Design Production Print

The production manual

Content

Informative, teaches you, tutorials

Categories

Design basics, elements, colour, pre press, production, finishing

Form

Glued, not A4, different types of stock, 29.9 x 29.8, columns, not the same throughout, hardback, coated and uncoated, mostly uncoated

Format

Spot colour on front and inside pages

Product and range

No range

Media and process

Relates to content, different stock, tutorials, bright colours

Mass produced, Canada, USA, made in Singapore

Print process either Litho or web

Audience

Learning and developing designers

No interaction

Form and function

To educate, inform and direct

Scale and context

Average manageable book size

Table rested specialist design book

Weight thickness of book

Designed for a designer so they can't get away with cheap nasty stock

Kick Ass DVD case

Content

Embossed DVD sleeve, DVD and case, UV coated glossy

Litho or web

At the printers

Commercial print processes

Practical

Technical

Economics

Rotary printing

Planographic

Offset lithography (litho)

Rotogravure (Gravure)

Intaglio

Magazines, flooring, large scale.

Flexography (Flexo)

Relif

Different materials, plastic

Not as good quality

CYMK

Digital printing

Raster image processor

Screen print

PAD printing Transfer a 2D image onto a 3D object

Lithography

Lithography (Offset Printing)

This is the major plate printing process. It uses thin metal plates with the image and non-image areas essentially on the same plane. There are two basic differences between lithography and other processes; (1) It is based on the fact that oil and water do not mix, and (2) is uses the offset principle in which ink is offset from the plate to a rubber blanket on an intermediate cylinder, and from the blanket to the paper on an impression cylinder.

Gravure

Gravure

Gravure is a type of the intaglio printing process that involves engraving the image onto an image carrier. Gravure printing presses two large print reels of paper together rather than sheets of paper. This type of printing is the fastest and widest printing press in operation.
It is capable of transferring more ink to the paper than other printing processes, and is also noted for its remarkable density range.

A gravure printing press has one designated printing unit for each color, commonly CMYK. While the press is in operation, the engraved cylinder is partially immersed into the ink fountain, filling the recessed cells. As the cylinder rotates, it draws ink out of the fountain with it. Acting as
a squeegee, the doctor blade scrapes the cylinder before it makes contact with the paper removing ink from the non-printing (non-recessed) areas. Next, the paper gets sandwiched between the impression roller and the gravure cylinder. This is where the ink gets transferred from the recessed cells to the paper.

The purpose of the impression roller is to apply force,
by pressing the paper onto the gravure cylinder, ensuring maximum coverage of ink. Then the paper goes through
a dryer because it must be completely dry before going through the next color unit and absorbing another
coat of ink.

Flexography

Flexography is the most common type

of printing used for packaging.

A flex graphic print is made by creating a positive mirrored master of the required image as a 3D relief in
a rubber or polymer material. A measured amount of ink (water-based, rather than oil based) is deposited upon the surface of the printing plate (or printing cylinder) using an engraved anilox roll whose texture holds a specific amount of ink. The print surface then rotates, contacting the print material which transfers the ink.

The flexible printing plate used in the final ink printing stage is light sensitive. A positive is placed over the plate, and is exposed to ultra-violet light. The plate is then ‘washed’ on rotating drum in a tank of Toluene solvent, which removes the layer of material that received the ultra-violet light.

The benefits of flexographic printing are:

• Better resolution and ability to print four color process
  (or more).
• Increased ability to reproduce highlight tonal values.
• Uses a wider range of inks, and can print on
  a variety of different materials.
• Inks have low viscosity to enable faster drying,
  which results in faster production and lower costs.

Production Methods

Rotary Printing

The three main types of rotary printingare Offset lithography (litho), rotogravure (Gravure), Flexography (Flexo)