AEPP Booklet

7/31/2019 AEPP Booklet

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Produced for and published by:

A G u i d e t o t h e

O f f s e t P r i n t i n g P r o c e s s

Print


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DieCutMachine

Trimmer

Body Copy:

Illustrations

Photographic

References

Introduction to the Offset Printing Process by PsPrint

http://www.psprint.com/resources/printing-tips-and-technique

general/introduction-to-the-offset-printing-process.asp

Katherine Simons

Six-Color Printer: Tiger Press, http://www.tigerpress.com

asp

Open four-color sheet-fed printer: Paul Holzherr http://

paulholzherr.com/?page_id=286

Rollers: The Open Press, http://openpress.blog.com/ an

Supply Solutions, http://blog.possupply.com/

Trimmer: Paper Machinery, http://www.paper-machinery.c

company/Pramod_Engineering_Works/3-Knife_Trimmer_M

C r e d i t s


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A b o u t U sSince 1990, PsPrint has

provided better printing and

service to nearly 500,000

small business marketers

and graphic designers.

PsPrint combines state-of-the-

art Internet capabilities and

the industrys best printing

equipment with experienced

print professionals and

color specialists to deliver

convenient online ordering,

consistent color matching

and 99.7 percent on-time

delivery. By offering a 100

percent customer satisfaction

guarantee, PsPrint also stands

behind every order, every

time. More than 70 top-

quality and eco-friendly printed

products and related mailing

services are available online

at www.PsPrint.com.Six

Color

Press

FourColorPress

Digital

Prin


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T h i s i s C h a n c e .

He has just received the

first set of business cards

he designed and submitted

online for printing. They lookgreat and he is happy.

So from the time the submitbutton is pushed to the time

the print job is received it is

processed, printed and cut,

and passes through many

different people along the

way. Wow, there is muchmore to the printing process

than I realized! Now that I

know I can set up my files

better for the next time.


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As you can see, graphicdesign is just one part of a

very complex printing process.

Each step of the process has

a specifically-designed benefit.

Even though most offset

printing presses work verymuch alike, the actual quality

of your job depends on a

number of factors, including

your printers attention to

detail and press maintenance,

the type of press its printedon, the quality of the ink and

paper and even the quality

of your design. If youre

unsure about how to find a

great printer, try an industry-

recognized company such asPsPrint and make sure you

ask plenty of questions to

make sure your designs look

great on paper every time.

But what happeneafter he hit thesubmit button?

Knowing the printing proc

from the point when the

is sent to when the prinproduct is received will h

increase proficiency and

efficiency as a designer.


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P r e p r e s s

Before your jobs get

to the press, there

are several things

that must be done to

make sure it will look

its best. Busy printers

have to balance a

tight schedule, so

they want to make

sure that each project

is properly prepared

to avoid problems

at the press.

Time is a

wastin

There are many types of

binding including saddle stitch,

perfect binding and case

binding. Each have a differentprocess to complete the project

Once the project is printed,

cut and bound and has had

whatever special treatments it

needs, it is packaged up and

sent to the client.

Saddle Stitched Books

are made by stapling

the binding

Perfect Bound bo

made by gluing a

pressing the bind

Case Bound books are hard cover

books made by glue and sewingthe compnoents together


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Multipage publications will need trimming and binding. Most printshops have specialized machines which handle these jobs.

If youre having your job

printed on an offset printing

press, your printer will first

take your digital files andmake film negatives of them.

These negatives will then

be used to create metal

plates through a process

thats similar to camera film

development. If you have afour color (CMYK) design,

there will be four plates

one each for cyan, magenta,

yellow, and black. Once the

plates are made, your project

is ready to be printed.


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So after I submitted my file,

it went through a couple of

processes which ensured they

would be properly printed.

The Printers check thingslike image resolution, traps,

bleeds and other document

settings. They ensure fonts

will print and are the

preferable format. Wow, that

is a lot of work just gettingmy file ready to print.

Depending on what you are printing, you might

require finishing services such as binding and cutting.Business cards are often die cut to give them unique

shapes; there is also laser cutting and trimming,

although trimming is usually done last.


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F i n i s h i n gOnce the job comes

off the printing line it

is not finished. There

are still a few more

steps to be taken.

The print jobs will

be checked and then

sent on to the next

phase where the final

steps to completion

are taken.

P r i n t i nAn offset press does a

of things in a very short

amount of time to prope

execute high-quality printi

Sheet fed offset presses

and offset web presses

similar processes, though

web presses use huge r

of paper for high-volume

printing, while sheet-fed

presses are just thatprin

sheet by sheetand are

suitable for short- or mid

range runs (250 to 50,00


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Below is a web-fed, six-color, offset press. There

are sections for each CMYK, and for custom colors.

from coming into contact

with the more abrasive

paper surface, which would

cause wear and tear on the

plate during the print run.

What are the metalplates made out of?

Generally, the plates

used in offset printing

are thin, and are mostly

made of aluminum, though

sometimes can be made of

multimetal, paper or plastic.

How are theplates made?

They are made in acouple of ways; a compu

can directly output to a

plate or to photographic

film. These processes are

called computer to plate

computer to film. Alternata person can create the

negatives from the file th

they have received.. The

plate is then exposed m

like the process used to

develop film.


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??

?

Why use the offsettechnique ratherthan just printing

right onto thepaper?

There are many reasons

to use offset, first the

rubber blanket responds to

irregularities of surface sothat it is possible to print on

a wide variety of surfaces.

This creates an even clearer

print. Another reason for

using a blanket is to preventthe delicate lithographic plate

This is a four-color, sheet-fed, offset presses. It

has the tops cut away to show the many rollers

used during the offset printing process.


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Regardless of the paper feed

type, once it is loaded on

the press it passes under a

series of rollers, two of which

work together to put the

printed impression on the paper.

Before that happens, ink and water

are applied to the printing plate,

which itself is mounted on a roller.

The ink binds to the part of the

plate that contains design elements;

the water is applied to the white

space portion of the paper. Oil

is mixed with the ink to ensure

that the ink and water repel each

other and there is no smearing or

blotchiness on the finished product.

Ink Rollers

Water Rollers

Water

Paper

Ink

The plate cylinder transfers,

or offsets, the design onto a

rubber blanket roller, which

in turn transfers the design

onto the paper. In four-

color printing, this process

is repeated four times (o

for each color) before th

printing is complete and

job is ready for finishing

Often, the wet paper is

through an oven to dry.

Documents

AEPP Booklet