Print Production - Documentation book

Print Production Documentation Book

Tanisha Jain

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Print Production Documentation Book

Tanisha Jain

CONTENTS • Introduction

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Paper Coated Uncoated Art Paper How paper is made

11 - 20

- - - - - - -

Printing Techniques Intaglio Relief printing Off-set printing Screen printing Digital printing

21 - 35

•

A day at Judge press

36 - 44

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Hands on Woodcut Printing – with Ina Kaur

45 - 54

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Immersion with Lino and History of Printing – with Dr. Sridhar Murthy

55 - 57

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• Bibliography

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INTRODUCTION What is Print Production exactly? It’s more than the design process, it’s design with the desire to build files that print, fold, and trim correctly. To understand this, we were taken to experts, practitioners, and professionals to see the process and grasp how things are done. This documentation book outlines the processes we went through during the five weeks of the course, ‘Production Processes for Print.’ It explains different print production processes like Intaglio Printmaking, Relief Printing and others. It contains different examples using different techniques done by, during the workshops attended. It overviews the journey experienced by the students, and learning more about the history and the procedures of tradition print making.

It starts with the explanation of what papers are, which should be used where and when to print process and then to the experiences and workshops attended and work done there.

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PAPERS

‘Material manufactured in thin sheets from the pulp of wood or other fibrous substances, used for writing, drawing, or printing on, or as wrapping material is defined as paper.’

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COATED Having an even and a regular surface, These papers are flawless to touch and give a flat, regular surface.

These papers can either be shiny (high gloss) or have a subtle shine (matte).

Either way, coated papers will have a great effect on the appearance and usefulness of the printed item. These papers are highly resistant to dirt, moisture and wear.

Coated paper gives an essence of cleaner crispier print and is desirable for sharp and complex images as the ink stays in the top of the paper, without being fully absorbed.

It is generally used for printing magazines, book covers, glossy photos and art books.

Glossy: glossy coated papers has a high sheen, have less bulk (weight) and opacity and reduces the ink absorption giving the print excellent color definition.

Satin: it is less shiny-coated finish. it has a lower gloss level than glossy though higher than matte. the colors printed are sharp and vivid.

Matte: it is a non-glossy, flat-looking paper with a very little sheen. They are more opaque and contain greater bulk and are higher in cost.

Dull: a dull finish coated paper is smooth surface paper that is low in gloss. it can fall between matte and glossy depending on the manufacturer.

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Touch it here.

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UNCOATED As the namesake, uncoated papers do not have a coating and is thus. is more absorbent of ink than a coated paper.

Tis paper type can dull the colors that are printed.

It is generally not as smooth and tends to be more pours. Uncoated paper is generally used for letterheads, envelopes and printed materials that is aiming for a more prestigious or elegant look. College and university booklets, brochures and menus for elegant restaurants are generally printed on uncoated to give them a prestigious feel.

Uncoated papers are available in a variety of surfaces, both smooth and textured. Some of the common types are: Wove: this as a very smooth surface but absorbs the ink faster and makes it look more subtle.

Laid: it is created with textured lines on its surface. This finish is used mostly for business stationery elements, like letterheads, envelopes and business cards.

Linen: similar to laid finish, this paper has textured lines on the surface of the sheet but they are finer and more regular than those that appear on a laid finish stock.

This paper is also used frequently for business stationery.

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Touch it here.

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ART PAPER Art papers are one of the highest quality printing papers and are used for illustrated books, calendars and brochures. The gram-age varies from 100 to 230 g/m2. These paper grades are triple coated with 20 - > 40 g/m2/side and have matte or glossy finish. Higher qualities often contain cotton..

There is variety of different category that the art papers are divided in.

All these papers are further categorized according to their making.

These categories are: Smooth: These papers are flawless to touch and are a visual delight and under this category only, there comes a paper called recycle paper which has more percentage of used paper fibres and can be adjusted according to the need of the client. It comes in different thickness and shades as per required.

Translucent: These are thin sheets of transparent paper, usually used between files, to divided two different sheet or sections, etc. This kind of paper also comes in different shades and thickness.

Textured: These sheets are not smooth but have some kind of feel to it. They are embossed and finished with horizontal or vertical lines, paper fiber texture and many others. A variety of textures are available with a variety of shades, colors and weight.

Metallic: These kind of papers are used when some kind of shimmer and shine is required for a needed purpose.

These sheets are comparatively costlier than the rest.

Color:There is a huge range of colored papers available in the market. These papers are smooth, matte finished and can be altered as per required. Theses papers require a technique of printing called double printing/ foreground printing.

Printenhancement:These paper are used for high bulk production, and are coated with a wax pigment to make the ink last longer while not being absorbed by the paper with gives it a property of print better enhancement.

Print better texture:These sheets are same as the previous one; the only difference is that they are available with textures. There is a huge range of different kinds of textures available.

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Touch it here.

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HOW

PAPER is MADE

Paper is simple material.

It is essentially a mat held together by the fiber’s roughness, and can be made from almost any fibrous material like wood or recycled paper.

The process for making paper was invented in China in the second century A.D., and all paper was made one sheet at a time until 1798. To learn more about the history of paper,

The process of making paper has not changed – at least, fundamentally – since its discovery. But with almost two centuries of improvements and refinements, modern papermaking is a fascinating, high tech industry.

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STEP 1: FORESTRY Typically, trees used for papermaking are specifically grown and harvested like a crop for that purpose.

STEP 2: DEBARKING, CHIPPING AND/OR RECYCLING To begin the process, logs are passed through a debarker, where the bark is removed, and through chippers, where spinning blades cut the wood into pieces. Those wood chips are then pressure-cooked with a mixture of water and chemicals. Used paper is also another source of rich paperfiber.

STEP 3: PULP PREPARATION The pulp is washed, refined, cleaned and sometimes bleached, then turned to slush in the beater. Color dyes, coatings and other additives are mixed in, and the pulp slush is pumped onto a moving wire screen.

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STEP 4: PAPER FORMATION As the pulp travels down the screen, water is drained away and recycled. The resulting crude paper sheet, or web, is squeezed between large rollers to remove most of the remaining water and ensure smoothness and uniform thickness.

STEP 5: PAPER FINISHING The finished paper is then wound into large rolls, which can be 30 feet wide and weigh close to 25 tons. A slitter cuts the paper into smaller, more manageable rolls, and the paper is ready for use.

PRINTING

Printing is the technique of making an impression on paper (or on other substances such as vellum) from inked type.

TECHNIQUES

intaglio noun 1. a design incised or engraved into a material or engrave or represent by an engraving. verb 1. a printing technique that involves applying ink to a metal plate that has an image cut into its surface.

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Intaglio print on Paper

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Etching is a method where a corrosive liquid such as acid is used to cut into the metal plate. To control the action the plate here, I covered with a acid resistant substance.

Making lines on the liquid ( acid- resistant) over the metal sheet and then exposing it to the acid create the drawings. By leaving the plate longer in the acid, can increase the strength of the lines.

Once the lines of the drawing have been cut out of the copper, the plate is inked.

The paper picks up the impression of the ink from the grooves, thus completing the print.

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Intaglio print can be achieved via different methods and techniques.

Engraving is a method where the metal plate is cut by hand using a sharp tool called burin.

The depth and thickness of the lines can vary in a singly piece. This affects the final print on the paper. After the ink is appled to the recesses, the surface is wiped clean before the plate is pressed againt the paper.

Etching is a method where a corrosive liquid such as acid is used to cut into the metal plate. To control the action the plate here, I covered with a acid resistant substance.

Making lines on the liquid ( acid- resistant) over the metal sheet and then exposing it to the acid create the drawings. By leaving the plate longer in the acid, can increase the strength of the lines.

Intaglio prints on metal, copper plates

Collagraphs – It is a type of technique in which materials are stuck on a surface to make patterns and then ink is applied on it and are pressed tightly against each other. The print, which is then obtained from the engravings, is collagraph print.

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relief printing noun

1. printing from raised images, as in letterpress and flexography.

2.

Relief printing is a x where protruding surface faces of the printing plate or block are inked; recessed areas are ink free.

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Relief print can be achieved via different methods and techniques.

Woodcut, technique of printing designs from planks of wood incised parallel to the vertical axis of the wood’s grain. It is one of the oldest methods of making prints from a relief surface. In Europe, printing from wood blocks on textiles was known from the early 14th century, but it had little development until paper began to manufacture. Areas that the artist cuts away carry no ink, while characters or images at surface level carry the ink to produce the print.

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Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing using a printing press, a process by which many copies are produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. In practice, letterpress also includes other forms of relief printing with printing presses, such as wood engravings, photo-etched zinc “cuts� (plates), and linoleum blocks, which can be used alongside metal type, or wood type.

Linocut is a technique which is a variant of woodcut in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for a relief surface. it is easier to obtain certain artistic effects with lino than with most woods, although the resultant prints lack the often angular grainy character of woodcuts and engravings. Lino is generally diced, much easier to cut than wood, especially when heated.

Type-setting of the letters

Linocut examples

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offset printing noun 1. printing by the offset process. verb 1. printing technique in which the inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. There is one set of plate for each color.

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Offset lithography is one of the most common ways of creating printed materials.

A few of its common applications include: newspapers, magazines, brochures, stationery, and books.

Compared to other printing methods, offset printing is best suited for economically producing large volumes of high quality prints in a manner that requires little maintenance

It's called offset because the ink is not transferred directly onto the paper.

Offset printing process consists of several parts: •the inking system (ink fountain and ink rollers); •the dampening system (water fountain and water rollers); •the plate cylinder; •the offset cylinder (or blanket cylinder); •the impression cylinder.

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screen-print verb 1. force ink or metal on to (a surface) through a prepared screen of fine material so as to create a picture or pattern. noun 1. a picture or design produced by screen-printing.

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It is a surface based printing, in which a surface is blocked at areas where you don’t want the ink to get transferred through and we get the print from the restunblocked spaces.

How is it done

Step 1: Coat Screen The screen is coated with photo sensitive emulsion. This is done in an area not well lit and while emulsion is drying, the screen is kept out of light.

Step 2: Burn Screen A transparency sheet is taken and placed on outside of screen, with clear tape or any other sticking material. Locations on screen can vary due to placement on the surface where to get printed. The screen is placed in direct light or light unit to expose emulsion.

Step 3: Rinse Out Image After emulsion has been exposed, the transparency sheet is removed and taken to wash out. Gently the entire screen is rinsed - the emulsion where the image was will completely wash away as well as any excess emulsion that could run into image while drying. After rinse the screen is set aside to dry.

Step 4: Set Up Screen

The screen is taken to press, set in, line up in center, left, right and screw in.

Step 5: Print The desired ink is taken and is spread across screen below image. The squeegee is taken and ink is pulled the through screen. The best way for a good print to pull the squeegee at a almost a straight up and down angle. A test pull-down is done first to check for any discrepancies etc.

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digital-printing verb 1. methods of printing from a digital-based image directly to a variety of media. noun 1. the fastest and the most modern printing techniques..

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The greatest difference between digital printing and traditional methods such as lithography, flexography, gravure, or letterpress is that there is no need to replace printing plates in digital printing, whereas in analog printing the plates are repeatedly replaced. This results in quicker turnaround time and lower cost when using digital printing, but typically a loss of some fine-image detail by most commercial digital printing processes.

The most popular methods include inkjet or laser printers that deposit pigment or toner onto a wide variety of substrates including paper, photo paper, canvas, glass, metal, marble, and other substances.

Digital printing has many advantages over traditional methods. Some applications of note include: Desktop publishing – inexpensive home and office printing is only possible because of digital processes that bypass the need for printing plates Variable data printing – uses database-driven print files for the mass personalization of printed materials Fine art – archival digital printing methods include real photo paper exposure prints and giclée prints on watercolor paper using pigment based inks.

Print on Demand – digital printing is used for personalized printing for example, children’s books customized with a child’s name, photo books (such as wedding photo books), or any other books.

Advertising – often used for outdoor banner advertising and event signage, in trade shows, in the retail sector at point of sale or point of purchase, and in personalized direct mail campaigns.

Photos – digital printing has revolutionized photo printing in terms of the ability to retouch and color correct a photograph before printing.

Architectural Design – new media that conforms to a variety of surfaces has enabled interior and exterior spaces to be transformed using digitally printed wall murals and floor graphics.

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A day at Judgepress

We spent the entire day at Judgepress learning and seeing how different types of printing methods are done. We were majorly introduced to Letter pressing, Block printing, screen-printing and offset printing. Later we also saw how the book and other projects are binded with machines and by hand.

Mr. Mouli showed us how the entire process of letter pressing is done. What exactly is a font, typeface, font size, space. Before the invent of the lead/ metal fonts, which are called the types, wooden types were used called the movable types. ‘What is a letter press?’ he asked and answered “A letter being pressed”. The letters are constant and the moving element is the paper, which goes on with the machine.

A lot of intriguing questions were answered like, why is the space between the two sentences called leading?

Because in thoe days they used to use a piece of lead to give the space between two sentences, why is it called a typeface? Because the face (surface) of the type is facing out and many other questions. We were also introduced and told that typically, typefaces are produced in certain set point sizes,

Lead Type face

Setting of the type

such as 6, 8,10,12,14,16,18,24, 36, 48 and so on because it was not practical to make metal/lead type for each and every size, hence odd point sizes were produced.

He showed us the case where the metal type were stored and explained that the arrangement was designed thoughtfully and in for the convenience of the artists.

The letters that were not so frequently used were put in smaller sections around the side of the case and vowels being the most frequently used letters, was placed in the largest section.

What is the tradition technique of letter pressing has been explained in the previous part of the book.

Here are some of the types, case, and other things we were exposed to.

Font case - where all the fonts are kept

A block of text

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Next, we were introduced to screen-printing, which is a technique of printing on the screen with ink emulsion.

We were shown how it is done, and ere then given an exposed screen and were told to try it out.

It was an amazing experience but also realized that though it looks easy it is not because it needs a lot of perfection and alignment of the screen has to be proper with the placement of the material to be printed on.

Already exposed screen being screwd and printing.

Lady pulling down the squeege to print the xposed print on the paper.

He’s screwing up the screen

and getting it ready for us to print.

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Some the work which we had printind and seen there.

Screenprint on cloth

Screen printed on paper with different color inks

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Later, we were told about the offset and digital printing.

He told us how and what kinds of inks are used in offset printing and digital. In offset printing, a transparent ink is used so as we can produce multicolored images. There are four original colors, which cannot be made with combining other colors which are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (K). by changing the percentage of these color even by points, we can make a thousand of different color-combinations. Offset printing is one of the most commonly used printing process for bulk production. It is really costly for projects which are not supposed to be printed in bulk and are in single copy. In this, the print is exposed on an aluminum plate in a way called 4- ups, which means that on an A1 aluminum sheet, 4 A3’s will be printed and 8 A4’s and 16 A5’s.

Offset printnig machine

Paper can be fed into the offset printing machine is two ways. When paper is put in sheet by sheet, it is called sheet offset and when it is put in in the form of a large roll, it is called web offset. The latter is done during the printing of newspapers.

Offset printnig machine (close-up)

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At last, we moved onto biding techniques.

He showed us how the machine does the major work and how they manually have the feed the signatures one at a time and the rest machine does, which is sewing them all together. we saw how It leaves a blank sew, after 8 signatures or as many is needed.

He showed us different examples of binding: Soft binding or perfect binding, Calico binding, wrapper binding and hard binding.

The perfect binder machine

The perfect binder machine

The pages binded together

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HANDS-ON

WOODCUT PRINTING With Ina Kaur

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We learned about different hands-on printing techniques, which are mainly four; etching, screen printing, lino and wood cut printing. We were told about the history of the printing techniques along side the examples of it, done by hersel.

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So print and production, we were not told about how a particular technique was invented or who invented it, because of a simple reason that it is easily google-able. We were shown and told about how it is done, and certain techniques and methods that only a person who practices it on a regular basis can tell us through their expertise.

Art work by Ina - Woodcut print with two colors

The main and the ever lasting techniques of print making are Lithography, Etching, Screen printing and Relief print making, under the umbrella of print making.

It has its commercial usage and were introduced what was the first method of printing, for communication which was cave engravings, paintings.

She defined print making as Making an impression, which leads you with leaving a mark, impression and how it lasts.

How the generations have changed, where to leave a mark its not mass produced but mass shared.

Art work by Ina - Screen print with etching

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Printing without the press Things required and tips on how to take a better print

Process • •

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Kerosene (odor less mineral spirit)

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Soap and water – soapy water

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Vegetable oil

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Talcum powder

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Burn plate oil

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Inks and rubber-rollers ( of different sizes, if needed)

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Glass slab

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Printing paper, rag cloth

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Wooden block (CARVED)

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Ink is first taken out on a glass slab and then smoothed on it with a rubber roller.

After spreading out the ink consistently and evenly, ensuring that the ink is not even too tacky or too runny. It is, then, applied on wood cut block.

Several layers of ink has to be applied ensuring a fresh batch of ink is also used, so that the ink is present on the wood cut is in a certain good amount but not too much.

Then wooden block is placed according to registrations marks, if any, on surface with inked side up and paper is placed above it pressed using a flat object, here a ply with banana leaf over it was used, by rolling it in circular motion.

Ina’s wood carvings were used to print designs on our papers.

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Woodcut prints

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Etching plates - acid bitten plates

Etching plates - acid bitten plates

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Woodcut block prints

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Immersion on Lino and History of printing With Professor (Dr) Sridhar Murthy

He started the session by telling us what graphic art/design is. It is derived from the word Graphia ( Greek) which means Graphy meaning writing or reproduction.

His definition for graphic was, ‘more than 3 repeated impressions.’ He again told us the four most prominent and still prevalent printing techniques.

He started by showing practically how engraving is done on a woodblock. He instandtly drew onto the wooden plank with a brush and paint and then started to engrave.

Wooden block carved, Inkend, and print on paper

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He told us what tools to be used for different cuts like u shape for larger areas, v shape for smaller ones and straight edge for making incisions and lines. Then, he rolled on the ink on the rubber roller, and then on the block and put the paper over it and applied pressure. The first print is called the proof print orv the test print. It usually is not exactly what is required but gives the print maker an idea and areas to improve.

We were also showed examples of etching and lithography and how is it printed and passed through a press. The examples are shown below.

Lithography stone, with hand drawn image for printing

Etched plate print

Printing press machinery (roller)

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Bibliography SOURCES http://www.paintingconservation.org.za/bailey/research/printmaking_techniques_ joe_dolby.pdf http://maconprinting.com/coated-and-uncoated-paper https://printingpartners.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/paper-types-explained/ http://www.designishistory.com/1450/printing-techniques/ http://www.csun.edu/~pjd77408/DrD/resources/Printing/images03/20024.pdf http://www.peopleofprint.com/general/10-books-on-printmaking/ https://www.google.co.in/search?q=images+for+printmaking&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjwqsn18ODWAhVMMY8KHaSFC6UQ_AUICigB&biw=924&bih=604 https://www.lynda.com/Acrobat-tutorials/What-print-production-Video/100221/108432-4.html https://in.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=print%20making&rs=typed&term_ meta[]=print%7Ctyped&term_meta[]=making%7Ctyped

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