10PROCESSESOF

PRINTPRODUCTION

- MITCH WEAVERBAGD

SUBSTRATES

A substrate relates to the appropriate material used as a stock. This can range from normal paper, card, boards to even metal and ceramics. By thinking about the context in which the substrate will be used, will allow you to define the overall concept of a brief and determine the effective outcome that will ultimately fulfil the purpose.

Also, the cost can reflect on the material used for printing. For example, using a high quality, gloss stock for a newspaper would not be cost effective as the aim of the piece of print is to give the reader information on a daily basis. Newspa-pers are not made to be kept as you would with a magazine. This can also determine the design process from the start. By being aware of what techniques and materials that can be used, will allow the designer to strengthen their creative possibil-ity.

- MDF

- POLYTHENE

- CERAMIC

PAPER TYPES

This term refers to any piece of stock that can be printed on using conventional printing processes, such as lithography and screen printing. In orde to achieve the best quality print, you need to be aware of the GSM ( grams per square metre ) which is the weight and also the size, which ranges in different forms across the globe. Typically you would use 'A' sizes such as ( A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6 ) and so on.

- NEWSPRINT

BLACK CARD -

DIGITAL PRINTINGIdeally this is not the most cost effective way to producing large amounts of print in the industrial world. It can be extremely time consuming but the benefit of it being able to achieve tis is high quality print finishes. Saying that, they are con-stantly put into use eve-ryday as a necessity to most modern working envi-ronments or homes.

The difference between using digital to other more traditional methods as there is no plates re-quired in order to produce a higher quality piece of visual print work. More commonly used by artists to create Giclee prints that are accurately repro-duced. Short runs allow the printer to be able to focus on the detail throughout the image, giving accurate results at the best quality possible.

GICLEE PRINT -

PAD PRINTINGA substrate relates to the appropriate ma-terial used as a stock. This can range from normal paper, card, boards to even metal and ceramics. By thinking about the context in which the substrate will be used, will allow you to define the overall concept of a brief and determine the effec-tive outcome that will ultimately fulfil the purpose.

Also, the cost can reflect on the material used for printing. For example, using a high quality, gloss stock for a newspaper would not be cost effective as the aim of the piece of print is to give the reader information on a daily basis. Newspapers are not made to be kept as you would with a magazine. This can also determine the design process from the start. By being aware of what techniques and materials that can be used, will allow the designer to strengthen their creative possibility.

- IPHONE SKINZIPPO LIGHTER -

LITHOGRAHPYROTARY PRINTING

OFFSET LITHOGRAPHY (LITHO)

This process of printing involves an extremely high volume process to produce con-sistent results in a fairly short space of time. Sheet-fed Litho involves using the CMYK four colour process, each plate containing the appropriate colour. Web litho uses a continuous roll to allow an increase in printing volume effectively producing larger amounts of print.

The video below demonstrates to motion of the Litho print production method and what can ultimately be achieved by using this process. Each machine typically in-volves four main towers, each with one colour assigned to systematically apply the ink to paper.

FLEXOGRAPHYCommonly used for more everyday essential pieces of design work, ranging from labels, food packag-ing and general throw away pack-ets. Mass produced on a large scale in order to maximise the potential profit growth from a product. it has the basic simi-larities of other rotary print processes, where a plate is wrapped around a cylinder forming the printing structure for the print to work. Unlike gravure or litho, the plate is made from a synthetic rubber material or pho-topolymer. This again in turns reduces the price of printing as there is no need to use expensive metals to create a plate for print.

GRAVURE

This process of print is similar to lithography in terms of the function that it works in. There is a copper plate that has the image for print engraved, this re-sults in increased durability for a longer period of time. Obviously the cost of print grows but if you are producing batches of 10000 prints or more, constantly then this is the ideal process to be used.

Typical pieces of design work that may be used involve flooring, brochures and magazines. Additional operations can be included during this process, such as saddle stitching. Allowing the brochure to be bound along the production line with one swift motion.

SCREEN PRINTINGThe main basis of this methods is similar to those of all the other print processes, as you have to sepa-rate the colours onto different screens to form a way to layer the design together. Although this is an extremely versatile process, allowing you to print onto a larger number of stocks with greater strengths of ink. Providing mixed qualities to work de-pending on the design.

Any image that you want to print with this method needs to be fixed to a screen. The method of doing this is to use ultraviolet light the burn the image onto a resin, which in turns sets leaving the appropriate image visible. The material used is formed from a mesh, stretched over a metal frame. It can be washed and reused creating a cost effective and tradi-tional way to printing.

The ink is pulled across the screen in one direction to apply onto the print, then moved back in the other to take it off. Using a 'squeegee' to push the ink over the screen, the mesh allows only a certain amount to be pressed through, creating a print. This is then left to dry until another layer can be applied using the same method.

ROTARY SCREEN PRINTING

This process uses the basic fundamen-tals of normal screen printing but in-stead it's used on a more industrial scale, to create much greater batches of print work. Each screen rotates round one another form a systematic sequence where colour can be applied much more effectively than having to manually change the screen each time.

HALFTONESThis process is used to create an illusion of the original image by replicating the photographic tones that are used in print. By using this method, the dots can be built up to create a full colour CMYK finished image, normally appropriated to a photograph or full colour detailed image.

Greyscale - Single coarse halfton screen.Duotone - Double halftone screen. Normally using black with either a spot colour.Four-colour Image - Four screens using full CMYK colour.Four-colour Black - Four screens using full CMYK colour to create a richer Mono-tone colour.

FINISHES

This process of print is similar to lithography in terms of the function that it works in. There is a copper plate that has the image for print engraved, this re-sults in increased durability for a longer period of time. Obviously the cost of print grows but if you are producing batches of 10000 prints or more, constantly then this is the ideal process to be used.

Typical pieces of design work that may be used involve flooring, brochures and magazines. Additional operations can be included during this process, such as saddle stitching. Allowing the brochure to be bound along the production line with one swift motion.

- FOIL BLOCKING

SPOT VARNISH -

PROCESS COLOURS -

CMYKOGcyan / magenta / yellow / black / orange / green