Four Commonly Used Printing Methods

So much of our world has gone digital with a vengeance, but the importance of the printed word lives on. And printing technology is seen not only in books. When you look at the product list of any of the Jacksonville printers you will see business cards, brochures, booklets, envelops, door hangers, newsletters and so much more. Also, in all these years, printing technology has come a long way, and today we have a number of printing methods in use. Let us take a look at four of them.

1. Screen Printing – This is also referred to as serigraphy or silkscreening. A stencil is used to create images as per requirement. The screen is not paper, but some finely woven fabric like polyester, nylon or even silk. Apart from the screen, another implement used is a rubber blade usually referred to as a squeegee. Certain areas on the screen (which do not need to be colored) are blocked off by the stencil, which is usually made of an impermeable material. Screens are used repetitively by cleaning. Printers usually employ screen printing for printing designs of tee shirts, CDs, ceramic products, clock and watch faces etc.
2. Offset Printing – This is one of the most popular styles of printing. It is also referred to as planographic or lithographic printing. The image gets transferred from a printing plate to a rubber sheet, and from there on the surface that needs to be printed. Because of this ‘transfer’ from one surface to another, this process is called ‘offset’ printing. The scientific principle used is the natural repulsion of oil and water. The ink rollers place the ink on the image carrier which needs to be colored, while a film of water is placed over the areas which do not need to be colored.

3. Letterpress Printing – The raised surface of the type is covered with ink and then pressed against the surface which needs to be printed. That is why the type needs to be in reverse. The inking of these reverse types is usually done by rollers which had been ‘smeared’ in ink of the required color. The first printing press offering such printing services Jacksonville FL was made by the inventor Gutenberg. Nowadays, those printer drums and heavy machinery have been replaced by computerized typesetting and imaging. This type of printing is also known as offset letterpress and relief printing.

4. Digital Printing – With the advent of the digital world in everything we do, it was but a matter of time before digital printing became popular. There are many popular methods in use now which are part of digital printing, like dot matrix printing, inkjet printing, laser printing etc. Because of the large printing volumes that can be handled by digital printing in a short while, that is why it is popular in bulk printing activities like magazine printing Jacksonville.

As we said at the start, the written word is far from dead, and as long as that is true, there will continue to be a need for printing technology and good quality printing companies.

Joe Fergus is the Production Manager of Century Type Print and Media Company in Jacksonville, Florida. Century Type Print, provide top quality same day printing services Jacksonville FL