Lorenzos Print Workshop

In this workshop we were told about the several different ways of printing. Rotary Printing, Digital printing, Screen Printing & Pad Printing.

Rotary Printing
In this process the image printing plates are wrapped around a cylinder. This is an automated print process and the material to be printed can be sheet fed or on a roll.
The 3 main types of rotary printing are Offset Lithography, (Litho) Rotogravure (Gravure) Flexography (Flexo)

Offset Lithography (Litho)

Etched aluminium plates wrapped around a cylinder
transfer ink to an ‘offset’ rubber blanket roller and then to print surface. Sheet fed or Web fed.

Rotogravure (Gravure)
Copper plates (with mirror image) transfer ink directly to print surface, usually on rolls.
Advantage, plates are more durable and so are good for long print runs.

Flexography (Flexo)

A positive, mirror image rubber polymer plate, on a cylinder, transfers ‘sticky’ ink directly to print surface. Usually roll feed.

Digital printing
The reproduction of images by
translating the digital code direct from a computer to a material without an intermediate physical process.

Screen Print
A printmaking technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink
blocking stencil!.

Pad Printing
A printing process that can transfer a 2-D image onto a
3-D object.!

Different examples of print through print viewed  through linen testers, this is a relly intesting thing to do you can see the different quality of the print processes for example flexography onto a crisp packet is not 'crisp' at all, due to the desposeable nature of the product it must be  cheap to manufacture.