Thursday, January 21, 2010

The Process Of Offset Printing

By Anita Tan

Most companies need a printing service on a regular basis, whether it is for marketing purposes or for internal communication. Offset printing is the most frequently used printing technique and knowing about it is therefore helpful and important.

Offset printing can produce a large number of prints quickly, which makes it more economical than other techniques and also more popular. Therefore good printing service suppliers recommend the use of offset printing for bulk prints.

This printing technology uses oil-based ink, which is not soluble in water. The offset printing is so called because the designs are transmitted in an indirect way from the plates to the paper by use of rubber blankets as the medium.

The first step is preparing the images. Previously the images were prepared by creating film negatives and were then transferred to aluminum printing plates. However, a modern printing company would now prepare the plates directly by using an image setting system. After this, the plate is stuck to a cylinder with the correct side facing upwards. Thereafter water, and then ink, is spread on the image plates. The image receives the ink while the rest of the area gets a thin film of water, which makes sure that the ink does not spill past the images.

After being painted with the ink, the image is kept on a rubber blanket which is on a different cylinder, leading the image to be reversed. Afterwards, sheets of paper of desired proportions are put together and the rubber blankets transmit the image to the sheets on a third cylinder, where it comes out as the correct side.

Printed sheets are stapled, pasted, or arranged in any other way as needed and the printing company sends them after giving some finishing touches.

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