1. Due to the different types of originals or different printing purposes, different methods of plate making must be used to be economical and effective, and faithfully reproduce original color tones, or even beautify and increase rhyme.
2. Printing plates generally include four types: relief or typography plate, planography or lithography, intaglio or gravure, and silk screen or porous.
(3) Reliefs, where the printed part is raised, the printing ink is stained with ink, and the unprinted part is low, so that the printing ink is not stained with ink. Toppan has Block Plate, Movable Type, Photoengraving, Duplicate Plate, and Electronic Engraving. The characteristics of letterpress, in the printing process, found errors, there is the opportunity to correct at any time, strong ink expression, a large number of printing or a small amount of printing are appropriate, it is mostly used to print books, newspapers, magazines, cards, stationery and the like .
4. The lithographer has an embossed part and a non-imprinted part, and maintains the same level on the plate surface. The embossed part absorbs the ink and repels moisture. The non-printed part absorbs water. In contrast, printing ink is rejected because water and fat cannot be mixed and they are dialed back. The lithographic plate is divided into three categories: Surface Plate, Deep-Etch Plate, and Dry Offset Plate. The features of the lithography are rapid in plate making, layout is large, color printing is convenient, and the cost is low. Although the printing capacity and expressive ability are slightly inferior to the letterpress, the printing range is the widest, and books, newspapers, and magazines can be printed, but the general picture And color prints, several are all printed by the lithographer.
5. Intaglio, the printed part is sunk to store ink, and the non-printed part is a plane. The ink on the plane must be erased so that no ink is left, and the printing presses the substrate. In the above, the printing is completed by sucking the ink on the paper in contact with the ink in the depression. Gravure is divided into En-graving Plate, Electroplating and Photogravure. The characteristics of gravure are particularly strong in ink. Although the plate making is difficult, the printed products are beautiful. Therefore, it is mostly used for printing notes, stamps, stocks and other securities and artwork. Because its ink layer is higher than the paper surface, photocopying is difficult and it has the function of preventing counterfeiting. Photogravure has also been used in many commercial printing applications such as newspapers, magazines and packaging materials in recent years.
6. Hole version, formerly known as screen printing or printing, is a special brush. The ink is pressed from the front side of the printing plate through the holes of the printing plate, and printed on the substrate of the back (lower side) of the printing plate. According to the plate-making edition, the editions for writing holes, typing holes, stamping holes, and photographic holes, etc., are the same as ordinary mimeographs. The stencil is suitable for the printing of special surfaces such as curved surfaces, rough surfaces, smooth surfaces, metal surfaces, non-metallic surfaces, cloth, wood, bottles, cans, hoses, and the like.
7. Future printing may not require a print version. Such as electrostatic printing, inkjet printing, laser printing, etc., has now begun to put into practice.
Source: Chinese Printing Community