Embossing

Embossing is the process of creating a three-dimensional image or design in paper and other ductile materials.

It is typically accomplished with a combination of heat and pressure on the paper. This is achieved by using a metal die (female) usually made of brass and a counter die (male) that fit together and squeeze the fibers of the substrate. This pressure and a combination of heat "irons" while raising the level of the image higher than the substrate to make it smooth. In printing this is accomplished on a letterpress. The most common machines are the Kluge Letterpress and the Heidelberg Letterpress. The term "impressing" enables one to distinguish an image lowered into the surface of a material, in distinction to an image raised out of the surface of a material. Both are "embossing" per se.

The embossing process can be applied to textiles as non-wovens to get better finished products as sanitary napkins, diapers, tissue paper and others. In printing it is used as an accent process and can be used in conjunction with ink called colour register embossing or with no ink called blind embossing. It also can be used with foil stamping which when embossed with foil is known as combination stamping or combo stamping. All of these processes use a die and counter die. Most types of paper and boards can be embossed and there are no restrictions on size.

Gravure Inks - Solvent Based, Water Based

Gravure inks are fluid inks with a very low viscosity that allows them to be drawn into the engraved cells in the cylinder then transferred onto the substrate. In order to dry the ink and drive off the solvents or water, which essentially replaces most of the solvent, the paper is run through Gas fired or electric fired driers. The ink will dry before the paper reaches the next printing station on the press. This is necessary because wet inks cannot be overprinted without smearing and smudging. Therefore, high volume air dryers are placed after each printing station.

The solvent-laden air from the dryers is passed through either a solvent recovery system or solvent vapor incinerator. A typical recovery system uses beds of activated carbon to absorb the solvent. Saturated beds are regenerated by steam. The solvent laden steam is then condensed and the water and solvent separate by gravity. Greater than 95 percent of the ink solvents can be recovered using this process (Buonicore). The solvents can either be reused or destroyed by incineration.

Water based inks, especially used for packaging and product gravure, require a higher temperature and longer drier exposure time in order to drive off the water and lower vapor pressure constituents. As mentioned subsequent sections, Flexo and Gravure inks are very similar and the constituents are essentially the same. Again, a pollution control device may be needed.


Applications:

Typical gravure printed products include:
Food packaging
Wall paper
Wrapping paper
Furniture laminates
Paneling
Greeting cards
Magazines

Gravure Process Flow Diagram

The major unit operations in a gravure printing operation are:
Image preparation
Cylinder preparation
Printing
Finishing

Gravure printing

Gravure printing is an example of intaglio printing. It uses a depressed or sunken surface for the image. The image areas consist of honey comb shaped cells or wells that are etched or engraved into a copper cylinder. The unetched areas of the cylinder represent the non-image or unprinted areas. The cylinder rotates in a bath of ink called the ink pan.

As the cylinder turns, the excess ink is wiped off the cylinder by a flexible steel doctor blade. The ink remaining in the recessed cells forms the image by direct transfer to the substrate (paper or other material) as it passes between the plate cylinder and the impression cylinder.

The major unit operations in a gravure printing operation are:
Image preparation
Cylinder preparation
Printing
Finishing

Lithographic Printing

Offset or Lithographic Printing Machines have been widely put to various applications. It is by far the most dominant form of commercial printing technique, widely in use due to its quality with respect to volume and paper costs. These machines have a high set up cost but the printing process is comparatively cheaper. Lithography uses oil
or fat and gum arabic to divide the smooth surface into hydrophobic regions which accept the ink, and hydrophilic regions which reject it and thus become the background. By contrast, in intaglio printing a plate is engraved, etched or stippled to make cavities to contain the printing ink, and in woodblock printing and letterpress ink is applied to the raised surfaces of letters or images.

Offset or Lithographic Printing Machines have been widely put to various applications. It is by far the most dominant form of commercial printing technique, widely in use due to its quality with respect to volume and paper costs. These machines have a high set up cost but the printing process is comparatively cheaper.

Lithography uses oil or fat and gum arabic to divide the smooth surface into hydrophobic regions which accept the ink, and hydrophilic regions which reject it and thus become the background. By contrast, in intaglio printing a plate is engraved, etched or stippled to make cavities to contain the printing ink, and in woodblock printing and letterpress ink is applied to the raised surfaces of letters or images.

Types of Printing

Digital printing is a new and extremely effective form of printing. This form of printing eliminates the use of film and plates, and sends a digital file directly from a computer to the press. Digital printing is relatively fast compared to other printing methods, making it a convenient method for meeting deadlines and time restraints.

Electrostatic printing is a method similar to photocopying where colour sticks to a drum and is fused by heat to paper. Electrostatic printing is similar to digital printing in that both processes are useful and effective for short printing runs.
The most popular printing process used by most printers is Offset Lithography. This is a method where ink is used economically and set up time for the press is limited. This process is where ink is offset from metal plates to a rubber cylinder onto the paper. It is an affordable and most common method of printing.
One of the first and original printing methods is the Letterpress, which was developed by Gutenberg is 1440. This is where relief printing was first developed; the printed image is slightly raised from the surface of the plate - similar to a rubber stamp. This is a process performed by fewer printers as new technology takes over the printing world.

For the sharpest image, Engraving is a printing method where the image feels indented. This type of printing process is used for fine or expensive stationery, such as Law firm letterheads etc.

Thermography is a process which produces a raised image. This is a special powder or dust which adheres to wet ink. Then heat is applied, which makes the powder and the ink fuse to form a raised surface. This method is effective for stationery.

Reprographics is a general term which includes copying and duplicating. Most, if not all, printing companies offer a reprographics service, where they can take your original file or document and make duplicates of them.

Screen printing is a process where ink is forced through a silk screen. This is often used on non flat goods e.g. clothing, mugs, etc. This is a popular method for large scale billboards and signage.

Flexography is a printing process used for packaging products. This process uses rubber plates with printed areas raised in relief, the plates are flexible, making printing on many different materials possible, eg plastic bags, bottle labels, cardboard boxes, etc.

Gravure printing is an expensive high quality printing process which uses copper plates. This process is commonly used to print high quality large volume materials such as magazines, newspaper, catalogues and more.
The best methods to ensure you get the printing results you require are to ask questions of your printer. It is important that the printing process will deliver required results. Generally if you have chosen a good printer your products will look great.

Pad Printing Machine

Pad Printing Machines are a type of offset machines providing fast and high clarity printing. This technique of printing is one of the most versatile and used to print three-dimensional objects and compound angles. These pad printing machinery are used in industrial printing, for high quality and fine printing on various materials including plastic, rubber, metal, ceramic. The printing speed and quality of these machines depends on the kind, thickness of stock/paper, type of inks used and other operating conditions.

Rotary Indexing Printing Machine

Rotary indexing printing machines are widely used for screen printing comprising a carousel. These machines are used as pad printing supplements and accessories. It increases the productivity and allows faster printing. The rotary index printing machine includes a multiple fixed and movable armed frame and are used to rotate a number of print heads on to the media. The indexing table provides crisp, clean images and high quality photos.

Liquid inkjet printers

Liquid inkjet printers

Inkjet printers operate by propelling variably-sized droplets of liquid or molten material (ink) onto almost any sized page. They are the most common type of computer printer for the general consumer.

Solid ink printers

Solid Ink printers, also known as phase-change printers, are a type of thermal transfer printer. They use solid sticks of CMYK colored ink (similar in consistency to candle wax), which are melted and fed into a piezo crystal operated print-head. The printhead sprays the ink on a rotating, oil coated drum. The paper then passes over the print drum, at which time the image is transferred, or transfixed, to the page.

Solid ink printers are most commonly used as color office printers, and are excellent at printing on transparencies and other non-porous media. Solid ink printers can produce excellent results. Acquisition and operating costs are similar to laser printers. Drawbacks of the technology include high power consumption and long warm-up times from a cold state.

Toner-based printers

Toner-based printers work using the Xerographic principle that is used in most photocopiers: by adhering toner to a light-sensitive print drum, then using static electricity to transfer the toner to the printing medium to which it is fused with heat and pressure.

The most common type of toner-based printer is the laser printer, which uses precision lasers to cause toner adherence. Laser printers are known for high quality prints, good print speed, and a low (Black and White) cost-per-copy. They are the most common printer for many general-purpose office applications, but are much less common as consumer printers due to their high initial cost — although this cost is dropping.

Laser printers are available in both color and monochrome varieties.
Another toner based printer is the LED printer which uses an array of LEDs instead of a laser to cause toner adhesion to the print drum.

Recent research has also indicated that Laser printers emit potentially dangerous ultrafine particles, possibly causing health problems associated with respiration and cause pollution equivalent to cigarettes. The degree of particle emissions varies with age, model and design of each printer but is generally proportional to the amount of toner required. Furthermore, a well ventilated workspace would allow such ultrafine particles to disperse thus reducing the health side effects.

Printer

A printer is a peripheral which produces a hard copy (permanent readable text and/or graphics) of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as local peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable or, in most newer printers, a USB cable to a computer which serves as a document source. Some printers, commonly known as network printers, have built-in network interfaces (typically wireless or Ethernet), and can serve as a hardcopy device for any user on the network.

Individual printers are often designed to support both local and network connected users at the same time. In addition, a few modern printers can directly interface to electronic media such as memory sticks or memory cards, or to image capture devices such as digital cameras, scanners; some printers are combined with a scanners and/or fax machines in a single unit, and can function as photocopiers. Printers that include non-printing features are sometimes called Multifunction printers (MFP), Multi-Function Devices (MFD), or All-In-One (AIO) printers. Most MFPs include printing, scanning, and copying among their features. A Virtual printer is a piece of computer software whose user interface and API resemble that of a printer driver, but which is not connected with a physical computer printer.

Printers are designed for low-volume, short-turnaround print jobs; requiring virtually no setup time to achieve a hard copy of a given document. However, printers are generally slow devices (30 pages per minute is considered fast; and many inexpensive consumer printers are far slower than that), and the cost per page is actually relatively high. However this is offset by the on-demand convenience and project management costs being more controllable compared to an out-sourced solution.

The printing press naturally remains the machine of choice for high-volume, professional publishing. However, as printers have improved in quality and performance, many jobs which used to be done by professional print shops are now done by users on local printers; see desktop publishing. The world's first computer printer was a 19th century mechanically driven apparatus invented by Charles Babbage for his Difference Engine.

Printing Techniques,

Printing Techniques, several different ways in which printing may be accomplished, such as lithography, letterpress, flexography, gravure, and screen printing. All of these printing techniques use simple mechanisms for rapidly applying colorants to substrates such as paper or plastic to form multiple reproductions of original images for mass distribution.

Multiple colors can be printed in one pass through the press. Spot color printing uses custom mixed inks to reproduce specific colors and is widely used in package printing, where large areas of uniform color are common. Process color printing uses four transparent inks—cyan (blue-green), magenta (red), yellow, and black—printed one on top of another in varying amounts. Color photographs and other artwork can be faithfully reproduced by this method.

Most modern printing presses transfer ink from a cylindrical printing surface to moving sheets or rolls of substrate. Presses that print on rolls, or webs, can achieve speeds of 600-900 m (2000-3000 ft) per minute. Presses that print on sheets are generally slower than web presses but can print on thicker substrates, such as bristol board and sheet metal.

Since the 1960s, advancements in photography and electronics have had a profound effect on the manufacture of printing surfaces. Light-sensitive materials such as diazonium resins and photopolymers make it possible to produce durable printing surfaces photographically rather than mechanically. Computer-based systems allow the rapid production of the films used to transfer images to printing surfaces. Some printing surfaces can even be prepared directly by machines employing computer-controlled laser beams or diamond styluses. Images generated on computer systems and stored in databases can now be transferred directly to printing surfaces without any intermediate steps. Taken as a whole, these changes have been called the prepress revolution.

Printing Technology & Digital printing

Digital printing accounts for approximately 9% of the 45 trillion pages printed (2005 figure) around the world.

Printing at home or in an office or engineering environment is subdivided into:

* small format (up to ledger size paper sheets), as used in business offices and libraries

* wide format (up to 3' or 914mm wide rolls of paper), as used in drafting and design establishments.

Some of the more common printing technologies are:

* blueprint—and related chemical technologies.

* daisy wheel—where pre-formed characters are applied individually.

* dot-matrix—which produces arbitrary patterns of dots with an array of printing studs.

* inkjet—including bubble-jet—where ink is sprayed onto the paper to create the desired image.

* laser—where toner consisting primarily of polymer with pigment of the desired colours is melted and applied directly to the paper to create the desired image.

* line printing—where pre-formed characters are applied to the paper by lines.

* heat transfer—like early fax machines or modern receipt printers that apply heat to special paper, which turns black to form the printed image.

Vendors typically stress the total cost to operate the equipment, involving complex calculations that include all cost factors involved in the operation as well as the capital equipment costs, amortization, etc. For the most part, toner systems beat inkjet in the long run, whereas inkjets are less expensive in the initial purchase price.

Professional digital printing (using toner) primarily uses an electrical charge to transfer toner or liquid ink to the substrate it is printed on. Digital print quality has steadily improved from early color and black & white copiers to sophisticated colour digital presses like the Xerox iGen3, the Kodak Nexpress and the HP Indigo Digital Press series. The iGen3 and Nexpress use toner particles and the Indigo uses liquid ink. All three are made for small runs and variable data, and rival offset in quality. Digital offset presses are called direct imaging presses; although these receive computer files and automatically turn them into print-ready plates, they cannot insert variable data.

Small press and fanzines generally use digital printing or more rarely xerography. Prior to the introduction of cheap photocopying the use of machines such as the spirit duplicator, hectograph, and mimeograph was common.

For every newspaper, book, or other printed product, there is a production crew laboring behind the scenes, from printing press operators to bindery workers. As a printing technology major, you’ll learn the skills necessary to plan, prepare, and complete print jobs, from assembling film to operating printing equipment to cutting and collating the finished product.

Most programs offer both old-school and new-school techniques, so by the time you graduate, you’ll be prepared for hands-on production work as well as cutting-edge desktop publishing.

source:internet only

Stenciling techniques

There are several ways to create a stencil for screenprinting. An early method was to create it by hand in the desired shape, either by cutting the design from a non-porous material and attaching it to the bottom of the screen, or by painting a negative image directly on the screen with a filler material which became impermeable when it dried. For a more painterly technique, the artist would choose to paint the image with drawing fluid, wait for the image to dry, and then coat the entire screen with screen filler. After the filler had dried, water was used to spray out the screen, and only the areas that were painted by the drawing fluid would wash away, leaving a stencil around it. This process enabled the artist to incorporate their hand into the process, to stay true to their drawing.
A method that has increased in popularity over the past 70 years and is tremendously popular is the photo emulsion technique:
1. The original image is created on a transparent overlay such as acetate or tracing paper. The image may be drawn or painted directly on the overlay, photocopied, or printed with a inkjet or laser printer, as long as the areas to be inked are opaque. A black-and-white negative may also be used (projected on to the screen). However, unlike traditional platemaking, these screens are normally exposed by using film positives.
2. A screen must then be selected. There are several different mesh counts that can be used depending on the detail of the design being printed. Once a screen is selected, the screen must be coated with emulsion and let to dry in the dark. Once dry, the screen is ready to be burned/exposed.
3. The overlay is placed over the emulsion-coated screen, and then exposed with a light source containing ultraviolet light in the 350-420 nanometer spectrum. The UV light passes through the clear areas and create a polymerization (hardening) of the emulsion.
4. The screen is washed off thoroughly. The areas of emulsion that were not exposed to light dissolve and wash away, leaving a negative stencil of the image on the mesh.
Photographic screens can reproduce images with a high level of detail, and can be reused for tens of thousands of copiesThe ease of producing transparent overlays from any black-and-white image makes this the most convenient method for artists who are not familiar with other printmaking techniques. Artists can obtain screens, frames, emulsion, and lights separately; there are also preassembled kits, which are especially popular for printing small items such as greeting cards.
Another advantage of screenprinting is that large quantities can be produced rapidly with new automatic presses (up to 1200 shirts in 1 hour} (The record is over 2000 shirts an hour.) The documented recordfor shirts printed in one hour by a single operator is 1805. Maddie Sikorski of the New Buffalo Shirt Factory in Clarence, New York (USA) set the record on 18 February 2005 at the Image Wear Expo in Orlando, Florida, USA, using a 12-color M&R Formula Press and an M&R Passport Automatic Textile Unloader.

Screenprinting materials

* Plastisol

the most common ink used in commercial garment decoration. Good color opacity onto dark garments and clear graphic detail with, as the name suggests, a more plasticized texture. This print can be made softer with special additives or heavier by adding extra layers of ink. Plastisol inks require heat (approx. 150°C (300°F) for many inks) to cure the print.

* Water-Based inks

these penetrate the fabric more than the plastisol inks and create a much softer feel. Ideal for printing darker inks onto lighter colored garments. Also useful for larger area prints where texture is important. Some inks require heat or an added catalyst to make the print permanent.

* PVC/ Phalate Free

relatively new breed of ink and printing with the benefits of plastisol but without the two main toxic components - soft feeling print.

* Discharge inks

used to print lighter colours onto dark background fabrics, they work by removing the dye in the garment – this means they leave a much softer texture. They are less graphic in nature than plastisol inks, and exact colours are difficult to control, but especially good for distressed prints and underbasing on dark garments that are to be printed with additional layers of plastisol.

* Flocking

consists of a glue printed onto the fabric and then foil (or other special effect) material is applied for a mirror finish.

* Glitter/Shimmer

metallic flakes are suspended in the ink base to create this sparkle effect. Usually available in gold or silver but can be mixed to make most colours.

* Metallic

similar to glitter, but smaller particles suspended in the ink. A glue is printed onto the fabric then a nanoscale fibers applied on it.

* Expanding ink (puff)

an additive to plastisol inks which raises the print off the garment, creating a 3D feel.

* Caviar beads

again a glue is printed in the shape of the design, to which small plastic beads are then applied – works well with solid block areas creating an interesting tactile surface.

* Four color process

artwork is created and then separated into four colors (CMYK) which combine to create the full spectrum of colours needed for photographic prints. This means a large number of colors can be simulated using only 4 screens, reducing costs, time, and set-up. The inks are required to blend and are more translucent, meaning a compromise with vibrancy of color.

* Gloss

a clear base laid over previously printed inks to create a shiny finish.

* Nylobond

a special ink additive for printing onto technical or waterproof fabrics.

* Mirrored silver

Another solvent based ink, but you can almost see your face in it.

* Suede Ink

Suede is a milky colored additive that is added to plastisol. With suede additive you can make any color of plastisol have a suede feel. It is actually a puff blowing agent that does not bubble as much as regular puff ink. The directions vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but generally you can add up to 50% suede additive to your normal plastisol.

Commercial Printing Methods:

This is the most commonly used type of press for printing catalogs. It uses a roll of paper to make the catalog printing process faster. There are two types of web press. The Heat-Set Web Press and the Cold-Set Web Press.

Heat-Set Web Press: The heat-set web press has a built-in heating unit that dries the ink. This gives the press the ability to produce a high volume of catalogs quickly. Another advantage it has is It can handle printing your catalog on coated and high-gloss paper. A heat-set web press is also the best choice if your catalog needs to have high quality photographs and images.

Heat-set web presses are good for large catalog printing jobs or where the cost of setup is irrelevant. It is a huge press and takes a staff of people to set it up for one catalog printing job. This is where you run into setup fees from your printer. On a large run, say 10,000 copies or more, the setup fee when divided by the number of catalogs is not too bad. If you were to apply those same setup fees to a run of only 1000 copies, the cost per catalog printed might be out of your budget requirements.

Cold-Set Web Press: This type of web press does not have a heating unit. The ink must be air-dried. The cold-set web press is used with text stock paper where the ink will absorb into the paper of your catalog. It will not print on coated and glossy paper. In addition to that, the photos and images for your catalog will not be quite as sharp as those printed on a heat-set web press.

However, if you are printing less than 10,000 catalogs or your primary needs are not the sharpness of the images, a cold-set web press might be the right choice for you. It will save you money over the heat-set method.

Sheet-Fed Press: Another good choice if you are not printing a high volume of catalogs is the sheet-fed press. The paper for your catalog is cut to size before the print run. One of the advantages a sheet-fed press has over the cold-set web press is that your images and photos will come out a much higher quality. Both are good for small runs, so if you are only going to print less than 10,000 catalogs and your artwork is important to you, the sheet-fed press might be the best way to go.

The sheet-fed press can also use various weights of paper, giving it another advantage over a cold-set web press. The downside is that sheet-fed presses run much slower. That is why they are usually only selected for a small run of catalogs or catalogs that require high quality graphics.

Digital Printing: This is much newer than the other methods described in this article, but it will become mainstream. This is where the images for printing your catalog are sent directly from the computer to the press. There is no film involved. All of the images are digital. This also eliminates the need for plates. Finding a printer for your catalog that uses this method might be difficult though since it has not been widely adopted yet.

The advantages of digital printing are fast-turnaround time and for producing high quality full color catalogs. The downside is that you may be limited in your choice of paper types.

Electrostatic printing: Only good for very short runs of catalog printing jobs. This is similar to photocopying documents in that it uses toner from a drum to thermally fuse your text and images to the paper.

Embossing: This catalog printing method uses a die your printer makes according to your design. It makes an impression or raises the image or letters onto the page.

Engraving: This is the catalog printing method that produces the highest quality images. You would only use this on the covers unless cost is not a factor. With engraved images, you can run your finger along the edge and fell that it has been indented or raised.

Gravure: This method of printing is used to produce a high volume of quality catalogs. It is much more expensive than other methods, but it is the best way to produce high quality catalogs.

Letterpress: This method of catalog printing goes back to the 15th century. It uses a rubber stamp like process. The images or text are raised on the stamp and ink is applied and the pages are stamped.

Offset lithography: This is a common catalog printing method with little setup time and one that is very cost effective. It's also good for printing on textured paper. It uses less ink than other methods as well.

Screen printing

Screen printing is a fairly economical method of printing and hence its growing popularity. The applications of screen printing are increasing as fast as one can think about a new surface for printing. Any surface that is flat can be screen printed on. The possibilities are endless.

Another factor that makes screen printing so popular is the fact that it allows one to use a wide variety of printing materials on a wide variety of surfaces. The combinations possible are numerous and can suit any kind of end usage and budget.
Applications Of Screen Printing

The textile industry probably makes the largest use of the screen printing technique. Screen printing is used to print on fabrics ranging from cotton and organza to silk and polyester. These fabrics are then made into finished products. The finished products include shirts, skirts, dresses, children's clothing and any kind of clothing made from printed the fabric. In fact many designers set up their own screen printing units since they are so cheap.

The designer then creates his or her own design and screen prints it in limited quantities for sale with his or her brand label. Screen printing is also used for upholstery, linen, curtains, drapes, cushion covers, bed sheets, bedcovers and other household and lifestyle requirements.

The other industry that makes extensive use of screen printing is the marketing and advertising industry. Flyers, posters, hand outs, advertisements and other point of sale or graphics products are all screen printed. The advertising industry uses screen printing primarily because it generally requires limited edition printing. The costs of printing small quantities digitally or electronically can be very high. Hence screen printing to the rescue.

The sports industry also uses screen printing to print souvenirs and collectible items. T-shirts printed with the logos of popular teams, souvenirs like caps, sweatshirts, mouse pads, keychains, baseball bats and a host of other items are all screen printed. Thus, screen printing has innumerous applications. Everywhere you look you will find examples of screen printing. Some are overt and others will be disguised.

Laser printer

A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. As with digital photocopiers and MFPs, laser printers employ a xerographic printing process but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced by the direct scanning of a laser beam across the printer's photoreceptor.

A laser beam projects an image of the page to be printed onto an electrically charged rotating drum coated with selenium. Photoconductivity removes charge from the areas exposed to light. Dry ink (toner) particles are then electrostatically picked up by the drum's charged areas. The drum then prints the image onto paper by direct contact and heat, which fuses the ink to the paper.

Laser printers have many significant advantages over other types of printers. Unlike impact printers, laser printer speed can vary widely, and depends on many factors, including the graphic intensity of the job being processed. The fastest models can print over 200 monochrome pages per minute (12,000 pages per hour). The fastest color laser printers can print over 100 pages per minute (6000 pages per hour). Very high-speed laser printers are used for mass mailings of personalized documents, such as credit card or utility bills, and are competing with lithography in some commercial applications.

The cost of this technology depends on a combination of factors, including the cost of paper, toner, and infrequent drum replacement, as well as the replacement of other consumables such as the fuser assembly and transfer assembly. Often printers with soft plastic drums can have a very high cost of ownership that does not become apparent until the drum requires replacement.

A duplexing printer (one that prints on both sides of the paper) can halve paper costs and reduce filing volumes. Formerly only available on high-end printers, duplexers are now common on mid-range office printers, though not all printers can accommodate a duplexing unit. Duplexing can also give a slower page-printing speed, because of the longer paper path.

In comparison with the laser printer, most inkjet printers and dot-matrix printers simply take an incoming stream of data and directly imprint it in a slow lurching process that may include pauses as the printer waits for more data. A laser printer is unable to work this way because such a large amount of data needs to output to the printing device in a rapid, continuous process. The printer cannot stop the mechanism precisely enough to wait until more data arrives, without creating a visible gap or misalignment of the dots on the printed page.

Instead the image data is built up and stored in a large bank of memory capable of representing every dot on the page. The requirement to store all dots in memory before printing has traditionally limited laser printers to small fixed paper sizes such as letter or A4. Most laser printers are unable to print continuous banners spanning a sheet of paper two meters long, because there is not enough memory available in the printer to store such a large image before printing begins.

Offset Lithography

Definition: Although digital printing is becoming more and more prevalent, offset -- short for offset lithography -- is the type of printing most people think of when talking about commercial printing.

The offset lithographic process works by first transferring an image photographically to thin metal, paper, or plastic printing plates. Unlike other forms of printing, in offset lithography the image on the printing plate is not recessed or raised. Rollers apply oil-based ink and water to the plates. Since oil and water don't mix, the oil-based ink won't adhere to the non-image areas. Only the inked image portion is then transferred to a rubber blanket (cylinder) that then transfers the image onto the paper as it passes between it and another cylinder beneath the paper.

The term offset refers to the fact that the image isn't printed directly to the paper from the plates, but is offset or transferred to another surface that then makes contact with the paper.
Doing Offset Printing

* How Offset Differs From Desktop Printing - The three primary differences in offset printing and desktop printing (such as inkjet and laser) are the colors of ink and the way the ink is placed on the paper as well as the type of machinery used to accomplish the task.

* Preparing Files for Offset Printing - When you send a digital file out for film or printing more goes along than just your PageMaker or QuarkXPress document. You may need to send fonts and graphics too.

* Book Paper - Offset papers are especially suitable for offset printing due to increased resistance to water and picking. Most book paper can be used on offset presses.

* Printing the Color White - Most inks used in offset printing are translucent therefore a translucent white ink would not cover a dark color. Explore your ink and printing options are for printing in white.

Computer to plate

Computer to plate(CTP) is an imaging technology used in modern Printing. In this technology, an image created in a Desktop Publishing (DTP) application is output directly to a printing plate.

Advantages of CTP CTP has several advantages over conventional platemaking. In CTP, one generation (transfer of film image to the printing plate) is removed from the printing process (eliminating the need for film and it's develop chemicals), increasing sharpness and detail. CTP avoids potential losses in quality that may occur during film processing, including scratches in the film, and variations in the exposure. Plates are produced in less time, are more consistent, and at a lower cost. CTP can also improve registration and image-to-edge repeatability over traditional methods.

In CTP, the media is registered (held in precise position) in the platesetter during imaging, and does not rely on a separately-aligned pin grid, as is the case with film. Defects due to dust, scratches or other artifacts are minimized. CTP systems can significantly increase plate production outputs.

Digital image processing

Digital image processing is the use of computer algorithms to perform image processing on digital images. As a subfield of digital signal processing, digital image processing has many advantages over analog image processing; it allows a much wider range of algorithms to be applied to the input data, and can avoid problems such as the build-up of noise and signal distortion during processing.

Offset printing advantages

Offset printing advantages
Advantages of offset printing compared to other printing methods include:
• Consistent high image quality. Offset printing produces sharp and clean images and type more easily than letterpress printing because the rubber blanket conforms to the texture of the printing surface.
• Quick and easy production of printing plates.
• Longer printing plate life than on direct litho presses because there is no direct contact between the plate and the printing surface. Properly developed plates running in conjunction with optimized inks and fountain solution may exceed run lengths of a million impressions.
• Cost. Offset printing is the cheapest method to produce high quality printing in commercial printing quantities.
Offset printing disadvantages
Disadvantages of offset printing compared to other printing methods include:
• Slightly inferior image quality compared to rotogravure or photogravure printing.
• Propensity for anodized aluminum printing plates to become sensitive (due to chemical oxidation) and print in non-image/background areas when developed plates are not cared for properly.
• Time and cost associated with producing plates and printing press setup. This makes smaller quantity printing jobs impractical. As a result, smaller printing jobs are now moving to digital offset machines.

Offset printing

Offset printing is a commonly used printing technique where the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on the repulsion of oil and water, the offset technique employs a flat (planographic) image carrier on which the image to be printed obtains ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a water-based film (called "fountain solution"), keeping the non-printing areas ink-free.

Digital Printing Technology at Its Finest

Short run printing
Traditional offset printing usually has a minimum order requirement that you have to meet before you can print your materials. This is to allow the printing company to cover for the expenses that they incur during the printing process. Traditional offset printing methods employ several mechanical methods that costs the printer money to produce.

This is not the case in digital printing. With digital printing, you can go straight from the computer to the printer and not worry about a minimum number of prints that is required. In fact, you can even print a single copy of your materials if you wanted to. The direct to printer method allows people and especially printers to create prints in the short run at a very affordable rate.

Order anytime and anywhere you maybe
The development of digital technology coincides with the popularity of the internet. Since both digital printing and the World Wide Web have been the products of various digital innovations, it does not come as a surprise that these two digital services can work together to make printing your materials easier.

Today, there are plenty of printing companies that offer their services via the internet. This means that anywhere you are and at anytime, you can place an order for your prints. Just key in your product specifications and upload your file - your orders will be processed in no time. You no longer need to go personally to your printer, just do your transactions on line. It is faster, it is easier and is more practical.

There are also a ton of value added services that you can get when you go and order your prints through the net. One such service is the free online design tool that you can use to create and design your own printed materials. you can edit photos, manipulate text and upload any image that you want at no additional cost.

Another service worth mentioning is the free project quotes that you can have when you in order to help you in balancing your budget. Project quotes show you how much your orders cost even before you commit to an order. They can also show you the breakdown of your bill so that you can see where your money is going. The project quotes that these companies are offering is a great tool that allows you to manage your resources well - especially when you are on a tight budget.

Legends of screen printing

Screen printingElectronic engineers use the terms screen printing, screen printing legend and silk screen to denote writing on a printed circuit board. Screen printing is far more convenient and versatile than other traditional printing methods. For one thing, the surface does not have to be printed under pressure, unlike etching or lithography, and it does not have to be planar. Screen printing inks can be used to work on a variety of surfaces - such as textiles, ceramics, metal, wood, paper, glass, and plastic. As a result, screen printing is used in many different industries, from clothing to product labels to PCB printing.

The screen printing technology is rather simple and does not call for high skills. A screen is made out of a piece of porous, finely woven fabric - originally made of silk, but now they are made of polyester or nylon - stretched over a wooden or aluminum frame. Areas of the screen are blocked off with a non permeable stencil which is a negative of the image to be printed. In other words, the open spaces are where the ink will appear. The screen is placed on top of a piece of dry paper or fabric. Ink is placed on top of the screen, and a squeegee or rubber blade is used to push the ink evenly into the screen openings and onto the substrate. The ink passes through the open spaces in the screen onto the paper or fabric placed underneath and then the screen is taken away. The screen can be re-used after cleaning.

Printed Circuit BoardThe electronics Printed Circuit Board industry is evolving at a fairly rapid pace as new cost-effective production technologies are become available. Direct digital printing is usurping the traditional photolithography and screen printing processes that have ruled the PCB industry for the last two decades. Direct digital printing is used to individualize PCBs just prior to their assembly. The obvious aim is to print a unique mark on each board that can be later used to identify the board. The mark must be permanent and inerasable and will usually contain 1D or 2D machine readable codes along with alpha numeric characters.

Large scale manufacturers of PCB say 1,000,000 boards and more per year use screen printing with thermally cured ink to print the legends that cover each side of the board. In this manner, digital printing can not print the whole side of a board at a price that will be competitive with screen printing costs. Several other options for individualizing are however available including Preprinted Label Application, Solvent Based Continuous Ink Jet Digital Printing, Laser Ablated Ink Patches etc.

Preprinted Label Application: People who manufacture low volumes of PCBs start with labels printed on office equipment and hand applied to each PCB either prior to or after assembly. But if the product volumes shoot up, the reliability and cost of hand applying labels becomes a problem. Automated systems that print and apply labels are also available. The handicap is these systems must place labels very accurately due to PCB space constraints.

Digital printingSolvent Based Continuous Ink Jet Digital Printing: This technology has been adapted to mark on a variety of industrial products including PCBs. With these systems a continuous stream of ink droplets is applied to the desired location using electromagnetic fields. Although solvent based inks produce permanent marks on porous surfaces, it may not be permanent on non-porous surfaces.

Many industries are today using lasers to engrave marks onto a variety of industrial parts. Lasers have been used to engrave marks onto PC boards with limited success due to the lack of contrast of the resulting mark. Some further experiments are taking place to overcome and one of them is to have the circuit boards printed with ink patches.

How does commerical offset printing differ from desktop printing?

The method of printing dictates how the desktop publishing document must be prepared. That's why answers to questions about what kind of software to use or how to set up a document begin with "how will it be printed?"

Answer: The three primary differences in offset printing and desktop printing (such as inkjet and laser) are the colors of ink and the way the ink is placed on the paper as well as the type of machinery used to accomplish the task.

Ink Colors
Both commercial offset printing (also known as offset lithography) and inkjet desktop printing utilize four basic ink colors: CMYK. Dots of cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow, and black (the K) are placed next to each other in specific patterns that trick the eye into seeing millions of colors. Additionally, offset printing can use premixed inks in a variety of specific colors as well as metallic and florescent inks. These are called spot colors.

Printing Process
Inkjet printing puts all the different ink colors on the paper in one pass through the printer. In commercial offset printing each color of ink is applied separately.

Printer vs. Press
Desktop printing usually uses some type of inkjet or laser printer. The inkjet printer has ink cartridges that places the ink directly on the paper. These are self-contained units connected to a computer through cables. Offset lithography uses a web or sheet press that may consist of multiple units. Photographic printing plates are made of the file to be printed. The plates accept the ink which is then transferred to the paper.

File Preparation
In choosing desktop publishing software one of the key considerations is determining how you will print your material. Some lower end or consumer desktop publishing applications cannot produce the type of files needed for commercial offset printing. Even when using software capable of creating the required files, non-designers may not understand how to properly create files for commercial offset printing.

Although there are many specific considerations for preparing files for offset printing, in terms of ink colors and the printing process two of the main software and file preparation considerations are the use of CMYK graphics and separations.

* CMYK vs. RGB
Graphics generally use RGB (Red, Green, Blue) or CMYK colors. Graphics on the Web or designed for on-screen display are RGB images. Because offset printing utilitizes CMYK inks, all full-color graphics need to be saved with CMYK colors. This simple conversion is done in your graphics software program.

* Separations
Whether printing in CMYK inks or spot colors, for offset printing you must supply a file that can be separated into different files for each ink color. These separations contain only the elements of the document that will print in one color of ink. The printing plates for offset printing are made from these separations.

Digital printing

Digital printing is the reproduction of digital images on a physical surface. It is generally used for short print runs, and for the customization of print media.
The process differs from lithography, flexography, gravure, and letterpress printing in several ways:
• Every print can be different, because printing plates are not required, as in traditional methods.
• There is less wasted chemical and paper, because there is no need to bring the image "up to colour" and check for registration and position.
• The ink or toner does not permeate the substrate, as does conventional ink, but forms a thin layer on the surface and may in some systems be additionally adhered to the substrate by using a fuser fluid with heat process (toner) or UV curing process (ink).
Because there is less initial setup, it is useful for rapid prototyping, and cost effective for small print runs.
Digital Printing is used for personalized printing, or variable data printing (VDP or VI), for example personalized children's books, which are customized with the specific child's name and images. Print on Demand (POD) systems also use digital printing, for short run books of varying page quantities, and binding techniques.

Printing

Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing.
Movable type is the system of printing and typography using movable pieces of metal type, made by casting from matrices struck by letterpunches. Movable type allowed for much more flexible processes than hand copying or block printing.
Around 1040, the first known movable type system was created in China by Bi Sheng out of porcelain. Sheng used clay type, which broke easily, but Wang Zhen later carved a more durable type from wood by 1298 AD, and developed a complex system of revolving tables and number-association with written Chinese characters that made typesetting and printing more efficient. However, the main method in use there remained woodblock printing.
Around 1450, Johannes Gutenberg introduced what is regarded as an independent invention of movable type in Europe (see printing press), along with innovations in casting the type based on a matrix and hand mould. Gutenberg was the first to create his type pieces from an alloy of lead, tin and antimony – the same components still used today.
Johannes Gutenberg's work on the printing press began in approximately 1436 when he partnered with Andreas Dritzehen — a man he had previously instructed in gem-cutting—and Andreas Heilmann, owner of a paper mill. It was not until a 1439 lawsuit against Gutenberg that official record exists; witnesses testimony discussed type, an inventory of metals (including lead) and his type mold.
Compared to woodblock printing, movable type page setting was quicker and more durable. The metal type pieces were more durable and the lettering was more uniform, leading to typography and fonts. The high quality and relatively low price of the Gutenberg Bible (1455) established the superiority of movable type, and printing presses rapidly spread across Europe, leading up to the Renaissance, and later all around the world. Today, practically all movable type printing ultimately derives from Gutenberg's movable type printing, which is often regarded as the most important invention of the second millennium.

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy for http://abcprinting.blogspot.com/


If you require any more information or have any questions about this privacy policy, please feel free to contact me by email at gopikirhsnanus@gmail.com.


At www.thegaykenyan.blogspot.com, the privacy of all visitors is of extreme importance to me. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information received and collected by http://abcprinting.blogspot.com/and how it is used.


Log Files
Like many other Web sites, http://abcprinting.blogspot.com/makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.


Cookies and Web Beacons
http://abcprinting.blogspot.com/does not use cookies.


DoubleClick DART Cookie

.:: Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on your site.

Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to this and other sites on the Internet.

Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html



Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include .......
Google Adsense



These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on http://abcprinting.blogspot.com/send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.



http://abcprinting.blogspot.com/has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.



You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. http://abcprinting.blogspot.com/ privacy policy does not apply to, and I cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.



If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites. Thank You.