A Quick Guide To Different Commercial Printing Methods

By Author: Colleen Davis
Total Articles: 100
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Commercial printing enjoys an exciting part in business marketing. Since most other forms of advertising are either too costly or simply inaccessible to many small businesses, local commercial printers are considered the best alternative. In Corpus Christi alone, many ventures recognize how important it is to invest in commercial printing. But before you go and start you search for a dependable Corpus Christi local commercial printing firm, it is a good idea to learn the different types of printing methods available to you.

Depending on your printing requirements, these different printing methods are useful in their own particular ways. You may want to familiarize yourself with these methods so you can decide on the best one to use for your commercial printing needs. In general, there are five main types of commercial printing:

Flexography - Often used for printing on plastic, acetate film, brown paper, foil and other materials for packaging, flexography makes use of flexible rubber or plastic printing plates. These plates are made with slightly raised image. They are rotated on a cylinder that transfers the image ...
... from the plates to the substrate. A high-speed print process, flexography utilizes fast-drying inks and can print on many kinds of absorbent and non-absorbent materials. It can also print continuous patterns.

Gravure - Gravure printing method is commonly used for long run printing of multi-colored, high quality and high speed jobs. The process uses a variety of image carrier known as intaglio. Intaglio means the cylindrical plate is recessed and consists of cell wells, which are engraved to diverse depths or sizes. These cylinders are typically made of steel and covered with copper and light-sensitive coating. The ink is directly applied to the cylinder and is then transferred to the substrate. Some of the products done using this type of method are greeting cards, stamps, magazines, wood laminates and some packaging.

Lithography - Commonly used for commercial printing processes for most publishing projects, lithography is an economical method used for printing on flat surfaces. In offset lithography, image is transferred onto a plate that can be made of various materials such as metal or paper. Long runs such as books, newspapers, and magazines are typically printed using lithography because it is high-speed, efficient, and comparatively simple to accomplish.

Screen Printing - Typically used for printing onto clothing and other fabrics, screen printing involves the transfer of ink through a nylon or polyester film. The process simply forces the ink through silk fabric to create a pre-made design on the surface beneath. Screen printing has a wide-ranging application to an assortment of substances and functions as inks have been made to work efficiently with different textiles, as well as ceramics, metal, wood, paper and plastic.

Digital - Digital printing is a modern method of printing that involves the transfer of a document or image file on a computer or other digital device to a printing substrate with the use of a machine that is able to process text and graphic output. The date is then digitized for reproduction. Most Corpus Christi local commercial printing shops are now into digital printing since it is known to drastically lower production costs.

For more information, you can visit this page on commercial printing