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Creators can use many different types of printing. This guide shows you how and when to use them.
Today, creators can use many different types of printing. Printing has a long history in the dissemination and distribution of innovative ideas, and it is still popular today.
In this guide, we introduce some of the most common printing methods preferred by artists and designers, and outline which methods they are suitable for. If you want to print posters, art images, billboards or even magazines, please find the relevant printing method here.
Despite fears that digital publishing will once again shake up the sharing of text and images, reports of the death of printed matter have been greatly exaggerated. Printed materials are popular because of their unique touch. Therefore, if you want to participate in new discoveries in printing, please explore these famous methods.
You might also want to check out our beginner’s guide to basic art supplies, or our tutorial group on painting.
For creatives who want to make works of art, Lino printing is a great entry-level technology. It involves engraving the image on linoleum, covering the raised areas in the ink, and pressing the substrate (the surface on which the ink will stick, usually paper) on top of it.
You can get all the materials you need to get started at a reasonable price from any good art store, and even the most basic tools can create impressive effects. Different scoring knives can be added to the kit for unique marking, although only narrow blades need to be selected.
One thing to keep in mind when scoring a design as lino is that you are creating a mirror image of the picture, so you need to engrave the letters backwards. Also remember that only the raised areas of the linoleum can transfer ink. To learn more about lino printing, including more information about the basic tools you need, see our introduction to lino printing.
Screen printing is still a popular method of transferring designs to fabrics (especially T-shirts). The printing process involves pressing the paint through the screen with a squeegee, which has stencil holes to allow the paint to pass through at the desired position.
Through careful planning and clever design, multiple colors can be superimposed through screen printing to create stunning images. Each color requires its own screen, but even monochrome printing is very eye-catching.
To project the design, you need to apply a photosensitive emulsion on the screen and then expose it to ultraviolet light. The local printing studio should provide you with these facilities.
Offset printing is one of the most common methods for printing materials such as newspapers and magazines. In this process, the inked image seen is transferred from the printing plate to the blanket, and then finally to the printing surface itself. These rubber blankets are wrapped in a series of cylinders, and paper is continuously passed through them.
Given that it requires the use of professional printing techniques, offset printing is not as easy to obtain as some of the techniques on the list. Usually, it is used for high-volume printing, and its setup cost will soon be offset by the number of single pieces you can print (pun intended).
Similar to lithography, letterpress printing will see raised areas covered by ink and then transferred to the substrate. Historically, images and letters were arranged by typewriters and locked in pursuit.
As a method of printing newspapers, letterpress printing has been popular until it was replaced by offset printing in the middle of the 20th century. But despite being replaced, it has found new life in the art world.
Today, letterpress printing contrasts sharply with the perfection of digital printing and offset printing, and is a way to add weird humor to your work. Printing studios and letterpress printing shops can help you with this process. If you want to try this technique, the small craft shops on Main Street usually sell cheap printing plates.
Flexographic printing is essentially a modern version of letterpress printing. The flexographic printing plate is installed on a series of cylinders in a similar manner to offset printing, and the substrate is then passed through. Different printing plates are used for each color, and these colors are used to create messages or images.
Flexographic printing is also suitable for medium and long printing. Dedicated equipment may take creativity beyond the scope of the short-term testing process, but if you choose to investigate flexographic printing, please rest assured that this is a cost-effective printing method that can produce results quickly.
Unlike traditional methods (including photolithography and offset printing), digital printing does not require a printing plate. Instead, digitize the desired image to control the deposition of ink, toner, and exposure.
For creatives, one of the biggest advantages of digital printing is the customization features it provides. This process can also produce higher-quality prints from lower-quality images. And because there is no need to create a printing plate, digital printing can be a cost-effective and easy-to-use way for creatives to realize their ideas on the page.
3D printing is suitable for engraving and product design. With the aid of CAD, materials can be added layer by layer to create the desired shape. Although 3D printing is a relatively new thing in the printing field, it has come a long way in recent years and can now provide incredible results.
One of the main obstacles for creatives seeking to explore 3D printing to enter the market is access to the printer technology itself. When preparing for the 3D printing job, we have considered what you need to keep in mind, so if you want to print or outsource it to an expert, please keep these in mind.
As the name suggests, monochrome printing is a method of printing an image only once. This is in contrast to the other printing techniques on this list, which are suitable for producing multiple prints. Although this is undoubtedly a disadvantage, it allows the artist to create with a certain degree of spontaneity.
Monochrome printing is the simplest printing method in this guide, mainly used to print simple artwork onto paper or textiles. Usually, a piece of plexiglass is covered by a thin layer of ink, with the material on top. They are then covered on the substrate and rolled through a press to transfer the image.
Unlike lino prints, which engrave an image on a lino paper and can be copied multiple times, monochrome printing is one-time because the printing elements must be arranged and inked each time. This means that if you are careful, you can make two prints that look similar, but they will never be exactly the same.
Despite its limitations, it is a very easy-to-use printing method and a fun way to dip your toes into the printing world. Prints can be produced very quickly, and because of its flexibility, it encourages experimentation, which can be transferred to other methods, such as photolithography.
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