Types of Printing

The process of printing is fascinating and interesting and, to some degree, a mystery to most people. Here, briefly (and thanks to the folks at "How Stuff Works"), we'll talk about types of printing processes.

There are nine main types of printing processes:

• Offset lithography is the workhorse of printing.
• Engraving is used for fine stationery.
• Thermography relies on raised printing, used in stationery.
• Reprographics is typical copying and duplicating.
• Digital printing has become very common and is high quality able to be used for short runs.
• Letterpress is like what the original Guttenberg process relied upon.
• Screen printing is used for T-shirts and billboards.
• Flexography is usually used on packaging, such as can labels.
• Gravure is used for huge runs of magazines and direct-mail catalogs and relies on large presses and complex processes.

Each, as we have noted, has a special application. We'll cover the specifics of each process in upcoming posts.

The Executive Pressman