MyPrintingTutorials.com-Printing Tutorials Offset Printing Digital Printing A Guide to Offset and Digital Printing

Novadom plates are manufactured in India by Technova. The plates come in Legal, B4 and A3 sizes. They are polyester based plates output through a laser printer such as Hp 5200 laser printer. They may be output through a photocopier also but the result may not be that good. They are ideal for short run spot color printing.

We have been using Novadom plates for a couple of years and they are basically the only alternative to metal plates. They are very cheap compared to the metal ones which comes in about Rs. 60 or 70 per plate. Novadom plates in legal size are available in packets of hundred for under Rs.750/- per packet. The B4 and A3 sizes comes under Rs.15 per plate.

Novadom plates are known as Smart Plate in the US. They are distributed there by Hurst Chemical Company. These plates have the limitations of common laser printer plates  that I discussed in my post under “Difficulties With Laser Polyester Plates.”

Posted under Offset Printing

Autoprint is a mini offset printing machine manufacturer based in Coimbatore in India. It has received several awards for excellence in printing machine manufacturing in India. It may be safe to consider that it is now the best manufacturer in India when it comes to mini offset machines.

At our press we have one single color Autoprint Knight Offset Machine with the optional Kompac Dampening. This is the best single color mini offset machine that Autoprint has to offer at present. We use the machine daily for producing color printing materials. The Knight machine is quite suitable for multicolor jobs in runs within a thousand or two. It has two inking form rollers with a total of 15 ink rollers. The cost of the machine with the kompac dampening system comes under Rs. 800,000/- in India along with all taxes.

Autoprint has come out with its new two color mini offset machine, Autoprint Dion 250. This is a replacement to the Knight 250 CB which was introduced for a short period and withdrawn from the market due to some technical problems. I am yet to receive information on this new product because the sales have really not started at present. The Autoprint Dion is under Rs. 1,500,000 in India.

It may be remembered that Autoprint had ambitiously launched a mini offset four color machine in the Indian market some one or two years back but it failed due to problems such as registration issues. Hopefully they will come out with a good replacement soon. Autoprint is a name that you can rely upon. Their country wide support is excellent with sufficient engineers all over the nation.

Posted under Offset Printing

TechNova is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of digital & analog offset printing plates; printing chemicals; and inkjet, laser and drafting media. It is primarily based in India but their products are available in many countries through their authorized dealers.

In Drupa 2008, Technova launched their Metal CTP System, Metijet and Metijet Plus. Metijet is imaged on an inkjet printer such as Epson 7880 at maximun 120 lpi and then it is baked for a few minutes before being mounted on the press. Metijet Plus, on the other hand, is imaged on the Epson Printer and then it is exposed on an exposing machine before being processed and mounted on the press. It is capable of holding 150 lines per inch.

Currently, Technova’s Polyjet system consists of Polyester CTP and Film to Plate system. The Polyester CTP plates are known as Polyjet Plates which are imaged on the Epson Printer and then baked for a few minutes and thereafter transfered to the press for printing. They hold good registration and fine halftone reproduction. The only difficulty is that the right temperature for baking is hard to get in the beginning. A linearization file has to be applied to get correct output from the inkjet printer.

Technova’s film to plate system includes the InstaDry film. The film holds excellent registration and gives good four color printing plates for the press. They come around 90% close to imagesetters. This film is also imaged on an Epson Printer.

The Epson Printers offered by Technova along with the system are available in 17″ and above widths. The software used is Technova’s Polyrip which is really the Open Rip software.

Technova’s Polyjet System comes under Rs. 600,000 for the 24 inches width Epson printer. The price may have increased now as this is the price that I received one or two years back.

Posted under Offset Printing

a) Background Tint and Unwanted Specks – One of the most common problem with laser polyester plates is background toning caused by toner scatter from the laser printer on the plates. This problem becomes acute when the printer is running out of toner. Printing a few blank pages can help solve some cases where the toning is caused by dirt deposited inside the printer. Blank pages should also be run through the printer after a paper jam to clean the printer.

b) Misregistration – Registration is critical for jobs which demand more than one colour. If two colors are to be printed then two master plates have to be printed, one for each of the colors. Now the colors have to be printed on the plate such that their placement is accurate. Laser printers perform poorly in this. Exceptions are some high end laser printers such as Xante’s Platemaker series. These printers perform exceptionally well with polyester plates but both the plates and the printers are more expensive than the ones we get from vendors like HP for printers and Technova or Hurst Chemicals for plates. Xante uses its own plates known as Myriad Plates. Inkjet plates perform better in registration issues as the plates tend to be more stable and there is no heat as in the case of laser technology which might affect the plates.

c) Poor Printing of Solids – Areas in plates where there are a heavy concentration of a particular ink are known as solid areas. Laser printers again fail in this test too.

d) Stretching of Plates while Running in an Offset Machine – This is yet another problem which occurs with most of the laser plates.

e) Long Runs not Possible : Laser plates are limited to short run production usually in a few thousands. The toner on the plates tends to come off after some thousand impressions.

f) Laser Plates are Use and Throw : Laser plates are difficult for reuse as the toner comes off the plate after one time use.

Posted under Offset Printing

a) Adobe Indesign or QuarkXPress – These are the best page layout software. You may choose either one of the two. They have a lot of features for designing a magazine or brochure or book.

b) Adobe Photoshop – Editing of photos is best done in Photoshop. It is best for photos to be scaled and rotated before placing them in a page layout software. The dpi for the photos should be about twice the lpi at which it would be printed. If suppose the photos are to be printed in Offset at 150 lpi then they should be at a resolution of 300 dpi.

c) Corel Draw and Illustrator – These software can create files in vector format. They are good especially for creating logos.

Posted under Offset Printing

a) Concept development of the item to be printed

b) Designing of the matter to be printed in software such as Adobe Indesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Coreldraw or Pagemaker.

c) Printing of Proof Copies

If using Polyester Plates

d (i) Printing of the polyester master plates like the Hurst Plates or Novadom Plates from Technova from a laser printer or photocopier. Laser printer quality exceeds that of a photocopier.

(ii) Baking of the plates using a baking oven if necessary.

If using film and Metal Plates

d (i) Printing of the film in an imagesetter or laser printer. Laser printer film is of lower quality.

(ii) Exposing of plates in a plate exposure machine

(iii) Developing of plates in a plate processor machine or by hand using developer and a sponge.

If using CTP

d (i) Printing of the plates using a CTP device

(ii) Developing of the plates if necessary

After the plates have been prepared

e) Mounting of plates and paper in the offset machine and starting the printing process.

f) Trimming, gathering, and binding of the printed products.

Posted under Offset Printing

Posted under Offset Printing