for the love of print
what is print? 01
As a creative there are so many printing proccess and techniques for you to explore. That will help you to produce innovative and eye catching designs. Printing is the process in which ink is transfered onto a substrate to produce an image or design. However it’s up to you as a designer on what the outcome will be. The methods you choose to do depend on practical factors such as time, cost, effeciency and volume.These are important things to consider before making any final decisions. This book is an introduction to show you all the little things that are avaible for you out there in the wonderful world of print, to understand and experiment with.
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Cont ents 03
Printing
Substrates 05 07 08 09 11
What is a substrate? Paper types. GSM. Alternative stock. Stock pallet.
13 15 17 19
Colour 29 31 33 35
RGB + CMYK Duo Tone Panetone Spot Colour
Screen printing Letterpress Digital printing Lithography
Format 37 39 41 43
What is format? A size B size C size
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Finishing 21 Foiling 23 Emboss + deboss 25 Laser cut 27 Varnishes
sub strates 05
A substrate is any stock or material that is going to be printed on during the printing process. They can range from a standard sheet of paper to mount boards and even extends to other items which can be used in promotion such as bags, cups and t-shirts.
A magazine cover would use a more expensive paper with a sheen to recreate it’s high quality colour images, compared to a newspaper which will use a more cheaper stock because of the amount of copies are made and the nature of the item which is generally free and disposable.
A substrate is selected for print and is chosen by it’s ability to hold a printed design affectively. Choosing a substrate is a really important part in the production of a printed item. You have to consider what you are aiming to make and the message you want achieve which can also be based on the look of your paper.
Think about your audience, their needs and the nature of where the product is going to be distributed before you buy your stock.
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There are so many different substrates to choose from, giving wider and more creative possibilities. Below are some of the most common and reliable, for designing for print to use as a begginer.
paper types Name
Description
Uses
Coated
A reflective sheen that produces sharper, brighter images.
Varied, depending on type of coating.
Uncoated
Plain paper without coating that has a unique ink receptivity and absorbency. It has a matt finish
Forms, business cards, letterheads.
Newsprint
This low-cost, non-archival paper has an off-white cast and distinctive feel.
Newspaper, advertising material.
Art Board
Uncoated board
Cover stock.
Chromo
A waterproof coated paper on a single side
Embossing, labels, and wrappings.
Cartridge
A tick white paper, which is useful for illustrative work
To add texture to work, cover stock.
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GSM Name
Uses
90 – 100
Stationery, text for magazines and booklets, flyers and brochures.
120 -170
Text for booklets, flyers and brochures. The heavier the weight, the more “upmarket” it will feel.
200 – 250
Ideal for magazine and booklet covers
280 – 420
Cards of all sorts and book and booklet covers
Another important factor to consider when choosing a stock is it’s GSM. A GSM in it’s simplest for is how thick the paper is. Before choosing a stock check with your printer if it is compatible. This will save a lot of time and money.
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alter native 09
There are also alternative stocks that can be printed on aside from paper, that create a interesting and innovative design for print. Alternative stocks are mainly used for covers, packaging and one off bespoke pieces.
Name
Description
Uses
Wood
A substrate from a tree, that can come in various formats from MDF to Oak.
Objects, signs, packaging, laser cut, screen printing.
Acrylic
A transparent thermoplastic, often used as a lightweight or shatter resistant alternative to glass.
Accessories, signs, laser cut.
Metal
A solid material, which is hard and shiny.
Objects, signs, screen printing, die cut, transfer.
Fabric
Cloth produced by weaving or knitting textile fibres.
Clothing, banners, die cut, screen print, laser cut.
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stock pallet 11
Here are some stocks to look at and touch. Certain stocks have a different textures and weights. It’s important to know what a stock is like in order for you to decide what you would like to print onto.
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SCREEN PRINT 13
Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh screen to support an ink-blocking stencil, that can create a image or design. The process is carried out through exposing the design or image to a screen which forms open areas of mesh so that the ink or other printable materials can be pressed through onto a substrate.
Screen printing is not a high volume printing process because each colour that is in an image has to be applied and has to dry before going over the design with another colour. However the process is very flexible in allowing you to transfer a design on a range of substrates. A silk screen is used for printing on fabric and a normal screen is used to print on paper.
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LETTER PRESS 15
Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing were an inked, raised surface is compressed against a substrate using a printing press. This printing process was the first in commercial print in 1463 and was created by Johannes Gutenberg. A letter press plate is created through composing and locking movable type into the bed of a press, inking it, and pressing paper against it to transfer the ink from the type.
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digital print 17
Digital printing refers to methods of printing from a digital-based image directly to a variety of media. It usually refers to professional printing where small-run jobs from desktop publishing and other digital sources are printed using large-format with or high-volume laser or ink jet printers. This printing process is one of the most popular ways to print and can be quite expensive. It is generally charged per page and certain colours.
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offset litho 19
Offset lithography is a process used for printing on a flat surface, using plates. An image is transferred to a printing plate, which can be made of a variety of materials such as metal or paper.
In industry it is a fast process, however it doesnt come cheap. A offset lithography job can range from ÂŁ95 plus, but producess precise results. The main uses for this print method are for newspapers, magazines, brochures, stationery and books.
This process is a high volume and speedy process and produces clean results. Lithography presses typically use a four colour process (see RGB and CMYK chapter.)
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foil blocking 21
Foil blocking is a dry process in which a metallic material is transferred from a continuous roll to the object being decorated.
The application of controlled pressure and heat, releases the colour from the foil and bonds with the chosen object permanently to create a reflective finish.
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This process makes designs look elegant and upmarket. Foil can come in a range of colours to be printed with.
emboss deboss 23
Embossing and debossing are the processes of creating a raised or indented images or designs. This process is used generally in paper but can be applied to other materials. The process creates a three-dimensional feel to print work creating a unique and interactional finish. An embossed pattern is raised against the background, while a debossed pattern is sunken into the surface of the material. This process generally works better with thicker stocks to see the finish.
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Working with an emboss or deboss design you need to consider the weight of your type or image. The wider and deeper the design, the better the outcome will also be.
laser cut 25
Laser cutting is a process that uses a laser to cut materials. This process is created by directing the output of a high power laser, by computer, at the material to be cut. The material then either cuts, burns or etches leaving a design with a high quality surface finish. Laser cutting is a quick process and really defines the cut of a design. This process is most comonly used to create bespoke pieces like a font cover of book or on alternative substrates.
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varni shes 27
A varnish is a colourless coating that is applied to a print to protect the substrate from wearing away. Varnish is also used to enhance the visual aesthetic of a design, or elements within it, such as type or an image. A varnish creates a relflective clear sheen to a design, similar to laminating a book cover, but it used for specific sections in a design like a book title.
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There are three main finishes a varnish can produce. These are a gloss, dull or a satin. Another one of these finishes which is not specifically a varnish is a UV coating which can also be applied to add a decorative touch. Varnishes can be applied through the screen printing process or through professional printing companies.
cmyk RGb 29
The RGB colour model is an additive colour model in which red, green, and blue light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colours. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three additive primary colours, red, green, and blue. The main purpose of the RGB colour mode is for digital display work to be seen on TV’s and computers.
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The CMYK colour model (process colour, four colour) is a subtractive colour model, used in colour printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four inks used in some colour printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). Though it varies by print house, press operator, press manufacturer, and press run, ink is typically applied in the order of the abbreviation.
duo tone 31
Using duotone images in work are very useful when saving money, when it comes to printing. This is because only two colours need to be reproduced for the image.
Duo-tone is a half tone reproduction of an image using the superimposition of one contrasting colour half tone (traditionally black) over another colour half tone. This is most often used to bring out middle tones and highlights of an image. The most common colours used are blue, yellow, browns and reds.
Now due to recent advances in technology, duo tones, tritones, and quadtones can be easily created using image manipulation programs.
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spot colour 33
A spot colour is a specially mixed ink used in printing. Spot colour inks come in a rainbow of colours, including some specialty inks such as metallic and fluorescent. Spot colours are chosen through a system called Pantone, which is a company that specialises in mixing inks out of the CMYK range.
These colour can really define a piece of work and make it stand out from other printed items due to each colour being different. Using spot colours can be quite expensive when used in lithographic printing, because each colour has to applied to a separate plate. Also some printers, for example ink jet printers might not take Pantone colours because it works with CMYK.
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pan tone 35
The Pantone colour matching system is largely a standardized colour reproduction system. By standardising the colour’s, different manufacturers in different locations can all refer to the Pantone system to make sure colours match without direct contact with one another. One use is standardising colours in the CMYK process. A majority of the world’s printed material is produced using the CMYK process, and there is a special subset of Pantone colours that can be reproduced using CMYK. Those that are possible to simulate through the CMYK process are labelled as such within the company’s guides. However, most of the Pantone system’s 1,114 spot colours cannot be simulated with CMYK but with 13 base pigments (15 including white and black) mixed in specified amounts.
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The Pantone system also allows for many special colours to be produced, such as metallics and fluorescents. When choosing a Pantone colour it’s important that you tell your printer how much it will cost to reproduce because certain colours have to mixed to recreate the colours. These colours are also know as spot colours.
for mat 37
A format is the size of a printed item. Formats typically run is sizes from A - C. Also know as series.
There are set of measurements for the designer to follow by to get the right size for a printed piece. A format can range from posters, pamphlets and even envelopes depending on what is being created.
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It’s important to figure out what format and scale you want to work with before designining as it is a big part on what our work will look like when it’s printed.
a size 39
The A Series paper size chart is commonly used and gives a visual explanation of how the sizes relate to each other - for example A5 is half of A4 size paper and A2 is half of A1 size paper.
The A series size format is the most commonly used in design. ISO 216 is a metric format and has been adopted by all countries in the world, except the United States and Canada.
a8
a7
a6
a5
a4
a3 Size Height - Width A0 A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8
1189 x 841 841 x 594 594 x 420 420 x 297 297 x 210 210 x 148 148 x 105 105 x 74 74 x 52
mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm
a2
aO a1
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b size 41
The B series is also used for envelopes and passports. It is widely used in the printing industry to describe both paper sizes and printing press sizes, including digital presses.
The B series paper sizes were created in order to provide paper sizes that weren’t covered by the A series. It is used for a variety of special situations. Many posters use B-series paper or is a relatively common choice for books.
b8
b7
b6
b5
b4
b3 Size Height - Width B0 B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8
1414 x 1000 mm 1000 x 707 mm 707 x 500 mm 500 x 353 mm 353 x 250 mm 250 x 176 mm 176 x 125 mm 125 x 88 mm 88 x 62 mm
b2
bO b1
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c size 43
The C size is most commonly used for folders, postcards and envelopes.
C4
The C series folds into an A size, making the w fit perfectly for what ever A size document needed. The following diagrams show C4, C5 and C6 envelopes compared to A4 paper size. The red represents the envelopes and the white represents the A series paper.
C5
a4
One of the most widely used business envelopes, the DL format does not fall under the C series sizes as it has a different aspect ratio
C6
dl
The DL envelope will hold an A4 sheet of paper folded into 3 equal sections parallel to its shortest sides.
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The diagram below shows the size of each of the envelopes when compared to a sheet of A4 paper similar to the diagrams shown in the A-B sizes.
c8
c7
c6
c5
c4
c3 Size Height - Width C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 DL
1297 x 917 mm 917 x 648 mm 648 x 458 mm 458 x 324 mm 324 x 229 mm 229 x 162 mm 162 x 114 mm 114 x 81 mm 81 x 57 mm 110 x 220 mm
c2
cO c1
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