So, you are brimming with artistic written content and ideas. You want to officially share this content for the world to see and read. Have you thought about publishing this content in a quarterly released magazine? It is a great and a brilliant idea for your business.
However, there are the basic aspects which you need to learn about the publication printing process. This is imperative before your impulse tells you to dive right in and fall too deep.
You do not just walk in a publication printing house and get your magazines printed. You need this basic understanding of how the process works so that you know where to place everything. This means knowing what content or photo to ensure the success of every page in your magazine.
The publication printing process is no easy feat for the creative and technical people working behind a publication printing business. They go through extensive planning and long hours of discussion.
Making sure that everything is clear and accurate via communication and coordination with the clients. This is a must before they go ahead and get those printing machines rolling.
Technology has introduced so many printing processes to the world of publication, and it continues to evolve. So here are the five leading and most commonly used publication printing processes.
1. Offset Lithography
Considered the most cost-effective and time-efficient publication printing process, offset printing is fit for printing on paper, plastic or even the thicker cardboard. This technique is used for printing broadsheets, stationaries, books, and magazines.
In the offset publication printing process, your magazine goes through three major processes. Namely, they go through plate making, wetting, and then inking. Basically, layouts are created and made into plates which are then run through water and ink thereafter.
The ink sticks to the areas with images and characters while the water repels them and thus imprints to the blank spaces. This phase of the procedure is very precise. There is not a drop of ink that adheres outside of the colored areas, i.e., those with letters and photos, among other elements.
There is one downside though to this publication printing process and it can be found in its use of plates. Layouts on plates are permanent and cannot be edited. So, be decisive on the layout, designs and content of your magazine. Else, your sudden changes may defeat the purpose of offset printing being time and cost effective. There is no easy way to tweak and alter them. You will need to have an entirely new plate or variety of plates made.
2. Digital Printing
The most favored publication printing process, digital printing also has its share of time-efficiency. It is a very quick computer to printer procedure without the need of plates. It also boasts of the high quality images it produces which make it ideal and very suitable to use for glossy magazines.
So, you get your publication out of the printer quick and easy but at a slightly higher fee. This is because of the ink and paper used in this printing process are key to making the content clear and not allowing them to smear or smudge.
If you cannot make up your mind as to where to place a certain photo on a page, editing its position is easy with the use of a computer. Computers used for editing are ideally of excellent quality to ensure that the shade of green that registers on the screen will be the exact same kind of color once out of the printer.
3. Letterpress
Used to be the more popular printing process and the standard even, letterpress is starting to die out. These days letterpress printing is widely used for printing for and on special items.
Some of these include calling cards, tickets, club membership cards and stamped invitation letters. Declining fast in popularity and use, it is much far behind the other processes in terms of technological advancement.
However, the letterpress technique can still very well function for printing of books, posters and magazines.
4. Modern Flexography
Flexo printing can be described as a revised version of letterpress. Only, flexo is more versatile owing to its use of photo-etched plates which bring the ink right onto the page with colored images and characters. If letterpress is almost on its way out of the publication printing process, flexo is the exact opposite.
Through technological advances in its platemaking, flexo printing is expanding its reach. This style used to be confined to printing specialty products and thus it is fast progressing as a popular printing process option.
5. Rotogravure
High cost and capable of high quality prints like digital printing but this technique uses plates. This gravure printing process involves the direct contact between the photo-etched plates and the paper.
This technique allows for the production of brilliant photograph-like prints that may as well work best for magazines. The use of plates directly touching the paper allows for accurate distribution of ink over the colored images and characters. Hence, it results in a very sharp appearance on page after printing.
Now That You Know the Different Techniques in Publication Printing Process…
If you are planning on printing a publication in bulk, a magazine to be specific, note the advantages and disadvantages of the publication printing processes. Know what you want to begin with.
How do you desire your magazine to appear? Consider the content thoroughly first. Is your magazine heavily loaded with images requiring high quality and precise procedures for their production? Then you will need a high-quality print. Are written words mostly what take up the spaces inside your magazine? Then you might prefer letterpress even though it isn’t as popular. How fast do you want for the production to be? Note the time it will take to make and print.
Settle your wants and necessities for your magazine publication. Certainly, there is one publication printing process that is able to provide for your demands.
Check out Shweiki Media, find out about the cost to print magazines in large quantities and get a quote free of charge.