Printmarks: The Print Production Handbook

Print Marks The Print Production Handbook

Contents

1. Colour modes page 3-6

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2. Stock page 7-8

4.Print Process page 12-14

3. Format page 9-11

5. Finishes page 15

Colour Modes CMYK

Spot Colours

A 4 Colour print process using combinations of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (Black) inks to reproduce colour. This is a reductive colour type as combining colours makes them darker.

Spot colours are pre-mixed inks that print as solid blocks of a specific colour. Colours printed through CMYK can vary between and even within a print run.

Halftone Inks, being semi-opaque, can be combined in arrangements of dots known as halftones. Variations in the halftone create the illusion of different tones and create the illusion of complex variations in colour. With magnification, these dots of colour are obvious.

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Using a spot colour is one way of preventing this, as a colour matching system ensures the colour is perfect Large brands often print their logos with specific spot colours to ensure that consistency is kept across different printers.

Greyscale

Monotone/Duotone

This colour mode describes the shades of grey within an image, often in terms of the percentage of black ink coverage. Working in greyscale is one way of reducing cost in a print run.

A monotone is made up of tints of a single colour, while a duotone is made up of tints of two colours. Both of these can be created from a greyscale image, and are efficient methods for adding colour while minimising cost.

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Lab Colour

Hexachrome (CMYKOG)

L*a*b* describes colour as it is perceived by the human eye. It is most often used for converting colours between different colour modes.

A discontinued colour model which adds Orange and green inks to the CMYK process to significantly expand the colour gamut.

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Colour Modes RGB

PPI vs DPI

This colour model is based on combinations of the primary additives Red, Green and Blue, which produce white when combined in equal amount and a RGB is used for screen-based media and has a larger colour gamut than CMYK.

PPI refers to the number of pixels per inch in an image.

The higher the PPI, the more detailed an image will become. Thus it is an important consideration when working for print. The appropriate PPI will depend on the size of the print, as larger prints are viewed from further away and can thus have a lower resolution.

The RGB colour mode is used for screen-based media, and is rendered independently, meaning that there can be wild variation in how an RGB colour can appear on a different device and even on the same device over time.

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DPI (or dots per inch) refers to the process of the printer.

Pixel outputs need to be translated into halftone dots of colour. Increasing the DPI in a print job will increase the detail and colour, but at the cost of a higher ink usage and a slower print. A printer will look for the most efficient DPI for the job.

Pantone Matching System (PMS) Pantone are a print industry standard for colour reproduction. By using the PMS, designers and printers can ensure that their colours match as they can refer to them by their Pantone swatch.

The Pantone system encompasses 1,114 spot colours which are produced from specific amounts of 15 base pigments. A subset of swatches is provided that are suitable for reproduction through the CMYK process.

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Stock ISO536 Paper and Board

Bond

ISO defines an international standard for paper weights.

It is used broadly outside of the few countries that still adhere to the US paper system. The thickness of ISO paper is described in terms of their weight in grams per square metre (gsm).

Often used for stationery, this high quality writing paper has absorbant properties that make it ideal for use in the office environment

Book Durable, lightweight paper that is suitable for double sided printing. It is named after is common use in book printing.

Index A rigid medium-thickness card stock often used for business cards and postcards.

An A0 sheet of paper has an area of 1m and so a 120gsm sheet will weigh exactly 120 grams.

Newsprint can be found most commonly between 45 and 50 gsm, papers between 70 and 120gsm and cards from above 120gsm.

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Cover This term refers to card stock that is often used for the covers of paperback books. It’s thickness can vary between 135 to 300gsm.

Newsprint Thin, cheap papers commonly partially recycled and used for runs of Newspapers.

Offset Strong, tear-resistant paper used in offset lithography printing to withstand the force of the rollers.

Plastics Many plastics can now be printed on for applications such as signage, tags and commercial products.

Newsprint Thin, cheap papers commonly partially recycled and used for runs of Newspapers.

Tissue Super-thin paper which is suitable for arts and crafts.

Board A generic term for heavy, pulp-based stocks. Board comes in many varieties and is commonly used in packaging for its strength.

Finish Stock is manufactured in two main varieties, coated and uncoated. Coated paper has a thin layer of china clay or chalk bound to it by synthetic binders or organic varieties such as starch. Gloss and Satin are the two common varieties of coated paper, providing a shine to the surface of the print appropriate for uses such as covers, leaflets and brochures. Uncoated, or Matt paper, lacks the smoothness of coated stock but retains a flatness which improves readability and fine detail in images.

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Format ISO216 ISO216 is a widely adopted international standard for paper sizes. These sizes are based on a ratio that is maintained if the size is halved widthwise. Thus, an ISO paper size is half the area of the next largest.

SRA and RA RA (Raw format A) and SRA (Supplementary Raw format A) are the standard sizes for untrimmed paper. RA is 105% of the area of its A equivalent, while SRA is 115% larger. This allows space for bleed and printer’s marks.

A Sizes

SRA + RA

A0 - 1189 x 841 A1 - 841 x 594 A2 - 594 x 420 A3 - 420 x 297 A4 - 297 x 210 A5 - 210 x 148 A6 - 148 x 105 A7 - 105 x 94

SRA0 - 917 x 1297 SRA1 - 648 x 917 SRA2 - 458 x 648 SRA3 - 324 x 458 SRA4 - 229 x 324 RA0 - 860 x 1220 RA1 - 610 x 860 RA2 - 430 x 610 RA3 - 305 x 430 RA4 - 215 x 305

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A to B The ISO216 A series is the most commonly used paper system in the world.

B sizes take on the dimensions of the mean of two adjacent A sizes. Both of these sizes follow the unique ratio 1:root2.

B Sizes

B0 - 1000 x 1414 B1 - 707 x 1000 B2 - 500 x 707 B3 - 353 x 500 B4 - 250 x 353 B5 - 176 x 250 B6 - 125 x 176 B7 - 88 x 125

Newspaper Sizes Broadsheet 750 x 600 mm Originating from the single pages of political satire sold by street vendors after newspapers began being taxed on their number of pages in 1712.

Tabloid 430 x 280 mm This format originated from the advent of ‘tabloid’ journalism which favoured short, easily digested articles.

Berliner 470 mm x 315 mm A format popular amongst European newspaper but beginning to be introduced internationally.

Compact 430 x 280 mm Exactly the same dimensions as Tabloid, this is the preferred term amongst the higher brow press who are increasingly transitioning to this format for convenience

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Envelope Sizes ISO 269 defines the standard for envelope sizes. C and DL are the most common sizes in use today. C follows the 1:root2 ratio of ISO 216 papers, meaning that each lower size is half the area of the next size up.

C Sizes + DL

C0 - 917 x 1297

DL A de-facto standard format for business envelopes.

Adopted from the German standard DIN Lang, but now extended to dimension lengthways. It was included in ISO 269 so as not to exclude the most commonly used format.

C4

C1 - 648 x 917

C3 - 324 x 458 C4 - 229 x 324

C5

C2 - 458 x 648

C5 - 162 x 229 DL - 114 x 229 C6 - 114 x 162 C7 - 81 x 114

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C6

Print Process Lithography A mechanical palaeographic print process. Plates are dampened by water, then by ink. As oil and water repel, ink is allowed to stick to the image and is repelled by the water of the remaining area.

When printing this image, ink is passed from the plate to the cylinder, and in turn to the printing surface. CMYK colours all have different plates, as well as any other spot colours that need to be printed.

Pad Printing A print process that can be applied to a wide range of 2D and 3D surfaces. The image is etched onto a metal plate called a clichĂŠ. When inked, the clichĂŠ transfers the image to a silicon pad which prints onto the surface.

Silicon allows ink to be held temporarily, but then be fully transferred to the printing area.

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Inking rollers

Dampening rollers

Substrate

Flexography A form of relief printing that can be print on a large variety of surfaces as the ink it applies has a sticky quality.

A fountain roller passes ink to the Anilox roller, which controls the level of ink transferred by filling microscopic holes engraved into the roller. Rubber plates are precisely mounted to the Plate Cylinder. Finally, an Impression Cylinder applies pressure to this, printing the image onto the surface.

Rotogravure A form of intaglio printing, in which the image is etched onto the plate surface or cylinder. The image contains many engraved ink wells.

In rotation, excess ink is removed by a ‘doctor blade’.

The depth of each ink well determines the amount of ink transferred to the printing surface.

plate cylinder

anilox roll

Fountain rolli

mpression cylinder

ink pan

impression cylinder

substrate plate doctor blade

ink

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Print Process Digital Digital printing uses code to assemble an image in a matrix of dots which tell the printer how to distribute inks.. As there are no set-up costs and time, it allows for very fast print jobs and cost efficient smaller runs. The quality is usually inferior to that of lithography printing, although the technology is rapidly improving.

Screen Print A print method which uses a woven mesh (the ‘screen’) and a photosensitive emulsion covering to create a stencil of the image which allows ink to pass through the screen only in the image area. Ink is forced through the holes in the mesh by pulling a squeegee across its surface. This process is normally done by hand but can be automated.

squeegee

screen

substrate

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Finishes Foil Blocking Metallic foil is heat-stamped to the substrate by a foil stamping machine which forces it to stick to the image area, giving it a shiny reflective quality.

Die-cutting Using a press and a die, the outer of the substrate is cut away. This process is used to produce nets for packaging.

Die-stamping is the same process, but cut from the inside of the substrate.

Embossing A technique which uses pressure and heat to selectively raise the image above the substrate, creating a 3D textural effect. Debossing is used to lower the image below the substrate. Blind embossing is when this process is carried out on an image area that ink has not been applied to.

Spot UV Varnish This print finish involves an applied varnish that is quickly dried by UV light.

This gives a raised, glossy effect which is used frequently in high-end brochures and booklets.

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Folding Industrial folding is an extra service that can be provided by some printers. Folding machines come in two types, those that use a knife (knife folders) and those who use a buckle (buckle folders). A range of complex folds can be achieved by using this equipment