Anthony Richards Unit 7

Printing Production Research

There are three types of print production – hand, mechanical and digital

Hand Techniques

Technique What Is It? Advantages DisadvantagesEtching Using acid on

untreated metal to create

pattern.

It is very detailed. The acid is toxic and may burn through

metal.

Linocut Cutting a design into a sheet of lino,

creating a reverse image

and then pressing it into

fabric or wood.

It can be duplicated with

ease.

The image is reversed, making it difficult to correct and it involves lots

of tools

Screen Print Using a wire mesh as a stencil and transferring ink through the gaps to

create a design.

It is relatively quick compared to other

hand printing techniques. The

stencils are cheap to create and can

be used with a wide variety of

materials.

Stencils can be inaccurate and can

fade, making it difficult to achieve fine detail. It is also slow, which makes mass production

difficult.

Woodcut An image is carved into a

block of wood and the areas

not being used are cut away.

Ink is then rolled over the

design,

It produces an accurate image and is 3D. It can

also be reproduced many

times and the wood is long-

lasting.

It requires specialist equipment e.g.

printing press and wood and is time –

consuming.

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colouring the image.

Lithography A method of printing using a completely smooth stone

or piece of metal. An image is

etched into a coating of wax

and then coated in ink

and transferred

onto a printed page.

It produces a good quality image,

unlike some other hand printing

techniques. It’s extremely

economical if used for short periods

of time.

The surface must be level. It is also time-

consuming and requires a high level

of skill.

Mechanical

Technique What Is It? Advantages DisadvantagesLetterpress Letterpress is a

type of relief printing. Movable type is locked into

the bed of the printing press, then inked and pressed onto a sheet of paper, producing the

image.

It is mechanical and therefore

needs less human effort.

It takes longer than other mechanical

printing techniques.

Gravure Gravure printing is a technique

that uses engraving to produce the

image. The image is engraved onto a cylinder and a

The image has a photographic quality, with

bright colours. The engraved

plate means it can be used lots of

times.

It is expensive because of the

cost of the plates. It is only

economical if used over a long period of time.

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sheet of paper is rolled under it,

pressing the image onto the

paper.Screen Process A screen of wood

or aluminium with a fabric mesh

stretched over it. The mesh is

covered with an emulsion which closes the holes.

Photographic film is then exposed to

UV light. The emulsion is

washed away and the mesh is

dipped in ink.

Digital

Technique What Is It? Advantages DisadvantagesPhotocopying A cylindrical drum

is charged electrostatically.

The drum is coated in a

photoconductive material. A bright lamp lights up the

original image. The areas of the

drum that are exposed to light

become conductive and the areas that aren’t become

They produce lots of documents extremely fast and don’t wear out quickly. It copies both

images and text in relatively high

quality.

They are heavy and take up large amounts of space. Images lose a lot of detail in the

copying process. It only picks up

bold lines.

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negative. This creates an

electrical image. A toner is applied to

the drum to develop the

picture and the toner is applied to a piece of paper, which is melted

together to create the image.

Laser Printing This is a method of digital printing

that produces high-quality

images quickly. It uses an analogue

printer, but it uses the direct scanning of a

laser beam across the printer’s

photoreceptor.

It uses the same printing press as

other digital methods. Laser

printers are fast, reliable and economical.

Laser printers can release particles

that cause respiratory illness

and they also produce a small

amount of ozone which damages

the atmosphere. They are more

costly than inkjet printers.

Inkjet Printing Inkjet is a method of computer

printing that fires drops of ink onto

paper. The principle is also used to directly

put ink onto materials.

Inkjet printers are common and

relatively cheap. They produce good quality images when

used with special papers. Most are

relatively compact, so save

on space.

Prints are wet at first and need time to dry.

Printing is slower and is not

designed for high volume printing.

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Linocut

Woodcut

Examples of Hand

Printing Techniques

Examples of Mechanical Printing Techniques

Letterpress

Gravure

Photocopying

Laser Printing

Anthony Richards Unit 7

Desktop Publishing

Desktop publishing

programs create print material via

a standardised format.

Most are included with a standard

computer package, but are

designed to produce

professional images. It allows a

wide range of people to access

methods of publishing e.g.

menus and leaflets.

They are however,

expensive and they need

knowledge of the software.