Type of printing

In many cases, the final stage of graphic design is to copy design drawings, and the number of copies may be dozens or tens of thousands. Therefore, printing technology is an essential content that graphic designers need to master.

Planographic printing, also known as "offset printing", uses the principle that water and oil do not want to mix, apply grease to the printing part, and let the non-printing part absorb appropriate moisture. When ink is applied to the layout, the printing part will repel water. Absorbs ink, and the non-printing part will produce an anti-ink effect and then press on the paper.

modern offset printing is a very fast mechanical process and is widely used in modern four-color printing because it has the advantages of easy plate making, accurate color-packing, low price, and easy production of large quantities of prints.

There are still some shortcomings in this kind of printing, such as poor vividness and limited special printing applications.

Intaglio printing The print engraves depressions on the surface of the printing plate, the ink fills the depressed parts, and then the print is transferred to paper and other materials. All printed inks have a raised feel due to the concave plate and are often used for securities and currency printing. Advantages: Wide application of paper, strong color expression, strong layout durability.

The disadvantage is that plate making and printing are expensive and not suitable for a small number of prints.

Relief printing is to engrave text or images on wood, stone, copper, glue, and other plates, remove the non-graphics and texts to make the graphics and texts protrude, and then apply ink and cover the paper for printing.

Advantages: thick ink, bright colors, various printing materials, can make curved printing

Disadvantages: slow printing speed and low production efficiency.

Stencil printing: Screen printing is the most widely used in the graphic printing industry. During printing, the ink is transferred to the substrate through the mesh of the graphic part through the extrusion of the squeegee to form the same graphic as the original.

Advantages: thick ink, bright colors, can be applied to any printing material, can make curved printing

Disadvantages: slow printing speed and low production efficiency.

Digital printing refers to the method of printing computer files directly into final prints, usually with a laser or inkjet printer.

Advantages: no plate making, flexible and fast

Disadvantages: poor ink adhesion, high cost of mass printing.