The process of using ink and equipment to reproduce images or text on a sheet of paper is called printing. In general, printing can refer to any process that involves in reproducing information on paper, cloth or any other suitable material. However, the term is largely used for large scale operations like newspaper, magazine or book publishing.
Several printing techniques have been used around the world for thousands of years now. Modern printing techniques applied today can be broadly divided into offset printing and digital printing. Offset printing is a technique where the image is transferred first to a rubber blanket and then to the final printing surface. This technique is commonly used for printing newspapers, magazines, and books.
Flexography is another printing technique used for printing of newspapers, labels and other packaging material. Screen-printing, where a woven mesh is used as a stencil, is used for printing on cloth, tiles, etc. Gravure, or Rotogravure, is another printing technique that uses engraved rollers to reproduce images in paper. This is mostly used for high-quality images for magazines, wall paper, catalogues etc. The dye-sublimation printing technique, where heat is used, is used for printing high quality images.
Digital printing is commonly used for printing at office or home environments. Inkjet printing, which is a digital printing technique, is commonly used for printing smaller volumes of books, catalogues etc on paper and any other form of material. In addition to inkjet, dot-matrix is another digital printing technology that is used in offices and homes. Laser printing, which is similar to xerography, is a digital printing technique that is slightly expensive than the others. |
