Types of Printing Techniques For You To Choose From– Oldest to Latest

Since the fifteenth century, when the first printing press was invented, printing has evolved a lot. The process of printing involves impressing letters, numbers and designs on different substrates such as paper, cardboard, vinyl, fabric, wood, etc. Each type of print requires a different printing technique and serves a unique purpose.
Besides the information that you add onto the printing material, the very quality and look of the material carries brand value, and automatically earns a point for your company. This is why it is important to select an ideal printing technique for superior finishing of your products.
If you have a project and have no idea what to do about the printing materials, here is a list of printing techniques that will help you select the best suited material and process for it.

Wood Block

Woodblock is a form of relief printing which means- the parts that are not going to be printed will be cut off with a chisel or knife from the wood. It is an ancient printing technique that originated in Europe and Asia. The design is carved on a block of wood and inked up before pressing it down over a paper or fabric. Due to the sophistication of the craft, it is hardly practiced nowadays.

Movable Type

Movable-type printing dates as old as the first printing press itself. It is a technology that uses typesetting i.e, involving imprinted movable components (such as clay blocks) that give reproducible designs, especially on a paper substrate. It was effective and relevant for a pretty long time, till phototypesetting emerged in the 1950s.

Letterpress

Although letterpress is only found in specialty shops, it is still existent. It now involves the use of photopolymer plates that convert digital designs into a raised plate for use with presses. It is a versatile printing method that can be used for almost any purpose– wedding cards, posters, etc. Letter print currently finds relevance in the fine arts and crafts industry as well.

Phototypesetting

Phototypesetting is pretty much rendered obsolete currently by digitalization in printing. In this process, the type is generated on a photographic paper. This paper has to be pre-processed and made camera- ready, before it is photographed. The negative of this photograph can be used for offset printing. Although, yes! Not convenient.

Offset

Offset printing/ Offset lithography is very commonly in use. It uses plates that are generated for each color that is used in printing. According to what the project demands– some plates may call for 2 colors or standard 4 CMYK or even more than 4 by using specialty spot colors.
There are two types of Offset printing– Sheet fed, where individual sheets are fed into the printer and Web, which automatically feeds on large rolls and is way faster and efficient to produce larger quantities of printed material. This is the type of digital printing that makes it revolutionary.

Flexography

Flexography typically operates with web presses, but does not use the standard plates of offset lithography. Instead it uses rubber plates and water based inks that dry up quickly and allow for faster production rates. Remember. Faster the ink dries, more effective is the printing (especially on less absorbing material like plastic)

Engraving

Engraving is not only the costliest of all printing, but also the most time consuming. It is often used on VIP invitation cards and business cards. The image is first to be carved by hand or by machine onto a metal plate which is filled by ink to press over the paper. This results in a slightly elevated, crisp print with well saturated colors and images. So, perhaps your money’s worth!

Thermography

Thermography may look and feel a lot like engraving when the final product is produced, but fall short in terms of detailing in thermography. Although may not be as noticeable for laymen unless looked at really closely. The elevation in the design is brought about by heat here. However, thermography is much more cost efficient compared to engraving.

Silkscreen Printing

Silkscreen printing, or screen printing, offers a wide range of vivid and bright colored inks that are often used for printing t-shirts, posters and other promotional materials. In this process, the design is laid on top of a screen (originally made of silk, or of various materials) which is coated with a photo emulsion solution and exposed to light. The exposed emulsion hardens while the rest can be washed off leaving a stencil-like print which can be printed on using ink.

Inkjet

Inkjet Printers are the common household or office printers. They are ideal for small scale printing projects available to the public at a feasible cost. The process involves digital communication between the printer and the computer to obtain richly saturated colours (using 4 to 8 inks in a CMYK program).

Digital

Digital printing process uses toner instead of ink, which sits on top of the paper (adsorption) instead of being absorbed by it. While the quality has dramatically enhanced since its invention, it is still not as efficient as offset lithography in terms of intricate detailing and precision. The fact that they do not use unique color plates means that they can create individual designs that may have varying details in lesser time and at a lower cost.

3D Printing

Three Dimensional Printing, since the 1980s, has allowed the creation of 3D objects. A digital data of the model or electronic sources such as an Additive Manufacturing File (AMF) can be used to obtain the desired size and shape.
3D printers are continuing to evolve into a more sophisticated technology for printing impactful products for marketing and promotional items.
Today, even items with movable interior parts can be printed. After the details have been worked out on a computer programme such as CAD, miniscule layers are printed one over the other using a special plastic substance.

LED UV

LED UV printing is a method that’s becoming increasingly popular among businesses due to its extremely high quality prints and quick turnaround times. It uses an LED UV printer and is versatile enough for printing a wide range of products— newsletters, brochures, catalogues, posters, leaflets, magazines, office stationery items, etc.
LED UV printing has gained popularity due to its high quality prints and high turnaround rates. The process is also eco-friendly as it uses way less power than conventional printing techniques. Moreover, there is no limit to the type of printing material.
LED UV is eco-friendly as it uses less power than traditional print machines and unlike many of the other methods, it’s not limited to the type of stock (printing materials) or to certain print jobs.