Offset printing what is it

A large variety of inks are available exclusively for use with different types of offset presses. Formulations: Some offset inks use plant-derived oils such as soya oil or linseed oil to carry the pigment.

Other inks use water-repellant fluids made with synthetic chemical mixtures. Special Properties: Some offset inks are formulated to change the performance of the ink on the paper.

For instance, prints can be made with such as color-changing thermochromatic inks, metallic inks, magnetic inks, or UV-curing inks. Polymer-based inks that cure when exposed to UV-LED light are popular because they enable owners of sheetfed presses to make instantly dry prints.

With correctly formulated UV-LED inks and the proper UV-LED curing units, sheetfed offset presses can print on paperboards for packaging, non-porous synthetic sheets, foil-laminated sheets, plastic sheets, and a greater range of card and label stocks.

Thanks to innovations in offset inks and substrates, offset printing can print on a wide range of smooth and textured papers, paperboards, tear-resistant synthetic papers, and various plastics used in gift cards, bags, packaging, and envelopes.

Some of the specialty materials available for offset printing include security papers, carbonless papers for business forms, and metal-laminated papers with silver and gold foils. Web offset presses primarily print on the inexpensive coated and uncoated papers needed to control the costs of high volumes of books, manuals, magazines, and catalogs But these papers must be strong enough to withstand roll-to-roll high-speed printing.

Most of the specialty materials are designed for use on sheetfed presses. The type of finishing equipment used depends on the type and volumes of publications, direct mail pieces, manuals, stationery, or packaging being produced. Finishing equipment includes devices for trimming and cutting the paper, or folding, binding, hole-punching, varnishing, laminating, or die-cutting printed sheets.

Some printed sheets may be foil stamped, perforated, embossed, glued, or inserted into envelopes for mailing. Some finishing equipment makes it possible to apply clear UV-curable inks for added durability or decorative effects. As digital printing technologies have improved, so has the efficiency of offset printing. Manufacturers of offset printing equipment have developed prepress processes, software, and consumables that enable offset presses to produce more fast-turnaround, shorter-run print jobs.

Press manufacturers such as Heidelberg are developing systems that allow more steps in the offset printing and finishing process to be handled without any intervention by a human press operator. The next wave of major innovations for offset printing is likely to preview at the drupa global print show June , in Dusseldorf, Germany. Follow Ordant on LinkedIn , Facebook , or Twitter to learn when the next post in this series is published. Related Posts: What is Screen Printing?

What is Flexographic Printing? What is offset printing? Fill out the form below to book a free demo. Get the latest software updates, company news, and insights delivered right to your inbox. Written by Ordant on May 29, What is offset printing? How It Works Offset lithography is a multi-step process that uses etched metal plates, water-repellent e. Techopedia Terms. Connect with us. Sign up. Term of the Day. Best of Techopedia weekly. News and Special Offers occasional.

Offset Printing. Techopedia Explains Offset Printing. What Does Offset Printing Mean? Offset printing is also known as offset lithography. Techopedia Explains Offset Printing Offset printing helps in producing high-quality output on surfaces like cloth or wood. Related Question How do machine learning professionals use structured prediction? Further, offset printing is the most economical choice when producing large numbers of prints of a few originals.

Today, instead of copying a hard copy original, the vast majority of digital printing is output directly from electronic files. Digital printing is the quickest way to produce short runs, especially when there are a many originals.

The quality level of digital printing is now extremely close to offset printing. Although digital printing works well on most stocks today, there are still some papers and jobs where offset printing works better. There are also some stocks and jobs where digital printing will perform as well as, or better than, offset printing.

Printing is printing, right? Because offset presses run so efficiently once they are set up, offset printing is the best choice when larger quantities are needed, and provides accurate color reproduction, and crisp, clean professional looking printing.

Digital printing shines when lower quantities are needed; think of a run of 20 greeting cards or flyers. When each piece needs a unique code, name or address, digital is the only way to go. Offset printing cannot accommodate this need. Learn more about digital printing options and capabilities. While offset printing is a fantastic way to produce great-looking print projects, many businesses or individuals do not need large runs of or more, and the best solution is digital printing.

Offset printing, also called lithography, is the most common kind of printing for high volume commercial jobs. Ever seen videos of newspapers running through big rolls? Typically, four colors are used cyan, magenta, yellow and black key , abbreviated CMYK , but offset printing also allows for custom ink colors most notably Pantone colors to be used instead. Next, the design is transferred from the plates onto rubber rolls.