Methods of Printing

Printing is a process for reproducing a particular image or text using a master form or template.

Over the years printing methods have changed and obviously improved.

The first ever press was a Letterpress. By using stamps, it grabs ink and places on the paper. It is very similar to a typewriter, but printing things whole not part by part. This is all done by hand by someone placing an empty piece of paper or material chosen in the place to be pressed by ink. It also has to be done fast according to the machine's speed, which is controllable. Nowadays the Letterpress is not used 

Another method, which is the most common used today is Offset Lithography. This is a process whereby a sheet passes through 4 different printing colour machines, being those of CMYK. The paper passes through each machine one after the other through rolls. These rolls are slight wet and added with water and chemicals. The percentage of colour per area is added one after the other and then has some time to dry out. Offset Lithography works on the principle that water and oil don't mix. "By using metal or polyester sheets(plates), image and non-image areas are burned onto the plate using light to expose the image areas. This plate is attached onto a cylinder that as it goes around on the press, picks up water onto the non image areas, since water and oil don't mix, when the plate comes into contact with the ink, it only sticks where the water isn't, our image area."  REFERENCE: http://www.hignell.mb.ca/printingclarified/printing101/methods-of-print

Flexography is usually used to print labels. Here multiple rolls are used for each colour used in that particular label or design. These can go up to incredible printing speeds of 4 miles per hour(that's a lot). IT is the packaging industry who mostly use flexography.

This is done on materials such as lables, stickers, plastics, tissues and so on. This is a cheap way of printing as it does not use a lot of ink, barely actually just to look filled. This is good in a way because things such as packages, bottle labels and so on are thrown away. The chosen plate is wrapped around a cylinder that rotates and while rotating picks up in that then presses it into the material.

Gravure printing is a lot like flexography printing. The main difference is that its grooves are engraved into the cylinder therefore it could be used time and time again. It is usually used in printing long run magazines

REFERENCE: http://www.hignell.mb.ca/printingclarified/printing101/methods-of-print