What is Litho Printing and How does it Work?

litho printerLithographic Printing or Litho Printing or Offset Printing

Offset printing is a process used to imprint flat ink onto paper. Offset printing derives its name from the process used during printing, where an image is offset from a plate to a rubber blanket, then imprinted on paper.

Though offset printing became prevalent during the early twentieth century it remains one of the most widely used process for high volume commercial printing.

Offset printing has many advantages, but there are also disadvantages. Due to the cost of setup for offset printing, low volume production is not cost effective.

The setup for offset printing includes the price required to produce film negatives which are used to create the plates which hold the image for the plate.

Newer digital direct computer to plate offset printing systems are therefore often used as an alternative to traditional offset printing.

Litho Printing ProcessBecause the plate never comes into direct contact with the paper and is instead transferred first to the rubber blanket, offset printing protects the plate from damage and the plate can be saved and used again in the future in order to save time and money.

Another advantage to offset printing is that this process produces consistent high image quality for high volume commercial printing. Offset printing is used to produce promotional products and branded products for companies, including but not limited to business cards, brochures, flyers, postcards, envelopes, and other products.

The secret of offset printing is lithography, where due to the repulsion of oil and water, oil-based inks bind to printed areas on the blanket while non-printing areas attract water-based fountain solution.

This eventually creates the printed image that is seen on the final product. There are two types of offset printing, including sheet-fed and web-fed offset printing. In the sheet-fed process, individual pages are fed into the offset press for production. However, in the web-fed process, large rolls of paper called “webs” are fed through the press to be later cut down to the finished size. Web-fed presses are used for the highest volumes of production.

The advantage of sheet-fed offset printing over web-fed processes is that sheet-fed offset printing allows for better registration of the four process ink colors used in production: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK).

These four process ink colors are combined in specific ways to make the combination of real-life colors that you see on a finished piece. However, web-fed presses are used for their emphasis on speed and economy and therefore provide looser registration of these colors.

This sometimes produces lower quality images but is almost always more cost effective for large volume runs.

Some of the products that are printed in this method are:

  • Business Cards
  • Letterheads
  • Compliment Slips
  • Leaflets
  • Posters

Or any other products that require a high run.  Litho Printing is also occasionally used for producing transfers that can then be transferred onto other promotional items.

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