The concept of printing is not new. Humans have been printing letters, posters, brochures, and flyers on different materials like paper, wood, cardboard, or fabric. Since the 15th century, the new world of printing was introduced and the ideas regarding printing have been evolving continuously. There are a lot of various types of printing methods but they all have different purposes. This means that a company can decide the type of printing method that they want to use for underlining the importance of their products. The following are some of the common types of printing methods.
1. Flexography
It is a type of printing method in which a flexible relief plate is used for printing. Its abbreviation is “flexo”. It can be considered a modern take on letterpress printing. This printing method is used for printing various patterns on wallpapers, gift papers, cardboards, plastics, and metallic films. Here, cylindrical structures are used that rotate when printing plates are wrapped around them. The images to be printed are transferred on these plates. Then the plates rotate at high speed and the image is transferred to the substrate on the impression cylinder due to the pressure applied to the printing plates. This type of printing is better for jobs when printing in high volumes.
2. Digital Printing
This is a new and updated version of printing. Here, the images that are to be printed use digital files. The images can be in PDF format and no printing plate is required. This type of printing involves inkjet printing and a laser. This printing method is efficient as it allows the images to be printed on demand and it has a quick turnaround. It can also print small volumes of images. It is quite cost-effective and the images printed are of high quality. The biggest advantage is that it can be customized according to the requirements of the printer.
3. Offset printing
This printing method is also known as offset lithography. It is a common and popular form of printing. It involves the use of a metal plate from where the images are transferred to rollers before the images are printed on paper. The rollers have ink on them and this helps in transferring the image to the substrate. This method is unique as the metal plates and the paper are not in direct contact. This increases the lifespan of the rollers and protects them. The printing plates used are mostly made of aluminum. The books, newspapers, and magazines having various prints are made from offset printing. This is a pretty handy and adaptable form of printing. It can be used to print images on surfaces that are rough like a canvas. The prints are of high quality and can be used for printing in a large volume.
All the printing methods have their pros and cons but it is up to you now to decide which printing method is best for you and use it for printing your images on brochures, magazines, and articles to make them more interesting.