Printing is done on three different levels. The three levels are, Micro, medium level and the last of all is macro. The first two are limited to the digital level and go as far as the use of colored lasers and digital printing. The real core of commercial printing is “offset printing”.
Offset printing is a technique that requires inked images to be pasted onto paper. It would not be wrong to say that the images are displaced, transferred to paper. When lithography is used as its combination, which is based on the repulsion of oil and water, a flat graphic image carrier receives ink from the ink rollers and while the non-printing area attracts a water-based film , called the source solution.
Now days; The image is taken directly from a computer by using different desktop publishing techniques. This saves costs and also time from a complete image evolution.
The other types of printing are:
Flexography:
In this the computer image is taken on a flexible material. The ink used here is water based and the image plate is made of rubber or polymeric material. In flexography, there is the ability to print images on paper, brown paper, packages, acetate film, plastic, cardboard boxes, wallpaper, etc. Because the ink is not oil based, it has the ability to dry quickly.
Engraving Printing:
In this printing, the lower roller sits on the ink source and the upper roller maintains the impression of the image to be printed. As it does so, a roll of paper is passed through the rolls, and the paper receives the image. Although this is an outdated method, gift wrap and magazines are still printed this way.
Thermography:
Thermography involves heating the paper and adding powder to the ink and the print is raised on the paper. It is often used on invitation cards, business cards, letterheads. Other materials used here depending on the job required are metallic rosin, rosin, glitter, varnish, pearlescent rosin, static rosin, high viscosity, laser safe powders.
They are all used in different combinations to produce different effects and make the print more attractive. This is how we get professionally printed posters, brochures, and other printed material we see out there.
The fact is that all this can also be done at home with a printer connected to your computer. But the cost of printing one page would be too high when it comes to mass printing. This is what makes commercial printing so popular that businesses can get their printing jobs done at a much lower cost.