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How Does Offset Printing Work

By Cesar Tan

Most organizations require a printing service on a regular basis, whether it is for marketing purposes or for internal communication. Offset printing is the most frequently used printing technology and knowing about it is therefore helpful and important.

Offset printing is so well known among printing service companies and customers because for large quantities, it turns out to be cheaper than alternative methods. That is why for bulk orders any good printing company would advise you to opt for offset printing.

This printing technique uses oil-based ink, which the water can not dissolve. Its name comes from the fact that in this process, images are not transported directly from the plates to the paper but this is done using rubber blankets as a medium.

The process begins by preparing the designs. Film negatives were employed in the past for making images and then copying them to aluminum based printing plates. In the current times, the printers can use the image setting system for preparing the plates directly. The next step is to attach the plate on to a cylinder in the right manner. Thereafter water, and then ink, is spread on the image plates. The ink is poured over the image and to restrict it from overflowing, a thin layer of water is put over the remaining part of the plate.

The image is then taken from the plates to the rubber blanket spun on another cylinder, so that it is reversed. The image is then printed with its correct side looking up by cutting sheets of papers into correct size and putting them on a third cylinder.

The work of printing is completed by the printing company by consolidating the printed sheets using staples or glue or in any other way as per the requirements of the client.

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