Printing Processes
Essential Question
◼ How are different substrates printed? When would
I utilize the various methods?
Main Types of Printing Processes
◼ Gravure
◼ Offset
◼ Letterpress
◼ Digital
◼ Specialty
Gravure
◼ Also known as Intaglio Printing
◼ A printing process in which the image
is etched below the surface of the
printing plate.
◼ 2nd oldest form of printing
◼ Before offset was used to print color in
newspapers
Gravure (continued)
◼ Used primarily for large runs
<100,000
◼ Used to print magazines, glossy paper
◼ Cheapest form of printing, but ONLY for
LONG runs
Plates are very expensive to make
Plate last a LONG time
◼ Doctor Blade – a thin metal blade that clears
excess ink from the non-image area of a
gravure plate.
Gravure (continued)
◼ Best way to print pictures!
Best color
Best shading
Best tone
◼ Pre-Press is the most expensive
Plate, set-up, etc expensive
Proofing is difficult and time consuming
Takes skilled press operator
Gravure Press
Offset Lithography
http://americanart.si.edu/collections/exhibits/posters/process.html
Offset Lithography
◼ Offset Lithography
◼ Based on the concept that
grease and water do not mix
Grease = ink
Water = fountain solution
◼ Planography - The process of printing from
a flat surface with the image and non-image
areas kept separated by chemistry.
Offset Lithography (continued)
◼ Newest, but most commonly
used form of printing.
◼ Used in short to medium runs
(500 – 100,000)
◼ The image is first transferred
from a plate to a blanket, then
from the blanket to the substrate.
Offset Lithography (continued)
◼ Able to print on a variety of substrates
Different sizes
Different weights of paper
BUT…. All substrates must be FLAT!
◼ Planography – process of printing on a flat
surface.
◼ Press is easy to learn and easy to
operate – but it does take skill!
Offset Lithography (continued)
◼ Typically the most economical form
of printing (inexpensive)
◼ Presses are typically “small” and are
affordable
Offset Lithography Presses
Offset Lithography Terms
◼ Hydrophilic –
Water Loving
Non-image area of the printing plate
◼ Hydrophobic –
Water Hating
Image area of the printing plate
◼ Plate is coated with water 1st, then ink
Offset Lithography
http://americanart.si.edu/collections/exhibits/posters/process.html
Offset Lithography
Letter Press
◼ Also known as Relief Printing
◼ Oldest form of printing
◼ The process of printing from a raised surface
Letter Press (continued)
◼ Hot Type
Moveable type that is formed using hot
molten metal to cast or form the letters.
Letter Press (continued)
◼ Images are reversed
(wrong reading)
◼ Today used:
Individual numbering
(i.e.: tickets, invoice
forms, etc)
Flexography used to
print boxes, packages
Digital Printing
◼ Type of printing technology that
receives electronic files (from
computer) and uses spots (or dots) for
reproduction.
Specialty Printing
◼ Screen Printing ◼ Pad Printing
◼ Laser Printing ◼ Engraving
◼ Ink Jet (to include ◼ Etching
wide format) ◼ Thermography
◼ Copying ◼ Etc.
◼ Dye Sublimation
Screen Printing
◼ Objects printed using screen printing:
Clothing…. T-Shirts!
Signs
Small electronic objects: phone covers,
mother boards, cell phone components
Some packaging
Some vehicle graphics
◼ Logos on big trucks
Screen Printing
◼ Printing method in which the image is
transferred to the surface to be printed by
means of ink squeezed by a squeegee
through a stenciled fabric or metal wire
screen stretched over a frame.
Ink Jet Printing
◼ Method of printing by spraying droplets
of ink through computer-controlled
nozzles
Pad Printing
◼ Used to print
irregular shaped
objects:
Golf balls
Pens/Pencils
Cups
Web vs. Sheet
◼ Web Fed Press: Printing press that
prints from a roll of paper
◼ Sheet Fed Press: Printing Press that
prints from cut sheets of paper
Web Fed
Sheet Fed
Perfecting Press
◼ Perfecting Press – Prints on both sides
of the paper with one pass.
