As we all know, printing is one of the the Four Great Inventions in ancient China. From the rubbings of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the widespread use of woodblock printing in the Tang Dynasty, and then to the innovation of movable type printing in the Northern Song Dynasty, it greatly promoted the efficiency and breadth of cultural dissemination. Its influence quickly crossed national borders and was inherited and developed around the world, ultimately building the cornerstone of modern printing technology.
Nowadays, printing technology is advancing rapidly, and various technological means have emerged to meet different needs. People engaged in the printing industry are likely to frequently come into contact with various printing methods, such as offset printing, flexographic printing, gravure printing, digital printing, and so on. Today we will give a brief introduction to the five mainstream printing technologies currently available.
Offset printing: As a model of flat printing, it has become the most popular printing method in the industry due to its high efficiency, stable quality, and significant cost-effectiveness. This technology cleverly utilizes the principle of oil water incompatibility to accurately transfer carefully designed images and text onto the substrate, demonstrating excellent printing results. The mainstream technology in the printing industry is widely favored for its high efficiency and high quality, and occupies a pivotal position in the printing industry. It has fast speed and stable quality, especially suitable for large-scale printing needs, and is widely used in the production of high-quality printed materials such as books, newspapers, picture books, posters, etc.
Flexographic printing: It is a type of relief printing process that uses a flexographic printing plate to transfer ink through a mesh roller for printing. The graphic and textual parts of the flexible printing plate are raised. During printing, the mesh roller evenly applies a certain thickness of ink layer to the graphic and textual parts of the printing plate. Then, under the pressure of the impression cylinder, the ink layer of the graphic and textual parts is transferred to the surface of the substrate, forming clear graphic and textual images. The high adaptability of its printing plate ensures a tight fit with the substrate, coupled with the use of environmentally friendly water-based ink, making flexographic printing shine in fields such as packaging, labeling, and newspaper printing, known for its high speed and flexibility.
Gravure printing: It is a high-precision and high-quality printing method. It creates a vivid and delicate printing effect by carving graphic and text areas on the intaglio, and using pressure to squeeze ink from the concave area onto the substrate. It has the characteristics of thick and full ink layer, high printing quality, good anti-counterfeiting performance, rich colors, and distinct layers. However, the plate making process is complex and the cycle is long, requiring high requirements for ink and substrate. Gravure printing plays an important role in packaging printing, currency printing, exquisite picture books and magazines due to its wide material adaptability, excellent image expression, and suitability for large-scale production.
Screen printing: Using a screen as the substrate and using photosensitive plate making methods to produce screen printing plates with graphics and text. Using its unique screen as a transfer medium and controlling the ink penetration through the opening and closing of the mesh, the pattern is accurately replicated on the surface of the substrate. It can use various types of inks: oil-based, water-based, synthetic resin emulsion, powder, and other types of inks. The layout is soft and has a certain degree of elasticity, which is not only suitable for printing on soft items such as paper and fabric, but also suitable for printing on hard items such as glass, ceramics, etc. However, in terms of printing accuracy, it is slightly inferior to digital printing and offset printing, as fine lines and small text are difficult to print. Screen printing is widely used in various industries, including advertising, decoration, and industrial manufacturing, due to its advantages of large capacity production, significant cost-effectiveness, and easy operation.
Digital printing
digital printing
Digital printing: a product of modern technology that directly transmits digital images and text to printing machines, and instantly presents them on substrates through laser or inkjet technology. This technology has revolutionized the traditional printing process, eliminating the need for plate making and unlimited print output, achieving seamless integration from design to output. Digital printing can quickly respond to market demand, demonstrating unprecedented flexibility and convenience. Compared with other printing technologies, the production capacity and efficiency are slightly insufficient. Usually, pigment ink and dye ink are used, which are suitable for small batch customized printing, such as small batch packaging customization, pre press sampling, and post press order production. When faced with the production of individual orders, multi page orders, and small orders with short delivery cycles, printing factories do not need to adopt plate making printing due to comprehensive costs. Digital printing is a very good choice.
The above are commonly used printing methods, but they only provide a brief overview for everyone. Printing technology has its own characteristics and application fields, which need to be selected according to actual needs.
