as silk. Ink is forced through a screen, using a stencil pattern. Typical uses are T-shirts, signage, point-of-sale displays, decals, and truck signage.

ENGRAVING produces the sharpest image of all. Steel dies are cut or chemically etched to hold ink. Paper's forced against the plate using tremendous pressure, causing an embossed (raised) impression. What's the dead giveaway for an engraved piece? Run your fingers over the back side of the sheet and you'll feel it. It's one way to tell engraving from thermography.

THERMOGRAPHY is another form of raised printing and is less expensive than engraving. It is achieved by using special powder that adheres to any color ink. Uses include all sorts of stationery products. Thermography doesn't require a die, as does engraving.

REPROGRAPHICS is a general term describing copying and duplicating. Think in-house copying departments and copy or quick printing shops. (Talk about an archaic term: every job is a quick printing job today.) Duplicates are made of your originals.

DIGITAL printing is the newest type of printing. Today's digital presses use either powdered or liquid toner or ink-jet technology. Manufacturers of digital presses include Xerox, Xeikon, Kodak, HP, and Canon, among others. Unlike other forms of printing, digital produces a brand-new image with every impression from a digital file. Digital is ideal for short-run, fast-turnaround jobs. You can print exactly the amount you need - no waste.

Digital printing has improved tremendously - and keeps improving - in pricing, quality, and paper options. Most commercial printing firms offer digital, even if they outsource it. Variable Data Printing (VDP) is the name for digital printing that lets you personalize or customize every single copy. Words and/or images can be changed with each impression.

©2007 Margie Dana. All rights reserved. You're free to forward this email to friends and colleagues: please do! However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author.

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Triumphs of Printing! A Night to Remember

Boston Print Buyers Dinner Program
Tuesday, June 26th, 6 - 8:30 pm, Boston, MA

Everyone is invited to this special event. Help celebrate the "triumphs of print" by sharing your own story about a print project that overcame challenges. Buyers - invite your printer-partner to attend. Printers - invite a customer to share your story!

Networking, cocktails, dinner and this special program - how better to kick off Summer '07 in Boston? For details and registration, visit our event page.

New Job Posted

COMMERCIAL PRINT COORDINATOR is needed at John Hancock in Boston, MA.

Technical Editor (Production-oriented) at Analog Devices in Norwood, MA.

Read details on our Job Bank page.

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