TOPICS
Printing: Digital Printing, Lithographic Printing,
Screen Printing, Wide-Format Printing, Photocopying.
Print Finishing: Numbering,
Personalisation, Mounting, Laminating, Encapsulating, UV
Varnish, Thermography, Embossing, Die-Cutting, Scoring and
Creasing, Foiling, Comb & Wire Binding.
PRINTING
There are numerous methods of printing.
There may even be two or more methods of producing the
project you have in mind. Here we look at the pros and
cons.
Digital Printing
For smaller quantities, and especially
smaller sizes such as leaflets and business cards, digital
printing is the ideal solution. It is bright, printed in
full colour and is more cost effective for smaller print
runs. A price list is contained in our Download section.
The maximum size for any one item is A3 (420 x 297mm) plus
bleed. This is also the ideal medium for
personalising and
numbering a project, such as tickets, gift
vouchers and mailshots, as this can be done at the time of
printing, where Litho printing would do this as another
process, which saves time and money. Jobs are either
printed in full colour or black only per side. It should be
noted that this is a toner-based system, and is not
suitable for feeding through a laser printer at a later
date. Therefore digitally printed letterheads should only
be used with an inkjet printer. Unlike Litho printing, when
the sheet emerges from the machine, it is ready to use and
doesn't need time to dry.
Lithographic Printing
This is the process normally thought of
where printing is concerned. It accepts a wider selection
of papers, and of course there is more flexibility over
colour usage of ink. You can choose specific inks to
maintain your image, use full colour, or even metallic inks
which come to life on glossy paper and board. There are
printing presses to handle projects of all sizes, and we
normally accommodate up to A1 (840 x 594mm) on one sheet.
This process is more cost effective for longer print runs,
and is essential for the thermography
service that we provide. It also provides a better quality
than Digital printing, although as the ink needs to dry,
work takes longer to produce, especially on jobs with large
print coverage.
Screen Printing
The above processes are limited to paper
products, but suppose your project was plastic or even a
CD. Screen printing is a more expensive process than Litho
or Digital although it is the flexibility of materials that
makes it stand out. Plastics, CD, paper, leather, fabric,
the list is almost endless. The inks are waterproof too, so
they are ideal for external signs. They are also the method
for printing on ring binders or polyboxes. It also allows
you to print a dense white ink, which is useful for dark or
transparent materials. You may also require a white
background to be printed on to a CD before the rest of the
colours are applied afterwards. This makes the colours
stand out more.
Wide-Format Printing
This is an ink-based system for producing
wide projects, such as posters and prints for exhibition
panels. Inks tend to be water-based and therefore not
suitable for external use. However there are ways around
this. For external items, Oil-based inks can be used on PVC
material for billboards, which will provide roughly 18
month life. Such items would be suitable for displaying on
building sites for example. Another option is to protect
the paper with a plastic coating. A
laminate is applied to the paper to
protect the face from splashes and is advised for
exhibition panels. The laminate can be double sided or used
to mount the print to a foam or
plastic board for rigidity. However, where
the laminate it cut to the correct size, this can allow
water inside, so laminating is not really suitable for
external work. Encapsulating will
completely surround the print to protect it from the
elements, although the downside to this is that
encapsulating has no UV protection. Unless the print was
done with light-fast inks, the image will fade over time.
The other consideration for this work, especially if
mounted, is transportation. Make sure your method of
transport can accept the large side of the print, as you
wouldn't want to damage it!
Photocopying
We offer a black & white and colour photocopying
service. Although it uses the same equipment as Digital
printing, it requires an operator to supervise the job at
all times, and because of this, costs more than Digital
printing. Maximum size if A3, although a white border will
appear around the edge.
PRINT FINISHING
This term applies to the processes which
happen after the job is printed, and have briefly been
covered above in bold. Here we'll explain
a little more.
Numbering
This is the process of applying numbers to your job. You
may have tickets or gift vouchers that you would like to
individually number. Numbering can also appear more than
once on each item, although this must be the same number,
for example on a book of tickets where there will be a
prize draw. One number appears on the ticket itself, and
the same number is printed on the stub. Litho printing will
allow for numbers only to be printed, since it is a
mechanical process, and only at a set size. This is a
finishing process as it happens after the job is printed.
Digital printing on the other hand is computerised, and so
letters and roman numeral can be used instead of just
numbers. It can do this is a variety of fonts and sizes,
and better still, does this at the same time of printing,
saving time and money.
Personalisation
Similar to numbering, this is a way of
individualising a project. Aimed mainly at mailshots,
different data can be printed on each sheet. This is
commonly seen on "junk mail" where your name and address
are printed on the letter. The database can contain other
information, such as a customised price structure for
different clients. This can be incorporated either at
database level, or at the time of printing the data to
include name and address as well. With Litho printed job,
this is normally done with laser or inkjet printers by a
mailing house. However, we can offer this facility at the
same time as we print your Digital job, as with numbering
above, to save time and money.
Mounting
This applies mainly to poster prints for exhibition or
reception display, to make the print stand out more, both
visually and physically. There are two types of material.
Foamboard and plastic. The foamboard is cheaper and
lighter, but is not as rigid as the plastic. Foam is ideal
for an exhibition or for mounting in a reception for
example, where people or objects will not easily damage it.
Plastic is ideal for displays which will be moved
frequently to reduce the risk of damage.
Laminating
This isn't restricted to exhibition work. It can be used
with very good effect of business cards and flyers, either
Litho or Digitally printed. It is also available in a gloss
and matt version. Gloss adds a luxurious feel to flyers
whilst the matt finish sets off a business card nicely. It
will also thicken the item slightly. The bad news is that
the laminate will alter the colour of your work, generally
making everything darker. If your job is to be laminated,
it is worth bearing this in mind at the design stage.
Encapsulating
Where laminating is applied to the printed work prior to it
being trimmed down to the correct size, encapsulating does
this in reverse. Your project will be cut to the right size
before being surrounded with this glossy plastic coating.
It will stick together around the edge of your job forming
a clear plastic border. This small area can be used for
fixing the project to a wall with a staple gun for example.
UV Varnish
A glossy varnish is applied to certain areas
of your job, where as laminating will cover the entire
area. This can be used to good effect to highlight
particular areas of your project such as a company logo or
photographic images. It will shine in the light, and you
will immediately feel a difference if you were to run your
finger over it. Regarded as the ultimate in luxury, UV
Varnish is commonly used over the top of a matt lamination
to add to the effect. The varnish area can be completely
different to what is printed beneath it. The black side of
our business card is an example of this.
Thermography
This is a similar idea to UV Varnish and can only be
applied to Litho printed jobs. The reason is that when the
ink is still a little wet, the project is fed through a
machine where a clear powder resin is sprinkled over it.
Where the ink is wet, the resin sticks. It then passes a
heater where the resin melts and eventually appears at the
other end with raised glossy areas. This area is normally
an areas that has been printed such as a logo or even
everything that has been printed. It's also normally used
on stationery but can be applied to other small items. It
should also be noted that as it is a melting process rather
than a printed process, the texture is uneven, like a
hammered effect, or indeed the cheese on your toast! Other
considerations are that you can only apply this effect to
one side of a sheet; it too will affect the appearance of
the colour; and is hardly noticeable on small areas such as
small or fine text.
Embossing
This can be used to great effect on wedding stationery or
document and brochure covers. Dies is made where the sheet
is sandwiched between them and pressure applied to either
raise or lower an area of the project. Shapes on wedding
stationery are often used as are text and images on covers.
The material used need to be as thick as possible for the
best effect. The embossed areas can also be printed areas
for a greater visual impact and even
foiled.
Die-Cutting
Not every job is square or rectangular. You can customise
the shape of the project with die cutting. The most popular
uses for this are document wallets with flaps that fold
inward, and windows cut out from document covers. In these
examples we are cutting the required shape from the sheet
and also cutting the waste from a sheet. It doesn't have to
cut a shape out. Die cutting can be used for making slits
in objects for holding other items such as business cards
or CDs in document wallets.
Scoring and Creasing
Continuing with the idea of a document
wallet, it will need to be folded once printed and cut to
size. On materials of about 150gsm or less, such as
takeaway menus, these can be folded (creased) on a machine
without too much trouble. However there are times when the
project will need to be scored first before it is folded.
Such examples are the use of thicker materials, as the
document wallet would be; projects where a fold needs to go
in a printed area to prevent it image from flaking off; and
where the direction of the paper's grain will cause the
paper to crack and look untidy and unprofessional, more
often seen on leaflets of 170gsm or similar.
Foiling
Arguably, this is a printing process, where a metallic foil
is printed on a project. However, it is usually applied
once a project has been printed by another method, usually
Litho. Unlike a metallic ink, its reflective properties are
far superior. It can be applied to Digital projects,
although if the positioning of the foil is accurate, this
may cause a problem as Digital printing can vary by up to
1mm across a sheet. It can also be used on Screen printed
projects. Other metallics apart from gold and silver are
becoming available. This process is often used to good
effect on Christmas cards and wedding stationery.
Comb & Wire Binding
Apart from staples (stitches) to bind your project
together, there are other methods that you can choose. Both
of these methods see numerous holes drilled along the spine
area where either a plastic comb or metallic wire feeds
through. Comb binding is common in offices which produce a
number of documents on an ad-hoc basis for presentations
for example. Normally, a thicker material is used for the
front and back covers and sometimes a clear plastic
(acetate) cover added for additional protection. Not as
strong or professional looking a wire, it is quicker,
cheaper and more cost effective for smaller quantities.
Both come is various thicknesses depending on the thickness
of your project. Both methods are available in a range of
colours. For comb binding projects we will automatically
choose a colour on your behalf to suit the cover/content of
the project.
