The Changing Face of Graphic Design

For the most part the printing industry consists of two separate areas of expertise.
• Those who run the presses (i.e. the printers)
• Those who supply the work (i.e. graphic designers)
Since the 1980’s the work of graphic designers has evolved from the mechanical assembly of the basic layout, into which the printers photographic department placed the relevant images, to the production of digital files that contain absolutely everything needed for the job.
Digitization has been a major development in the industry, yet while methods used to produce digital files continue to evolve at high speed, the designer and the printer have generally remained within their own traditionally defined areas of expertise.
The Result:Most of the printing process remains a mystery to the people who need to understand it the most—the designers.

Graphic Design: a two part industry made up of:
• designers
• printers

What we don’t know CAN hurt us

As designers a lack of understanding about the print production process and the methods used to produce printed material can leave us with very unsettled thoughts about the outcome of our work once it leaves our hands.
Fear of an Unknown Outcome comes from:
• lack of understanding
• methods of production
• digital technology
Typical “Gray Areas” for Graphic Designers:
Being aware of and understanding these terms can help you to prepare work in a manner that could save you time and money on every job you prepare for press.
• image calibration
• dot gain
• RGB vs CMYK
• screen clash
• trapping

The PDF file (surfaced in the 2000s)
Initially thought of as a solution to the “gap” between designers and printers, this particular advance in technology, only seemed to cause more problems.
• negative for designers (leaving more responsibility to us)
• a positive for printers (no more messy files to manage)

From the beginning:

Letterpress Printing Technique
(the act of inking letters and pressing to paper)
• wood
• movable type —clay type (China 1041) —metal type (Europe 1440)
• type used with illustration (1461)
• variable character styles (1476)

Photographic Process (came with the invention of photography 1830’s)
• introduction of the film based process
• brought about the new use of images
• created a desire to move away from wood cuts
• halftones evolved (1890)
The following illustrates the process of generating a halftone from a continuous tone image:

Halftones: used to create the illusion of gray
A. light reflected through the original image travels through a screen
B. this produces halftone dots of various sizes on a sheet of film
C. the image in film is transferred to a plate using a contact exposure
D. the plate is process and thus usable in print

Typographic Advances
• IBM Selectric
(typewriter / golf ball head)
• rub-down type
• phototypesetting machines
• CRT and HTML
• linotype
(came as a single character set NOT font family)
FYI: Something to consider, in the days of linotype and compugraphic phtotypesetters, a SINGLE font film strip cost around $165!

Computer Fonts
• bitmap fonts / type
(single fixed resolution; new type size meant new font file; i.e. NOT scalable

• postscript / type 1 fonts
(developed by adobe; vector based; consisted of two files– one for the screen image and one for the printer; these are NOT cross-platform)

• truetype fonts
(scaleable vector outlines; made from a single digital file — not two separate as with postscript; not truely as “clean” as postscript, but only noticeable at larger sizes)

• opentype fonts
(these ARE cross platform; use a single font file for all outline, metric and bitmap data)

Film technology and Lithographic Printing Technique

Two main elements:
• film / film processor
• plates / plate processor

Based on the photographic process
• documents are printed to film using a film processor
• images are transfered to light sensitive plates using the photographic process
• plates are is processed and installed on the press
• exposed plates attract oil based substances and their backgrounds attract water

film stripping consists of:
• assembling film
• putting film to plate
• vacuum sealing
• exposing to light
Clearly this process can be extensive, time consuming and to say the least expensive when it comes to making changes.
Traditionally when films were more common, the most utilized process for checking proper separation was the blueline proof.

plates there are two types
• Negative Plates
(generally used in the US and can be preserved using gum arabic to de-sensitize to light)

•Positive Plates (European and NOT re-usable)

Filmless technology and Lithographic Printing Technique

available locally, at Richardson Printing Company Also known as Computer to Plate (CTP). With this technique there is:
• no need for film
• no need for film stripper(s)
• no need for processing chemicals

the result:
• minimized time
• reduced dot gain
• near perfect registration

Filmless AND Plateless Printing Technique

available locally, at Premier Printing Also know as Direct Imaging (DI) With this process plates are imaged right on the press there is:
• no film
• no film stripping
• no film processing / processor
• no plate processing

the result:
• faster turn around
• more affordable printing

Digital Printing Technique

available locally, at Hyde Brothers PrintingThis technology is similar that of a laser printer. The images are created electrostatically on a drum thus making them easily changeable. With this process:
• there is toner / not ink
• there is no film
• there are no plates

the result:
• very affordable
• lower quality
• unique impressions

The Offset Litho Process

Offset lithography consists of these basic steps:
1. paper is loaded onto the press
2. a series of suckers feed the press one sheet at a time
3. grippers grab and pull each sheet into and through the press
4. color is added one one ink unit at a time
5. the paper is released and stacked at the other end of the press

Different Projects / Different Presses

Presses vary in size and are often referred to by the number of inking units on them. (i.e. two color-, four color-, and six color-, units) Likewise, each type of press is ideally suited for particular jobs.
• two color units (smaller runs / stationery / business cards)
• six color units (larger more complex pieces / brochures)

Below is an illustration borrowed from our text “Getting it Right in Print” showing the way the rollers / ink unit works on a offset litho printing press. For each color on the press there will be one of these units:

the ink
• at the top there is an ink trough
• in the ink trough there is a single roller that turns slightly ever few seconds
• behind it is another roller which jumps forward to touch it
• this second roller transfers a long bead of ink to a third roller
• the ink travels through a series of rollers / the inking system
• eventually the ink is delivered to the surface of the plate

the dampening system
• located behind the plate cylinder
• consists of a smaller cluster of rollers
• covers the background of the plate with pH balanced solution (mostly water)

the blanket cylinder(hence the word “offset”)
• located beneath the plate cylinder
• wrapped with a soft canvas backed sheet of rubber
• picks up the image from the plate
• and transfers it to the paper

the impression cylinder
• located beneath the blanket cylinder
• presses the paper against the blanket to pick up the ink
• the image is the result

the stop bar
• located at the other end of the press after the last unit
• catches the paper as it is released from the grippers
• the sheets are stacked and hit with set-off (cornstarch)

Web Offset Litho Printing

Basically the same as sheet-fed litho (described above), but on a much larger scale.
• prints continuous roll of paper (hence the word “web”)
• capable of incredible speed
• prints both sides of the paper at once
• has an inline finishing unit (folding / cutting / binding)
• uses infra-red or propane dryers between each inking unit
exception: newsprint web press uses cold-set inks, made to dry quickly on super absorbent stock—like newsprint
• inks are thinner (resulting in increased dot-gain)

Flexography or Flexographic Printing

Mainly used for packaging. this technology is locally available at Premier Priniting Also often used for labels. Characteristics of this technology are:
• plates are like a mold or stamp
• plates are able to give with the pressure applied (major dot gain)
• registration tends to be very loose
• capable of printing on non-absorbent surfaces

Screen Printing

Generally used in reproductions on cloth or clothing and physically large pages (as wide as 15 feet) on very small runs, this technique has the following characteristics:
• a metal frame with fine polyester mesh make up the screen
• ink is poured into the frame and forced through the screen
• not ideal for fine detail printing
• both manual and machine operated

Gravure

Commonly this is used to make banknotes or documents subject to forgery.
• plates are thicker than those used in offset
• plates are either diamond etched or laser etched
• the ink is thinner and is intended to fill the cells of the plate
• excess ink is continually wiped from the raised surface
• the result is a continuous tone
• not so good for type
• the very best for image reproduction
• extremely expensive production process
• suited best to extremely long press runs

Reading Assignment (PREP)

• TEXT: Getting it Right in Print; Chapter 2; pgs 19-24
• TEXT: Getting it Right in Print; Chapter 4; pgs 31-36
• TEXT: Getting it Right in Print; Chapter 15; pgs 127-132