kpbk

Press Printing: Then, Now and your 6 Color Printing Options

When you get the go signal to print your advertisements, consider having it printed in large quantities to get the most value for your money. Press printing is the most cost-effective way for large volume prints outputting the lowest cost per unit.

Press printing is a printing method that presses ink into paper using rubber rollers. It prints at high velocity with an output of as much as 6000-12000 pieces per hour. Also because the paper and ink is bought at very large bulk quantities, it comes out cheaper than in digital printing.

Full Color Press Printing Then and Now

� � It used to be that press printing is more commonly used for simple black-and-white items such as books and newspapers in large quantities.

� � Now they can now produce full colored materials with the same efficiency. Full color prints are broken up into four basic colors of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. Theoretically, combining the three colors (CMY) will produce black. In practice though, the combination of these three colors produce a muddy brown. So Black is added as a final color to produce the deep rich black.

� � Each color is prepared in a separate plate so that each sheet is printed on four times with a separate plate each time. The inks are made with semi-transparent material that is layered one on top of the other to make the full colored print we see.

� � Because the rollers impress a very thin layer of ink, the four layers of ink are thin enough to remain flat on the page without chapping or cracking.

Six Color Printing

Although these four colors provide the full color printing we see in most materials we see, advanced printing presses include two more � �colors� �.

� � Spot Colors � � Even though the CMYK can imitate a wide gamut of colors, there are some colors it cannot effectively mimic. And because unique company colors are important part of printed elements such as logos, company title, and slogan, the ink for this can be ordered separately.

This color can be specially ordered from the wider range of colors of the Pantone Matching Systems. Unlike the CMYK, Pantone inks are already pre-mixed, this means they are intended for solid objects of that color instead of being layered and mixed with the other colors. Metallic colors and other effects are also spot colors.

Adding pantone color is a custom service that will make your prints more expensive. The pantone color is unique to your print job and will be very unlikely to be used in other printing jobs. It also requires additional work that will add more to the price tag of your prints.

� � Finish � � The sixth color is the paper finish. Although the pigments in themselves are transparent, they affect the appearance of the color on paper. Inks printed with glossy coating appear brighter than ink printed on uncoated semi-gloss paper. Matte on the other hand absorbs more ink and gives the color a deeper duller look.

Press printing is ideal for your advertising materials. You can use it to print postcards or brochures to be mailed out, flyers to be handed out, posters to be hung, or even more complicated print jobs such as calendars and catalogs. With high quality printing and volume discounts, press printing gives you the best value for your money.

January 8, 2009 | kpbk.com | edit