Putting an impression on paper, fabric, or any type of material through different techniques using inks in desired color and patterns is known as printing. These techniques are used since the ancient times. These days advertising industry is flooding with the latest machines and techniques used for different material and type of designing?
Printing methods for different materials do not remain the same, or the same technique cannot be used to print everything. Few points are to be considered before choosing the method as:
Type of material: As the same knife cannot be used for meat and vegetable, same perfume cannot be used for men or women, the same method cannot be used for paper, fabric, cardboard, plastic, glass or metal. All these things differ in their quality and type of surface which demand a different technique.
Type of colors: Color schemes varies according to their intensity as RGB colors have lesser shades and not so bright or vibrant colors, whereas CMYK color scheme uses cyan, magenta, yellow, and black colors to create different shades which allow more comprehensive range of colors.
The most commonly used methods are;
• Offset Lithography
• Flexography
• Digital
• Large Format
• Screen
• 3D
• LED UV
1. Offset Lithography:
Offset means to transfer. This machine contains a big plate made up of aluminum, which contains the image that is needed to be printed on the paper. This non-image of the plate is damped with water to repel the ink. Plates are then flooded with ink to transfer the color to non-damped parts that contain the image and then to the rubber plate through which paper is passed and gets printed with the desired image. The ink used for this process is thicker than the normal one needs quick drying by the drying compartment at the end of the unit.
The speed and amount of the process can be controlled depending on the quantity and quality of the material.
Used for:
• Books
• Newspaper
• Corrugated boxes
• Posters
• Brochures
• Magazines
• Carton boxes
• Labels and basically anything with a flat surface
2. Flexography:
This is a pressure-sensitive technique in which the content to be printed is imaged on the rubber plate through UV light. The sheet of paper or plastic is rolled through the plates then to get the image on the required surface. Every color that is needed to be printed has its own separate plate, which ensures the quality and accuracy. The inks used in this method are water-based and environmentally friendly. Water-based ink dries instantly, so it dried while passing through the rollers.
Used for:
• Label
•   Food packaging
3. Digital printing:
Digital printing is done by directly imprinting from a digital image, and there are two ways it can be done
Inkjet: In this process, one or more printing heads are set which propels electrically charged ink droplets on the material to create the image. Liquid ink is used for this process that comes in dye-based, which produces a low-quality image that fades over time and pigment-based inks that are expensive but actually gives the best quality and mostly used for vibrant color requirements.
Xerography: It consists of a drum which needs to be charged selectively, which attracts toner particles and transfer them to the material image needs to be printed. This is then passed through the fuser where the toner is melted to be properly infused into the paper.
Used for:
• Books
• Brochures
• Offices
• Documents
• Billboards
• Photos
• Graphics
• Mugs
• Phone cases etc.
4. Large format:
It is the advertising medium used to print lager rolls of paper or any material. The process is similar to digital; the difference is that in this technique, the size and width of the material can be increased according to the need. It used CMYK color scheme.
Used for:
• Posters
• Wall posters
• Retail graphics
• Billboard banners
• Wall stickers
5. Screen printing:
Screen printing is a technique that requires the screen made up of some kind of fabric. Non-image areas of the fabrics are coated with non-permeable material which allows the ink to reach the non-coated areas and then transferred onto the product. The advantage of this type is that it does not require a flat surface to be printed.
Used for:
• Paper
• Textile
• Wood
• Ceramic
• Glass
• Metal
6. Additive manufacturing:
In this procedure, material like liquid and powder grains are fused together entirely under the control of a computer to create a three-dimensional object. This technique is used to create very complex shapes using computer-aided design (CAD) model. It is commonly known as 3D printing.
7. Led UV printing:
Led UV printing directly prints directly on the object. The advantage of this process is that the ink instantly dries.
Used for:
• Glass
• Plastic
• Pens
• Mugs
• USB drive etc.
These are the latest and best techniques available in the market that are used for all kind of material that provides high-quality results. Choose the best procedure according to the need.
