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| Technologies | ||
|---|---|---|
| Phaistos Disc | 1850–1400 BC | |
| Woodblock printing | 200 AD | |
| Movable type | 1040 | |
| Intaglio | 1430s | |
| Printing press | 1439 | |
| Lithography | 1796 | |
| Offset press | by 1800s | |
| Chromolithography | 1837 | |
| Rotary press | 1843 | |
| Flexography | 1890s | |
| Screen-printing | 1907 | |
| Dye-sublimation | 1957 | |
| Photocopier | 1960s | |
| Pad printing | 1960s | |
| Laser printer | 1969 | |
| Dot matrix printer | 1970 | |
| Thermal printer | ||
| Inkjet printer | 1976 | |
| Digital press | 1993 | |
| 3D printing | ||
Offset printing is a widely used printing technique where the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. manroland is a German sheetfed and web press manufacturer In June 2008 the company name changed from formerly MAN Roland Druckmaschinen AG to manroland AG The history of printing began as an attempt to make easier and reduce the cost of reproducing multiple copies of documents fabrics wall papers and so on The Phaistos Disc ( Phaistos Disk, Phaestos Disc) is a disk of fired Clay from the Minoan palace of Phaistos, possibly dating For the use of the technique in art see Woodcut on the technique and Old master print for the history in Europe and Woodblock printing in Japan. Movable type is the system of Printing and Typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual letters or punctuation Intaglio (pronounced in-TAL-yo ɪn'tælɪəʊ is a family of Printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface known as the matrix or plate A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a medium (such as paper or cloth thereby transferring an image Lithography is a method for Printing using a plate or stone with a completely smooth surface Chromolithography is a method for making multi-color prints. This type of color printing stemmed from the process of Lithography, and it includes all types of lithography A rotary printing press is a Printing press in which the images to be printed are curved around a cylinder Flexography (also called surface printing) often abbreviated to flexo, is a method of Printing most commonly used for packaging (labels tape bags Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink blocking stencil A dye-sublimation printer (or dye-sub printer) is a Computer printer which employs a printing process that uses heat to transfer dye to a medium such as a plastic A photocopier (or copier is a machine that makes Paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply Pad printing is a printing process that can transfer a 2-D image onto a 3-D object A laser printer is a common type of Computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper A dot matrix printer or impact matrix printer refers to a type of Computer printer with a print head that runs back and forth on the page and prints by impact striking For the type of printer which uses sparks and aluminised paper (and is sometimes referred to as a "thermal printer" see Spark printer. Inkjet printers operate by propelling variably-sized droplets of liquid or molten material ( Ink) onto almost any sized page Digital printing is the reproduction of Digital images on a physical surface 3D printing is a category of Rapid prototyping technology A three dimensional object is created by layering and connecting successive cross sections of material Printing is a process for reproducing text and image typically with ink on Paper using a printing press An ink is a Liquid containing various Pigments and/or Dyes used for coloring a surface to produce an Image, text, or 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 film of water, keeping the non-printing areas ink-free. Lithography is a method for Printing using a plate or stone with a completely smooth surface
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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. Letterpress printing is a term for Printing text with Movable type, in which the raised surface of the type is Inked and then pressed against a smooth
- 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.
- The more you print, the less you pay per page, because most of the price goes into the preparation undergone before the first sheet of paper is printing and ready for distribution. Any additional paper print will only cost the client paper price (and ink), which is very minimal.
- High speed and high volume printing.
Photo offset
The most common kind of offset printing is derived from the photo offset process, which involves using light-sensitive chemicals and photographic techniques to transfer images and type from original materials to printing plates. Photography (fә'tɒgrәfi or fә'tɑːgrәfi (from Greek φωτο and γραφία is the process and Art of recording pictures by means of capturing An image (from Latin imago) or picture is an artifact usually two-dimensional that has a similar appearance to some subject &mdashusually Typography is the art and techniques of arranging type, Type design, and modifying type Glyphs Type glyphs are created and modified using a variety
In current use, original materials may be an actual photographic print and typeset text. However, it is more common — with the prevalence of computers and digital images — that the source material exists only as data in a digital publishing system. A digital system uses discrete (discontinuous values usually but not always Symbolized Numerically (hence called "digital" to represent information for
Offset litho printing on to a web (reel) of paper is commonly used for printing of newspapers and magazines for high speed production.
Sheet-fed litho
"Sheet-fed" refers to individual sheets of paper or paperboard being fed into a press. A lithographic ("litho" for short) press uses principles of lithography to apply ink to a printing plate, as explained previously. Sheet-fed litho is commonly used for printing of short-run magazines, brochures, letter headings, and general commercial (jobbing) printing.
Present day
Offset printing is the most common form of high-volume commercial printing, due to advantages in quality and efficiency in high-volume jobs. While modern digital presses (Xerox iGen3 Digital Production Press or the family of HP Indigo solutions, for example) are getting closer to the cost/benefit of offset for high-quality work, they have not yet been able to compete with the sheer volume of product that an offset press can produce. iGen3 is a Xerox Corporation digital color production press that can print near offset quality prints in small or large runs Indigo is the name given to a series of Digital Offset Printing Presses made by the Hewlett-Packard Company in Israel. Furthermore, many modern offset presses are using computer to plate systems as opposed to the older computer to film workflows, which further increases their quality. Computer to plate (CTP is an Imaging technology used in modern printing processes. Computer to Film (CTF is a print workflow involving the printing from a computer straight to film
In the last two decades, flexography has become the dominant form of printing in packaging due to lower quality expectations and the significantly lower costs in comparison to other forms of printing. Flexography (also called surface printing) often abbreviated to flexo, is a method of Printing most commonly used for packaging (labels tape bags
References
- "Offset Printing". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 22, 2004, from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. Events 238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperor. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " [1]
- History of Lithography. International Paper.
- HistoryWired: Rubel Offset Lithographic Press. Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
- Raidy Printing Group. The History of Printing.
See also
External links
Waterless printing is a method of Offset printing which is less environmentally damaging than conventional Lithographic printingDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic