How do print processes compare to one another, what are each best used for?
It is always in a designers mind, even more in an unexperienced designer's mind like mine, which Printing process would be the best to use for each project I am doing. What is most suitable for the brief? What is suitable to the ethos of the company you are designing for? Is digital or traditional most appropriate?
Letterpress.
'Your type or image will be indented into the paper. Using a raised surface printing plate or type, the depth of the resulting "bite" will vary depending upon the type of paper. Thicker, softer papers will carry a deeper impression than hard or thin papers.'
Pushing the medium to its limits can get expensive and still lead to some unhappy results. A good printer will guide you in your choices of type and paper. For instance, extremely small type will not look great on thick, soft paper where you wish to see a deep impression. The pressure required to achieve such an impression squeezes some ink out between the paper and the printing surface, causing type and art to thicken slightly. Sometimes this will cause the "e" of a small piece of type to close.
Usually you don't want to print a photograph or fine dot screen by letterpress. Most papers you want to print on will cause images to look a bit muddy. Metallic inks, such as silver or gold, do not print shiny on most papers. If metallic is a priority, check out foil stamping.
Letterpress is now relegated to the specialty category of art prints and invitations. The raised surface of the plate can be achieved by a number of means, such as handset type, wood carving or engraving, or, most commonly, photoengraving
Source
Screen printing.
Ink sits on the surface of the paper. It is often thick and so that the colour of the surface does not affect the ink colour. Can be used for semi-fine lines and type.
Although once thought of as being oriented to short production runs, modern high-speed technology allows for volume production where brilliant, accurate colors, and close tolerance are necessary. Ink is expressed through a stretched fabric mesh by a squeegee blade to reproduce the original image onto the substrate below. Screen printing is not limited to press size or the same of any substrate. A variety of materials such as paper, plastic, metal, fabric and glass can be screen printed. If opaque coverage is important, also see Foil Stamping.
Usually shiny, metallic images and type impressed into the paper. The foils come in a large variety of colours aside from metallic, and, like silkscreening, can be very opaque.
Can be as expensive as engraving (One of most expensive processes) . Not for extremely fine lines or very small type.
Heated dies with raised images press a thin plastic film carrying colored pigments against the paper. the pigments transfer from the film to the paper, heat and pressure assist in the bonding process.
Information so far sourced from: Website
Inkjet Printing
Inkjet printers work by spraying ink onto a page. They're usually pretty cheap, but the print quality might not be all that great due to the paper used and the quality of the ink. Source
Ink-jet printers are popularly used today. The images are created by expelling thousands of droplets on the paper. Source
Some advantages
Initial Cost
Ink-Jet printers are one of the lowest cost products on the market. In the past, the quality of low inkjet printers have matched with its price. It means that when you buy an cheap inkjet printer, the quality of the images are not good. However, ink-jet technology has developed and improved so remarkably that the cheapest inkjet printers can create images with good quality.
Ink-Jet printers are one of the lowest cost products on the market. In the past, the quality of low inkjet printers have matched with its price. It means that when you buy an cheap inkjet printer, the quality of the images are not good. However, ink-jet technology has developed and improved so remarkably that the cheapest inkjet printers can create images with good quality.
Quality
Today you can create images or documents with high quality by Inkjet printers. They used to use blurry effect to the texts or images before but with the powerful technology now, you are able to create more effects so that your images are more vivid and have the best quality.
Today you can create images or documents with high quality by Inkjet printers. They used to use blurry effect to the texts or images before but with the powerful technology now, you are able to create more effects so that your images are more vivid and have the best quality.
Space
Compare to laser printers, the ink jet printers have suitable size to put on the desk on your office or a small room in your home to serve to your work.
Compare to laser printers, the ink jet printers have suitable size to put on the desk on your office or a small room in your home to serve to your work.
Time
Different from laser printer, the inkjet printer do not require time to heat the machine system before print. They have also shorter delay between the document being sent to print and the beginning of a print process.
Different from laser printer, the inkjet printer do not require time to heat the machine system before print. They have also shorter delay between the document being sent to print and the beginning of a print process.
Disadvantages
Cartridge Cost
You can buy a cheap inkjet printer first but with the replacement of the cartridges in a long time, the cartridge cost can exceed the machine cost.
You can buy a cheap inkjet printer first but with the replacement of the cartridges in a long time, the cartridge cost can exceed the machine cost.
Speed
You can only use ink-jet printer to create little volumes of documents only because inkjet printer is slower than laser one.
You can only use ink-jet printer to create little volumes of documents only because inkjet printer is slower than laser one.
Ink
The replacement of cartridges causes some unexpected problems in the printing process. The most trouble we commonly face is when the printers are clogged with ink. There are cleaning cycles in inkjet printers to run but you must replace cartridges after used many times. Some companies offer service of refilling cartridges and you don’t need to buy new ones. The cost is down but it takes a lot of time to transfer cartridges.
The replacement of cartridges causes some unexpected problems in the printing process. The most trouble we commonly face is when the printers are clogged with ink. There are cleaning cycles in inkjet printers to run but you must replace cartridges after used many times. Some companies offer service of refilling cartridges and you don’t need to buy new ones. The cost is down but it takes a lot of time to transfer cartridges.
Moisture
After creating images or documents,we must wait until those dry. Sometimes it can delay our delivery process. There’s some risk if our documents smudge before drying.
After creating images or documents,we must wait until those dry. Sometimes it can delay our delivery process. There’s some risk if our documents smudge before drying.
Another thing that I have found from using inkjet printers that a lot of the time, Inkjet cartridges will address themselves as empty, even though they have maybe 1/6 of the ink left, or the yellow might be much lower than the cyan. Therefore forcing you to change the cartridge much earlier than needed and wasting both ink and money.
Laser printing
Advantages
Today's monochrome (black and white) laser printers start at £100-£300. This is pretty amazing, considering that at one time, you had to spend at least £1,500 for a laser printer. Advantages of the laser printer include the following:
Speed: A laser printer can turn out pages more quickly than an inkjet printer.
Low cost: Over time, toner costs for a laser printer will total far less per page than refilling/replacing inkjet printer cartridges.
Quiet operation: A laser printer is generally quieter than low-cost inkjet printers - which is a big deal in a quiet office, where the printer usually occupies a central location.
Best-quality text: No inkjet printer - no matter how much you pay for it - will ever turn out black text and line graphics as crisp as a laser printer.
Until recently colour laser printers were too expensive for individuals or small businesses, but there are now many models for less than £500 and these are viable alternatives to colour inkjets for printing flyers, spreadsheets, and brochures. With these advantages in mind, pick a monochrome laser printer if most of the pages that you'll print will be text and if colour isn't a requirement. You'll be glad that you chose that laser model after you've gone three months without changing a single toner cartridge!
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