PRINTMAKING Going dotty for reproduction

Letterpress Printing press invented by Gutenberg in Relief printing – used wooden then metal block of type. Pros – quality and creativity. Cons – inflexible, slow. Uses – tickets, limited edition work.

Flexography Relief print process using flexible plates. Mainly used for packaging. Pros – Prints onto non-absorbent or cheap stock, e.g. plastic, cardboard. Cons – Expensive set-up costs, poor quality printing (especially halftones).

Gravure Intaglio process – image cells of varying size and depth etched into copper plates. Used for long-run work – magazines, brochures, stamps, wallpaper. Pros – economic for long runs, high quality, high speed. Cons – Expensive to set up, expensive to make corrections, type is screened.

Lithography Oil and water don’t mix. Greasy image area attracts ink. Non image area attracts water. Artists traditionally draw on lithographic stones with a greasy pencil or crayon. Commercial printing on offset litho printing press.

Offset Lithography Main print process used today. Pros – cost effective, flexible, print on wide range of stock. Cons – translucent ink, affected by dry/damp conditions. Use – magazines, leaflets, packaging, posters, stationery.

Silk screen printing Image created using a stencil and mesh screen. Ink applied using a squeegee. Used for textiles, posters, stickers, CD and DVDs. Pros – thick ink, brilliant colours, print on any surface. Cons – small print runs, halftones and small type difficult.

Digital Printing Unlike traditional print methods, digital printing doesn’t use film or even printing plates in some cases. Pros – saves time and money, good for low quantity runs. Cons – only prints full colour, quality, gets expensive for multiple copies

CMYK and PMS colour CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) Image reproduced in dots of colour – halftone. Best for full-colour. PMS (Pantone Matching System) Tins of ink mixed by hand to colour formula guides. Best for spot colour.

Lamination & binding 3 main binding methods – saddle-stitched (magazines & brochures), perfect (magazines & paperbacks) and cased (hardback books). Varnish and lamination adds a finish/coating. Spot varnish is only added to specific areas.

Special finishes Foil blocking – relief image on metal block, heat applied to block transfers foil image to surface. Emboss – image created as male/female die. Paper placed between and pressure applied. Die cut – image die works like a Cookie cutter. Complex shapes can now be cut using a laser.