2. Printing Technology
- Printing is one of the major and most extensively used medium of
communication. any Graphic designer Dealing in Communicating with the
masses has to have basic understanding of reproduction methodologies,
print production being one of the critical.
- Five Major Printing
- Identification of Major Printing
- Printing Process
- Half tone Photography
- Process of Color
- Hexachrome
- Imposition & Binding
Introduction to print production
16 to 27 mar 2009
Document by : PG 1st Year second sem.
B R Waghmare Course guide : Tridha Gajjar , Bharat suthar , VF - S N
PG Graphic Shinde and Printing Staff nid.
3. What is Printing - Planographic process ( Offset Printing )
Planographic printing means printing from a flat surface,
as opposed to a raised surface (as with relief printing) or
incised surface (as with intaglio printing).
Lithography and offset lithography are
planographic processes that utilize the property
that water will not mix with oil. The image is
- Two types of printing process applying a tusche (greasy substance) to a plate
or stone.
1) Conventional
- Lithography Printing ( Offset Printing )
- Multiple Copies ( Master )
- Dot Matrix Lithography is a method for printing using a
stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth
surface. By contrast, in intaglio printing a plate
2) Unconventional or non-Impact printing.
Five Major Printing. is engraved, stippled to make cavities to contain
the printing ink, and in woodblock printing and
- Not masters ( Master less ) letterpress ink is applied to the raised surfaces of
- Ink jet, Laser - By Relief Process ( Letterpress Printing ) letters or images.
- Planography process ( Offset Printing )
- Intaglio Process ( Gravure Printing ) Offset Printing is an indirect Lithographic printing Technology.
- Screen Printing
- Electrostatics Printing ( Xerography ) Use - Packaging, Commercial printing, Magazine,
Labels & Medium run printing jobs.
- By Relief Process ( Letterpress Printing )
Letterpress printing is a term for the ‘relief’ printing - Intaglio Process ( Gravure Printing )
of text and image using a press with a “type-high bed”,
in which a reversed, raised surface is inked and then
pressed into a sheet of paper to obtain a positive Gravure printing is an intaglio printing
right-reading image. technique, where the image to be printed
is made up of small depressions in the surface
of the printing plate. The cells are filled with ink
and the excess is scraped off the surface with a
Use - Cards, Stationary, Labels, Forms, Tickets, Embossing, for Passional Use. doctor blade, then a rubber-covered roller
presses paper onto the surface of the plate and
into contact with the ink in the cells. The printing
- Flexography printing ( also called Surface printing ) plates are usually made from copper and may
be produced by digital engraving or laser
Flexography is a form of printing process which etching.
utilizes a flexible relief plate. It is basically an updated
version of letterpress that can be used for printing on
almost any type of substrate including plastic, m
etallic films, cellophane, and paper. That’s why it’s
widely used for printing on the non-porous substrates
Use - Catalog, Magazine, Printing on Files & Plastic.
required for various types of food packaging (it is also
well suited for printing large areas of solid color).
- Screen Printing
Screen printing is one of the early methods of printing.
It involves the passing of ink or any other printing medium
through a mesh or ‘screen’ that has been stretched on a frame,
and to which a stencil has been applied. The stencil openings
determine the image that will thus be imprinted.
Screen printing material
4. • Principles of Printing.
- PVA ( Polyvinyl alcohol )
- 300 mase, Finest
- Cloth- Nylon
- Cromilian paper
- Cottage Chemical
- Positive & Negative
Use - Poster, Textiles, Glass, Plastic, Vehicles, Fitting & Instrument
dails, Decorative Product, Labels, Wallpapers, Surface Finishing & Short run Printing job.
• Collotype - Photo Gelatin Paper Process.
- Its Printing is Continuous Tone not a High tone.
• Hand Composition
- Collotype Printing is a Planography Process.
- Phototypesetting ( Photo composition )
- Letterpress Production
• Thermography - Offset Production System.
- This process produces a glassy, raised image by using - infrared light.
Identification of Printing Process
• Electro Photography - Electrostatic Printing Xerography. Major Printing - The process of producing printed
product can be divided into three parts.
Xerography (or electrophotography) is a photocopying Process
technique .The name xerography came from the Greek radicals
xeros (dry) and graphos (writing), because there are no liquid - Pre press
chemicals involved in the process, unlike earlier reproduction - Letterpress - Press
techniques like cyanotype. - Offset - post press
- Gravure
- Screen - Pre press
Before the job can be printed, the document must be converted to film and “plates.” In the case of How
- Letterpress Stuff Works Express, film negatives are created from digital files. Images from the negatives are transferred to
printing plates in much the same way as photographs are developed. A measured amount of light is allowed to
- The edges of the text will show ink squash due to heavy pressure pass through the film negatives to expose the printing plate. When the plates are exposed to light, a chemical
- Due to heavy pressure, at the back off the paper slight indentation will be seen. reaction occurs that allows an ink-receptive coating to be activated. This results in the transfer of the image from
- Ink intensity is higher compared to off. the negative to the plate.
- Press
- Offset The printing process used to print How Stuff Works Express is called web offset lithography. The paper is
fed through the press as one continuous stream pulled from rolls of paper. Each roll can weigh as much as 2,000
pounds (1 ton). The paper is cut to size after printing. Offset lithography can also be done with pre-cut paper in
- The impression will be even in both text & halftone. sheetfed presses.
- Lines & Text are sharp & has clear outline. Web presses print at very high speeds and use very large sheets of paper. Press speeds can reach up to
- Solid Color are evenly inked better text reproduction than gravure. 50,000 impressions per hour. An impression is equal to one full press sheet (38 inches x 22 and three-fourths
inches), which is 12 pages of How Stuff Works Express.
- Gravure
- post press
- The edges of the text will not be sharp, show sawtooth effect at edges. The Post press is where the printed product is completed. The huge rolls of now-printed paper are cut
and put together so that the pages fall in the correct order. Pages are also bound together, by staples or glue, in
this step of the process.
- Screen In the case of How Stuff Works Express, a machine called a stitcher takes the folded printed paper (called press
signatures) and collates them together. Then stitches (staples) are inserted into the signatures, binding them
- Due to heavy deposition of the ink it show slight raised impression. together.
Graphic Art Reproduction.
5. An Original Print is not a reproduction. It is the multiplied original work of art. The artist creates with his own LPI Table
hand the artwork directly onto the printing stock (plate, screen, stone etc.). The complicated graphic techniques
make it necessary for the artist to study and acquire special abilities and knowledge for each chosen medium. Document Paper Necessary LPI
Each Original print is then pulled by hand from one or more printing stocks (not necessarily by the artist himself).
Each so created print is an “Original Print”. It does not matter whether 1 or 10,000 prints have been made. But
the artist usually limits the edition and approves it with his signature. High - end Add & high end brochures, Sheet - fed / Coated 1500 to 300 lpi ( normal 200 lpi )
fine art book & fine art reproduction,
high end magazine.
Catalogs, monthly Magazine, Commer- Heat set web / Coated Table 100 to 150 lpi ( normal 133
cial Grades add, Ordinary books. lpi )
Halftone Photography Newsletters, forms & Flyers Sheet - fed / uncoated 100-133lpi ( normal 100 lpi )
what is halftone - process by which continuous tone is Small magazine, Catalogs, direct mail. Heat set web / uncoated 90 to 133 lpi ( normal 100lpi )
simulated by a pattern of dots of varying sizes by a contact
or glass halftone screen.
Screen Ruling. News paper supplement of high Quality News paper / coated 65 to 100 lpi ( normal 90 )
- DPI ( Dot per inch )
News paper of Ordinary News paper / uncoated 65 - 100lpi ( normal 65lpi )
Dots per inch (DPI) is a measure of spatial
printing or video dot density, in particular the number
of individual dots that can be placed within the span News paper of low quality news paper / newsprint 65 - 100 lpi ( normal 65 lpi )
of one linear inch (2.54 cm.) The DPI value tends to
correlate with image resolution, but is related only indirectly.
- PPI ( Pixal per inch ) Process of Color The term process color refers to
the use the of four specific color
Pixels per inch (PPI) or pixel density is a measurement of
the resolution of devices in various contexts; typically computer
displays, image scanners or digital camera image sensors.
1) Cyan - Process Blue 2) Magenta - Process Red 3) yellow - process 4) Black - process
Ideal ink density for four color printing....
- LPI ( Line per inch )
1) Cyan = 1.6 - 1.7 , 2) Magenta = 1.4 - 1.5 , 3) yellow = 1.3 - 1.4 , 4) Black = 1.8 - 2.0
Lines per inch (LPI) is a measurement of printing
resolution in systems that use a halftone screen.
Printing sequence in 4 color Machine :
Specifically, it is a measure of how close together the
lines in a halftone grid are. Higher LPI indicates greater
black Cyan Magenta, yellow
detail and sharpness.
- Screen Ruling : Line per inch of screen known as screen ruling. CMYK printing
three variable help decide what screen ruling to use for halftone photography.
Short for Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black, and pronounced as separate letters.
1) Normal viewing distance
CMYK is a color model in which all colors are described as a mixture of these
2) process of reproduction
four process colors.CMYK is the standard color model used in offset printing for
3) Type of base material
full-color documents. Because such printing uses inks of these four basic colors,
it is often called four-color printing.
6. CMYK Screen Angles Duo tone
1) black = 45 % , 2) Yellow = 0 %, 3) Magenta = 15 % 4) yellow = 75 % Duotone is a halftone reproduction of an image using the
superimposition of a contrasty black halftone over a one color
halftone. This is most often used to bring out middle tones and
highlights of an image. The most common colors used are blue,
yellow, browns and reds.
Rosette Pattern
A rosette is a round, stylized flower design, used Desktop Publishing PageMaker to compete more for the small business.
extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity.
Moire Pattern PageMaker was the first desktop publishing
program, introduced in 1985, initially for the
then-new Apple Macintosh but soon after also
In physics, a moiré pattern is an interference pattern for PCs running the then-new Microsoft Windows.
created, for example, when two grids are overlaid at PageMaker was awarded an SPA Excellence in
an angle, or when they have slightly different mesh Software Award for Best New Use of a Computer
sizes. in 1986.
Data Input
Hexachrome ( introduced in 1994 )
- Two type of Scanner
1) Flatbed Scanner ( CCD ) - Charge couple device
- Scan by Line to Line
Provide winder gamut - Brighter green, Orange, More Vibrant
Purples, & true skin tone, Improve color range & Accuracy over 2) Drum scanner ( PMT ) - Photo Multiple Tube
Traditional four - color process. standard CMYK ink appear dirty
when compared to the more vibrant Hexachrome CMYK - Scan by Original spot by spot 3D PMT
- CCD Technology
Color Correcting Images for press
Laser density Range - the CCD will not “ see” all the shadow detail in contrast transparencies, not reproduce
these areas fully 5500dpi.
- For press there are six Major concern when dealing with color correcting.
- PMT Technology
1) The quality of the original image
Capture a wider density range than CCD, there fore “see” a greater depth of color scanning resolution 1200 dpi
2) The quality of the scanned image
Eg.
3) Ensuring proper contrast from light to dark 1) Simple B/W Bitmap use only 1 bit / pix. 21= 2 Shades
4) Avoid the light areas dropping out within the photograph 2) Gray scale images use 8 bit/pix. 28 = 256 shades of gray
5) Prevent the dark areas filling in ( dot gain ) which cause gloss of detail Improper tonal range from 3) RGB images normally use 24 bit/pix 8 = bit each of RGB
light to dark ( 3x8 bit’s ) 224 = 16.7 million possible shades
6) Compensating for the printing process including the paper being utilized - Line Art Resolution
Scan Resolution = output device resolution x sizing factor 1200 ppi is the upper scanning resolution limit.
7. Gray Scale and Color Resolution - Sheet wise imposition
Scan resolution = screen ruling x Quality factor
( Q F ) x sizing Factor
( Q F ) = 2 if screen ruling is 133 lpi or less 1st imposition 2nd imposition
( Q F ) = 1.5 if screen ruling is above 133
sizing factor = Desire size
Original size Turning of Paper will Left to right for paper - work & turn
Resolution Rules : Stochastic halftone printing for gray scale and color
4 Pages half sheet work
Resolution scan : Comparable screen ruling x quality factor ( Q F ) x sizing factor
( Q F ) = 1 for stochastic screening
( Q F ) = Quality factor also
Imposition - arrangement of Paper. in prepress ‘imposition’
means the arrangement of paper on the press sheet so that when
Imposition
folded the pages read consecutively. how you arrange the pages 1st Side 2nd Side
on the sheet depend on the sizes of the press sheet & the pages
and how the job will be folded and bound.
Ganged Imposition
Types of imposition used depends on several factors.
- The design of the printed piece
- The type and size of the press to be used
- The type of paper to be used during printing
Binding
- Center Staple
- Center Staple - Perfect binding ( Loose leaf )
- Section suing binding ( Flexible ) 3up( multiple ) Imposition 2up Imposition
Maximum 80 pages, Creeping for centre staple - size of Pages
- Perfect binding Cutting
Durability is less ( Margin in the inside of pages )
8 pages half sheet work
- Section suing binding ( Flexible )
Folding
Durability in more than perfect Binding
8. Work & tumble imposition Schematic drawing of letterpress platen press
- Form - the media from which we take print
- both side printing
( 2 Grippers are used ) non Printing area is increased. - wooden frame, - plate
( Paper is turn Horizontally ( Top to Bottom) ) - Schematic drawing of flut - bed Cylinder press of Letterpress
Side guide
Rotary press ( single - color offset press ) Flonge
- Speed can be increased with help of paper feeder - stop feeder
- web fed - paper roll
- sheet fed - separate sheet
- Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from a number of
We can use white space from the design ( at the edges ) as a gripper margin ( cut mark is not required ) cut folded or unfolded of paper or other material
marks will not be printed
Graining Drying ink dries on paper by
Conventional plate making process - absorption - News paper
- oxidation - come in contact with oxygen of air & top surface harden
- Mental used is Aluminium - precipitation
- Graining - heat - tin printing ( Color should be remain same after heating the metal
- Counter - Crystallization - Time between each color printing is more, & if ink dry, it will not accept next color.
- applying light sensitive Coating
- Drying
- Exposing
- Developing
- Etching Paper
- Lacquering Bleaching
- Inking
- Removing tensile
- Gumming
Presensitized plate making
Pulping additives
- Expoxing
- Developing
- Gumming Chipping Removing water
Computer to plate process ( C + P )
- image is directly generated on ps plate from the digital file
Raw Material Paper
- Paper which goes for printing should be Flat
What is Trapping - Dimension stability - It shouldn’t stretch
- Trapping digital files is the process of compensating for misregistration on the printing press by printing small - Good opacity
grease of overlapping color
9. Types of Paper
1) News paper
2) Wove paper
3) Bond paper
4) tracing paper
5) Math litho - text book
6) offset paper- good folding, long lasting
7) Duplex board -cartons, packaging
8) Cartage paper - manufacturing, very long lasting , stamp paper
9) Chroma Paper - one coated , labels , poster
10) Art paper - gloss finishing - mat finish
11) mirror coat- very highly finish
12) cards
Case Study
Paper sizes NID Poster - 2001 2002
Name of the job - admission poster 2001 - 2002 ( GDPD )
British standerd
No . of color : 2 two color on one side
1/2
- Fool scrap -13 x17”
- Medium - 18” x 23” Finished size : 11” x 12” Quantity : 4000 copies
1/2 1/2 A) Paper : ballapur offset paper 23”x36”x26.6 kgs.
- demy - 17 x 22
- Royal - 20” x 25” unfinished size: 11”x12” = 3 poster from 1 sheet of 23”x36”= 4100 ÷ 3=1366sh.
- crown - 15” x 20 “ 1400 sheets ÷ 500sheet/ream = 2.3 reams paper 23” x 23” x26.6kgx@rs. 50per kg=Rs.1350
- Imperial - 22” x 30” /ream x 2.8 reams=Rs.3800.00(A)
International Paper B) Positive : 11” x 22” = 29cm x 57cm = 1653sqcm x@Rs.0.75per sq. cm =
Rs.1240forpositive( B)
(C) Plate Making : 2 color = 2 plates @ Rs. 600per plate = Rs. 1200 (C)
(D) Printing : 2 plates x 4 thousand x @Rs. 900per plate = rs. 7200 (D)
This paper is used to make
(E) Cutting, Finishing & Folding : Rs. 1000 (E)
Envelopes for A size
A+B+C+D+E = RS. 14,440 + 10% = 1444 = 15.884 ÷ 4000 = 3.97 per poster.
Biggest Size Available
Standard Convenient Trimmed ABC
subdivision cuts of standerd Creries sheet
Uniform
