LCA STUDENT PRINT GUIDE
CONTENTS
4
COLOUR
12
FORMAT
20
STOCK
26
PROCESSES
32
FINISHING
COLOUR
CMYK
The CMYK colour model is used for colour printing. It is also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four inks that are used in some colour printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). Ink is usually applied in the order of the abbreviation. As you alter the amount of cyan, magenta, yellow and key you are presented with new colours. The ink reduces the light that would otherwise be reflected. Such a model is called subtractive, because inks “subtract� brightness from white.
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RGB
RGB is a colour model in which red, green, and blue light are added together in various ways to reproduce a wide range of colours. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three composite colours: red, green, and blue. The main purpose of the RGB colour model is for the representation and display of images on screen, such as televisions and computers. These colours are primary additives because when combined in equal amounts they produce white (unlike CMYK whereby CM and Y produce key (black)). Additionally, when one of these primary additive colours is not present you get black.
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SPOT COLOURS
Spot colours are pre-mixed inks that print as solid blocks of a specific colour. Colours printed using CMYK can vary somewhat between, and even within, a print run. This causes inconsistency. Using a spot colour is one way of preventing this. A colour matching system ensures that the colour is an exact match every time. Big brands often use this to ensure that the colour that their brand uses is constant. 8
PANTONE
Pantone is the company most renowned for it’s colour-matching system, and is a catalogue of spot colours. It’s largely used within printing but also in the production of some coloured paints, fabrics, plastics, etc. The Pantone Colour Matching System is a standardized colour reproduction system. By standardizing the colours, different manufacturers in different locations can all refer to the Pantone system to make sure that colours match without having direct contact with one another. 9
HALFTONE
Halftone is the technique that simulates continuous tone imagery through the use of dots varying either in size, in shape or in spacing. “Halftone� can also be used to refer specifically to the image that is produced by this process. This technique is often used for the imagery in newspapers as it uses less ink and is therefore more cost effective. 10
MONOTONE / DUOTONE
A Monotone image is an image which has been created by using different tones of the same colour. Any colour can be used when using this printing process, however in print terms it is more commonly used to produce grey scale images made from black ink.
Duotone is a halftone reproduction of an image using the superimposition of one contrasting colour halftone (traditionally black) over another colour halftone. This is most often used to bring out middle tones and highlights of an image. 11
FORMAT
W
A SERIES
The system of ‘A’ paper sizes was created by the International Standards Organization (ISO) to standardize the dimensions of paper, and is most commonly used in Europe. The smaller the number, the larger the sheet. So, for instance, an A1 sheet of paper is larger than an A2 piece, and A3 is bigger than A4. The sizes are all relative to one another. Each sheet is twice the size of the previous in the se14
ries. So, for instance, A0 is twice the size of A1, and A4 is twice the size of A5. 2A0 is the largest piece of paper measured by this system, and A7 the smallest. A4 size is the paper commonly used in computer printers.
B SERIES
The B series paper sizes were created in order to provide paper sizes that weren’t covered by the A series, but also use an aspect ratio of 1:root2. B series are not common in general and office use, but are still often used in certain situations. For example, B5 is a popular size for books, and B3 is a popular size for posters.
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Broadsheet Dimensions: 750 600 mm (29.5” x
x 23.5”)
The term broadsheet derives from the 1700’s, where single sheets of political satire and ballads were sold on the streets, which became popular after the British placed a tax on newspapers by the number of pages. The broadsheet size for newspapers is becoming less popular, and many titles are switching from broadsheet to tabloid. In Australia and New Zealand, the term broadsheet is used to refer to papers that are printed on A1 size paper (841 x 594 mm - 33.1” x 23.4”). 16
Berliner Dimensions: 470 315 mm (18.5”
x
mm x 12.4”)
The Berliner format (also known as Midi) is commonly used by newspapers across Europe.
NEWSPAPER
Tabloid Dimensions: 430 280 mm (16.9” x
x 11.0”)
The tabloid size is often referred to as being ‘half the size of a broadsheet’, however this is not strictly true as broadsheet measures 750 x 600 mm (29.5” x 23.5”) Tabloid size is actually not very different from A3, and thus a transition to printing tabloids on an A2 sheet (remember that newspaper sizes are the size of the folded pages) would be sensible.
The word tabloid, when referring to newspaper sizes, comes from the style of journalism known as ‘tabloid journalism’ that compacted stories into short, easy to read, and often exaggerated forms. The tabloid size is widely used across the globe these days, with titles in the US, Russia, China, the UK, Canada, Australia, Brazil and many other countries using this format. Recently, many papers have changed from broadsheet size to tabloid size which has proved more popular with readers. 17
C SERIES
C4
C5
The C series is used for envelopes designed to take A series paper. For example, C4 envelopes are designed to fit A4 sheets paper. DL envelopes fit A4 paper when it’s folded into 3. 18
C6
DL
US SIZES
North America, Canada and parts of Mexico are the only areas of the first world that don’t use the ISO 216 standard paper sizes. Instead they use Letter, Legal, Executive and Ledger/ Tabloid paper sizes. Letter is ef-
fectively the equivalent to A4.
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STOCK
WEIGHTS
The term paperweight, and number corresponding with each weight, refers to the thickness and sturdiness of the paper, not the actual weight of the sheet. GSM is an acronym standing for ‘Grams per Square Meter’. Quite simply, it lets people to know exactly the weight/quality of paper that is being ordered. This book is printed on 100gsm stock. 100-150gsm is the most appropriate for a book of 40+ pages. The cover is a slightly heavier stock. 22
FINISH
Coating is a process by which stock is coated with an agent to improve printing properties. Coated paper has a glossy or matte finish. It’s very smooth and can be either very shiny (high gloss) or have a subtle shine. Matte coated paper is more resistant to dirt, moisture and wear. It’s generally used in the printing of magazines, book covers, glossy photos, etc. Coating restricts the amount of ink that is absorbed by the paper, and how the ink bleeds into the paper. This is desirable for sharp / complex images, as the ink stays on top of the paper and will
not bleed, reducing the sharpness of the printed material. Generally more absorbent of ink than a coated paper, like its name, uncoated paper doesn’t have a coating. It’s generally not as smooth as coated paper, and tends to be more porous. Uncoated paper is often used for letterhead, envelopes and printed material that is aiming for a more prestigious / elegant look. University booklets, real estate brochures and menus for elegant restaurants are generally printed on uncoated paper to give them a high-class feel. 23
OTHER USES
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But stock isn’t just paper. Stock is literally anything you can put something onto. For example: The bottle on the right uses paper stock for the design which is then put on the bottle; but the bottle in the centre IS the stock which the design has been placed on. Glass is stock, who’d have thought? So is aluminium, and if you’re Stefan Sagemeister even your own skin is stock. Crazy.
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PROCESSES
SCREEN PRINTING Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil to receive a desired image. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials, which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharpedged image onto a substrate. Basically, it is the process of using a stencil to apply ink onto a substrate, whether it be t-shirts,
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posters, stickers, vinyl, wood, or other material. Graphic screenprinting is widely used today to create many mass or large batch produced graphics, such as posters or display stands. Full colour prints can be created by printing in CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black (‘key’)).
LETTERPRESS
Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing using a printing press. A worker composes and locks movable type into the bed of a press, inks it, and presses paper against it to transfer the ink from the type which creates an impression on the paper.
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DIGITAL
Digital printing refers to methods of printing from a digitalbased 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 largeformat and/or high-volume laser or inkjet printers. Digital printing has a higher cost per page than more traditional offset printing methods, but this price is usually offset by avoiding the cost of all the technical steps required to make printing plates. It also allows for on-demand 30
printing, short turnaround time, and even a modification of the image (variable data) used for each impression. The savings in labour and the ever-increasing capability of digital presses means that digital printing is reaching the point where it can match or supersede offset printing technology’s ability to produce larger print runs of several thousand sheets at a low price.
RISOGRAPH
Risograph is a high-speed digital printing system designed mainly for high-volume photocopying and printing. When printing or copying multiple quantities (generally more than 20) of the same origin, it is typically far less expensive per page than a conventional photocopier, laser printer, or inkjet printer. Because the process involves real ink ,like offset printing, and does not require heat to fix the image on the paper, like a photocopier or laser printer, the output from a risograph can be treated like any printed material.
This means that sheets which have been through a risograph may happily go through a laser printer afterwards and viceversa. Risographs have typically had interchangeable colour inks and drums allowing for printing in different colours or using spot colour in one print job. The Riso MZ series models have two ink drums, thereby allowing two colours to be printed in one pass.
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FINISHING
BOOK BINDING
Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from a number of folded or unfolded sheets of paper or other material. It usually involves attaching a book cover to the resulting text-block.
SPINE
FRONT COVER
PAGES
BACK COVER 34
PAPER FOLDING
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FOILING/ UV VARNISH
Foil stamping, typically a commercial print process, is the application of pigment or metallic foil, often gold or silver, but can also be various patterns or what is known as pastel foil which is a flat opaque color or white special film-backed material, to paper where a heated die is stamped onto the foil, making it adhere to the surface leaving the design of the die on the paper. Foil stamping can be combined with embossing to create a more striking 3D image. 36
HEAT + PRESSURE FUSES FOIL TO MATERIAL
EMBOSSING
Embossing and debossing are the processes of creating either raised or recessed relief images and designs in paper and other materials. An embossed pattern is raised against the background, while a debossed pattern is sunken into the surface of the material (but might protrude somewhat on the reverse, back side). Often used in combination with foil stamping, embossing alters the surface of paper stock or other substrates by providing a three dimensional or raised effect on selected areas 37
NOTES
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