The Process.

In our industry there are generally two methods to get ink onto paper. These are commonly referred to as “Offset” and “Digital” printing. The differences in these pieces of equipment are vast. From job setup to completion the methods take completely different paths to come to an end. In the following page we will try to explain a little further, what goes into our daily routine and how we use these machines to produce high quality products.

Offset Printing.

Offset presses work by using a predetermined ink color or colors by the customer. We will often refer to “Pantone™” or “PMS” colors; These are the standards by which the industry gauges color, hue, and saturation. The Pantone™ Company has been the color communication standard since it’s inception in 1963. After a client submits approval of the artwork and color choices, the pressman “burns” a plate that has the image of the art on it. This is then placed onto the press where the ink and rollers place the ink onto the page.

Digital Printing.

Digital Printing uses a different process to apply color to pages. A digital file is collected, designed, and made print ready. The file is then sent to the machine via a LAN connection, once in the machine the digital file tells the press a percentage of coverage of four “process” colors. The process colors are Cyan(blue), Magenta, Yellow, and Black. The industry generally will refer to these colors as either “process” or “CMYK”. Color integrity is strictly monitored through the digital machine, thus providing excellent quality and versatility.

Everything Else.

After the initial printing of a product the work generally has to be cut down to the proper size. The work then travels over to The Bindery Department, this is where any and all of the finishing work that a particular job needs will happen. From hole punching to perfect binding, bindery is where a printed job becomes a product for our customers.

As you can see there are many variables in the printing process which make it a complicated, yet interesting field. So next time you look at a piece of printed material you will know a little more about all that went into it being made.