Commercial Printing Industry
Digital Printing - used for simple jobs that require quick preparation -
it exploits digital imaging technologies and has expanded rapidly in the past 15 years.
Finishing - a process used after the initial printing sub-process has been completed.
This sub-process includes folding, binding, drilling and collating.
Flexography Press - used to print more flexible materials including plastic or paper bags -
it utilizes rubber plates with printed areas which generally have a raised relief.
Gravure Printing - a more costly, high-quality printing process using a contact between
an etched copper plate and the printed paper itself.
Lithography - a process using oil and water which enables the ink to dry and produce a printed image.
Offset Lithography - a very widely used process which utilizes multiple printers on different materials.
The advantage is less time used in the preparation stage.
Screen Printing - or silk screening, a process which directs ink through a covering screen.
This is often used for products with differnt, non-even surfaces such as clothing.
Typesetting - this process uses pre-set words which are typeset and then used in a commercial printing press.
Today, this process has mostly been digitized.
Web Printing process - a process used for high volume printing work and uses a continuous roll of paper.
The advantage is a faster run time, once prepartion is complete.
