Printing Knowledge

The most aggravating problems in lithography are often interaction problems, which arise when there is more than one deficiency among the paper, ink, press, and press operation factors. Consequently, adjusting the press may solve the problem temporar…

Each printing process requires the use of an ink developed specifically for that process. Letterpress, gravure, lithographic, and screen-process inks are specially formulated to match the requirements of the printing process. For example, letterpress…

Many times, a customer requests a specific color other than black, cyan, yellow, or magenta on the ink required, the printer either orders the specific color from the inkmaker or mixes it in the printing plant. Obtaining the ink from the inkmaker is …

Ink manufacturing (Figure 5-10) is complex and requires extensive chemical and printing process knowledge as well as specialized ink manufacturing equipment use. While there a number of manufacturing methods, most share these basic phases of producti…

Ink is transferred from a plate or stencil to paper or some other material during the printing process. The ink forms the image on the printed product. Most printing inks consist of pigments, vehicles, and modifiers. Pigment is the ingredient that pr…

Not only must paper be handled carefully during shipment but it must able be handled carefully in the plant. Paper must be brought to pressroom temperature before opening so that it does not curl due to the gain or loss of moisture. Paper should rema…

Some papers are very adaptable to several applications, while others others are very limited. The next section will briefly discuss the types of paper that are acceptable for different printing processes and applications. Paper for gravure.  General…

Some of the most common printing papers are bond, book, cover, bristol, newsprint, duplicator, and mimeograph. User for each of these kinds of paper and information about their basic sizes and basis weights are included in, Figure 5-6. Basic size is …

There are two fundamental steps in papermaking. First, the fibrous raw material, or cellulose, from pulpwood, nonwood fibers, or recycled papers is converted into pulp, a mass of fibers suitable for papermaking. Second, the pulp is interwoven and bon…

Cellulose fiber. The principal raw material for producing paper is cellulose fibers, which are short, threadlike structures. Cellulose fiber is the basic building block of plant matter, and large amounts of it can be extracted from wood. There are fo…

Making paper by hand is an excellent way to become familiar with the basic procedures of papermaking. Extensive equipment and materials are not required. Equipment includes a tub large pail, a mold, and a deckle. These three items are shown in Figure…

Many types materials can be printed. Plastic, glass and fabric are just some. However, by far the most important printed material is paper. Paper is needed for letterheads, envelopes, invoices, checks, travel brochures, calendars, advertising pieces …

The origin of narrow-web flexography is usually placed in the period immediately after WW ll. At that time, Mark andrews Sr. (1904~1980), the founder of Mark Andy, Inc., made his first presses for printing on the then new product, "scotch Tape." Ot…

Narrow-web flexo has most recently been defined as any web width less than 20" (508mm). While this is an arbitrary designation, it will serve as a definition for this chapter. The vast majority of narrow-web presses, however, are 16" (406mm) or les…

Folding cartons have been printed by flexo for many years, but it has only been in the past 10 years that the industry has started using state-of-the-art central impression presses for this application. Pizza cartons illustrate the type of work that …

The in-line press is the third commonly used type of wide-web press. Its color stations are separate, complete units horizontally mounted one to the other, and may be driven by a common line-shaft. In-line presses can be manufactured with any number …

The central impression press, sometimes called a drum, common impression or CI press, supports all of its color stations around a single steel impression cylinder mounted in the main press frame, Figure 4-7. The impression cylinder supports the web, …

In the stack press (Figure 4-6), individual color stations (sometimes called sections or decks) are stacked one over the both sides of a main press frame. Each color station is driven through gear trains supported by the main press frame. Stack press…

The U.S. population of gravure presses has undergone substantial expansion and rebuilding in recent years. Nonetheless, there are still many different folder configurations in use. The following section describes the types of folders used in the indu…

Signatures. A complete sheet containing all the artwork for a cylinder is called a signature. By examining or taking apart a magazine or book, it is often possible to see how it was assembled from individual signatures. A folded signature, depending …