There are many types of printing methods available and they continue to evolve. Each printing method has a different process and suits different needs, meaning that businesses can choose the printing technique that best highlights their product and service.
Printing is something that has been around since before 220 AD. The oldest printing method is Woodcut; this method refers to carving an image onto a wooden surface.
Instead of manual printing, you can choose from a variety of techniques available for printing due to advancements in technology. Here are the most well-known methods for printing:
- Offset Printing
- Digital Printing
- Large Format
- Screen Printing
- 3D Printing
Offset Printing
Offset Printing involves printing plates that are made up of aluminum, these plates hold an image of the content that needs to be printed. Offset printing is a prevalent method for mass production printing.
These plates are shifted (offset) onto rubber or rollers blankets before going onto the print methods. The printing media doesn’t meet the metal plates, which extends the life of metal plates.
Offset printing creates a high-quality image and can make use of it for small and high volume print jobs.
Digital Printing
Digital printing is a modern printing method that covers a variety of techniques, including inkjet printing and laser. The images are directly sent to the printer using digital files such as PDFs, in digital printing. This printing process terminates the use of printing plates that require offset printing. You can save a lot of time and money with digital printing unless the printing is not in large numbers.
Large Format
As the name itself suggests, large format printing exists to fabricate maximum print. This method is the best suit for a bigger printing area to work on, as opposed to other methods such as digital printing.
Rather than printing onto an individual sheet, large format printing uses rolls of prints to produce one large sheet.
Large format printing is the best option for building wraps, billboards, banners, and murals. Other printing methods are not the best suit for printing such large materials.
Screen Printing
Screen printing is a hand-based method. It uses screen/films for passing the designs or patterns onto the fabric. A stencil and a nylon mesh are used in screen printing to transfer the design. The material is used to block the space of your fabric on which the design is going to print. Then this blocked area is swamped with the ink. However, the wooden squeegee is used to work the color through the screen to the fabric.
Through screen printing, you can print the light as well as dark colors on the fabric with the same intensity. The designs created are long-lasting. This printing method is best for bulk orders.
3D Printing
3D printing is additive manufacturing. In this process, the 3-dimensional objects are produced by a computer file, where parts are built by adding material layer by layer.
Today the 3D printing process is embraced by a variety of industries as it gives more advantages than subtractive manufacturing and injection modeling.
There are many different printing methods available to print. Each printing method has a different process, and the suitability of the method differs from product to product or requirement. In this article, we have outlined the five best and commonly used printing methods based on their process, hope you liked it. Read related articles.
