The history of prepress

These pages give an overview of the history of prepress from 1984 onwards. For a more
elaborate list of events, click on one of the years in the lists below. This allows you to go
back to the days when phototypesetting took off and machines from Compugraphic,
Berthold or Scangraphic ruled the industry. If you are in a hurry or just want to enjoy the
pictures, watch the visual guide to prepress. Enjoy your visit to this virtual prepress
museum. Don’t forget to also visit the pages about the history of printing.

The eighties: desktop publishing takes over

In the early 80s many of the technologies that are still in use today first appear on the market.
IBM launches its Personal Computer. The Apple Lisa offers a first glimpse at the graphical
user interface that will later be made popular by the Macintosh.
In 1985 the Apple LaserWriter and Aldus PageMaker are thrown in the mix and the desktop
publishing revolution can start. A designer now has the possibility to create a full page design
using standard computers and off-the-shelf software. Linotype’s Linotronic assures high-
quality output on film or paper. Pretty soon other publishing applications appear for both Mac
and PC, closely followed by drawing programs such as Illustrator and freehand. Larger
screens, faster networking and improved support for peripherals through standards such as
SCSI make sure the market matures rapidly.
Artistically the new found freedom often leads to pages that contain at least a dozen different
fonts in two or three different typefaces, mixed with fairly low-resolution graphics.
Some of the highlights of the decade:
• 1980: The Ethernet specifications are published.
• 1981: The IBM PC legitimizes personal computers in the business market.
• 1982: Adobe is founded, Sony releases its first Trinitron monitor, Sun is incorporated.
• 1983: The Apple Lisa introduces the graphical user interface and mouse, Creo is
incorporated.
• 1984: The Apple Macintosh is launched, Adobe releases PostScript, Linotype introduces
the Linotronic 300 imagesetter.

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• 1985: The Apple LaserWriter and Aldus PageMaker start the desktop publishing revolution.

• 1986: Ventura Publisher appears on PC, Apple ships the Macintosh Plus, Radius make
the first Full Page Display.
• 1987: Quark launches QuarkXPress 1.0, Adobe Illustrator 1.0 ships, Linotype starts
making PostScript typefaces.

• 1988: NeXT starts selling the NeXTcube, Aldus releases FreeHand 1.0.

• 1989: Helios EtherShare is shown, CorelDRAW 1.0 ships.

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The nineties: the big wars are fought
Once desktop publishing becomes an established phenomenon, a few battles are fought
over some of its fundamentals.

• Traditional prepress vendors such as Crossfield, Scitex and Dainippon-Screen hope

to maintain their lead by using their expensive systems to put the final touches to
designs created on Mac. Aldus has already developed a technology called OPI to
facilitate such workflows. Things turn out differently as Macs and networks within a
few years become powerful enough to handle large files. CEPS systems quickly
disappear off the market.
• One of the traditional weaknesses of PostScript level 1 is its screening technology
which isn’t really suitable for 4-color jobs. In the screening wars vendors like Linotype-
Hell and Agfa try to win sales by offering improved or radically new screening
technologies such as stochastic screening.
• In the early nineties Adobe, Apple and Microsoft also fight over file formats. Adobe
looses its absolute control over font formats but manages to maintain PostScript as
the standard page description language.

In the early nineties the imagesetter market gradually moves from small 1-up devices to
larger systems that are capable of imaging an entire press sheet. In the second half of the
decade computer-to-plate technology starts taking over but it follows a different pattern: first
the 8-up (B1) market moves to CtP, then the even larger VLF (very large format) systems
while smaller systems only become popular in the first half of the new millennium.
Weak Apple management and the continuous efforts of Microsoft make PC’s an acceptable
alternatives to Macs in the second half of the nineties. A lot of back-end processes migrate
to the PC platforms, including most of the workflow systems that now enter the market. The
resurrection of Apple in 1998 makes a lot of designers stick to their Macs for the creative
side of things.
The enhanced power of hard- and software leads to more sophisticated designs. The wild
typography of some designs is no longer due to a lack of artistic insight but inspired by the
grunge movement. Easy to achieve effects, such as blends in QuarkXPress 2, occasionally
still take the design world by storm.
Some of the highlights of the decade:
• 1990: The Mac IIfx sets new speed records, Microsoft introduces Windows 3.0, Illustrator
3.0 ships, HQS screening gets rid of moiré.

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• 1991: Apple and Microsoft teamed up to launch TrueType, Adobe releases PostScript level
2, Photoshop 1.07 adds support for CMYK, the Fiery RIP for digital copiers is EFI’s first
product, the Heidelberg GTO-DI supports direct imaging technology.

• 1992: PDF 1.0 wins the ‘best of Comdex’ award, Apple ships the Quadra 950, Photo CD
has its 15 minutes of fame, Artwork Systems is founded.

• 1993: Screen launches TaigaSPACE, Agfa introduces Cristalraster, baby drum scanners
hit the market, digital presses like the Indigo E-Print 100 (see below) and Xeikon DCP-1
storm the market, Windows NT is ready to take on Unix, ICC is founded, IT8 test charts
appear.

• 1994: Adobe Systems and Aldus Corporation merge, Creo introduces the 3244 platesetter,
Iomega launches the ZIP-drive, Photoshop 3.0 adds support for layers.

• 1995: The TrendSetter is Creo’s first thermal CtP system, Microsoft introduces Windows
95, Apple allows Mac clones, connectivity standards such as FireWire, USB and Fast
Ethernet appear, dye-sub printers are popular for page proofing.

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• 1996: Adobe and Microsoft announce OpenType, QuarkXPress 3.3 ships, Scitex releases
Brisque

• 1997: Enfoucs starts shipping PitStop 1.0, the Eskofot EskoScan 2540 dominates the
market of copydot scanners, Mac OS 8 ships, this site appears on the internet.

• 1998: The iMac becomes an instant classic, PostScript 3 is announced, Barco acquires
Gerber Systems, Agfa announces the first PDF-based workflow system, Barco acquires
Gerber Systems.

• 1999: Adobe launches both Acrobat 4 and InDesign 1.0, Heidelberg and Creo announce
Prinergy, PDF 1.3 is the first PDF version that is really suitable for prepress.

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The new millenium: 2000 till 2008
The new millennium isn’t as much about technology as it is about business.
There are some interesting technical trends such as the increased adoption of PDF as an
exchange format and Adobe’s move to capture the entire content creation market. Process-
free technology becomes widely adopted for CtP system.
The majority of changes however are business oriented: the move to CTP kills many of the
remaining trade shops, the internet starts having a negative impact on some markets,
increased competition forces some printing companies out of business while others merge.
Many vendors actually go through the same merger frenzy.
Some of the highlights of the decade:
• 2000: Adobe adds support for transparency in Illustrator 9, Creo and Scitex merge, Screen
introduces Trueflow, lots of violet CtP systems are launched at Drupa, the millenium crash
never happens.
• 2001: Apple launches the first desktop version of OS X while Microsoft goes for Windows
XP, Agfa buys Autologic.

• 2002: Creo acquires ScenicSoft, Barco Graphics and Purup Eskofot merge.

• 2003: Adobe launches its Creative Suite software suite, the Canon 300D changes the
camera market, Barco exits from the graphics market.

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• 2004: JDF 1.2 gets a lot of attentiona at Drupa, basysPrint is acquired by Punch
International, Agfa introduces its first chemistry-free CtP plate.

• 2005: Kodak takes over Creo, Adobe acquires Macromedia, QuarkXPress 7 shows that
Quark can still innovate its product, Epson’s K3 Ultrachrome inks and matching Stylus Pro
printers are launched.

• 2006: Microsoft launches XPS, Adobe announces the Adobe PDF Print Engine, Apple
releases its first Intel-based workstations.

• 2007: Adobe discontinues FreeHand, Esko and Artwork Systems merge, Fuji starts
shipping its XMF workflow, PDF 1.7 becomes an ISO-standard.
• 2008: At drupa 2008 the focus lies on fast inkjet printers, ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Go green’ are
the hype of the year, Acrobat 9 is nice but CS4 doesn’t sell that well.

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• 2009: Due to the financial crises, nothing much happens…

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Overview
The prepress processes that are listed below may take place at one single location, such as
a large publishing and printing company, or at a variety of places. Usually some tasks
happen at a publisher while others take place at a printer or a dedicated prepress company
(which are sometimes referred to as service bureaus or trade shops).

• Design: Since the advent of desktop publishing, many people in the printing industry
no longer consider design to be a prepress task. The design process includes:
o Preparing data, which includes copyediting and product photography, such
as for a mail order catalog.
o Creating the layout is done using one of the leading design application such
as Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress. People outside the graphic arts
community may use tools like Microsoft Office or Publisher. There is also a
wide range of specialized applications for tasks like database publishing.
o The correction cycle includes processes such as proofreading and image
retouching, for which Adobe Photoshop is the leading application.
• Preflighting: Before finished pages go through the remaining processes, a validation
is done to check if all the data meet the necessary production requirements.
• Proofing: During the design phase there are already page proofs being created.
Proofs are usually also made by the company that is responsible for the printing. This
can be done for internal checks of the impositioning (imposition proofs) as well as for
their customer who needs to sign off the proofs for approval. More and more such
proofs are softproofs that are evaluated on a monitor. Hardcopy proofing remains
popular when there is sufficient time for it and for color critical or expensive jobs.
• Imposition: Depending on the final output device a number of pages will be
combined into signatures.
• Output to the final output device such as a digital press, filmsetter or CtP device. To
output data, pages or complete flats have to be ripped or rendered. This process
usually also includes:
o transparency flattening: transparency effects such as drop shadows behind
text need to be resolved.
o color separation
o color management
o trapping
o screening

Some people prefer to delay the above destination specific conversions to the very
last moment. This is commonly referred to as late binding. Once a job is printed, its
data usually go into an archive.
Many of the above steps are nowadays heavily automated, by either stand-alone
applications or prepress workflow systems. The automation also allows for more
elaborate communication processes:

• Exchanging data such as the final layout may still happen using a physical carrier
such as a DVD. In the past people usually submitted the native data, meaning the
original layout file(s) and all associated images, fonts and other data.
Nowadays PDF files are often used instead.
• Increasingly the internet is used for submitting jobs. This is referred to as web-to-
print.
o When the data exchange focuses purely on page content, solutions range from
using an FTP server or e-mail system to using file sharing tools such as
DropBox or YouSendIt. A more sophisticated web portal can add functions
such as preflighting and page approval.

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 o A digital storefront enables a printer to not just capture page content but also
order related information. Such a system can also facilitate reorders and allow
print buyers to customize documents on-line.
• Job-related data such as the job ID or run length are exchanged between systems
such as an MIS (Management Information System), a prepress workflow, press
control system and finishing equipment. Protocols such as JDF allow systems from
different vendors to exchange the necessary data.
• Many projects nowadays are published using other media besides print as well. The
content of a magazine may also be published on the web while the content of a book
is repurposed for e-books. There are special tools and protocols such as XML to
facilitate cross-media publishing.

Working in prepress
Over the past 20 years, employment in prepress has declined rapidly due to the increased
use of computers and software automation. This trend is unlikely to stop – in the US job
market employment in prepress is expected to drop 16 percent from 2006 to 2016, going
from 119,000 workers down to 100,000.

Prepress workflow systems

Workflow is a fairly generic term for all of the stages that a project or job must go through
until it is completed. A prepress workflow, however, does not refer to processes, but it is
used to refer to the software that is used to automate all or some of those processes in
prepress. Prepress workflow solutions geared towards digital printing are often called a
Digital Front End (DFE).

Workflow systems for commercial printing

There is a wide range of prepress workflow solutions available for commercial printers.
Most if not all systems are modular: the base system can be extended with optional modules.
One of the tricky aspects of purchasing a workflow system is making sure that you do not
buy an underspecced system just to get a low initial price.

• Many vendors of consumables and/or output systems also market workflow systems.
These vendors can offer attractive bundle deals and may appeal to people who prefer
a turnkey solution from a single vendor. These systems include:
o Agfa Apogee Prepress – discussed in more detail on this page.
o Fujifilm XMF
o Heidelberg Prinect
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 o Kodak Prinergy
o Screen TrueFlow
• There are also software companies that develop and market workflow systems. Their
dealers may offer bundle deals that match those of the big boys. The available
solutions include:
o Dalim TWISt
o Esko Automation Engine
o Puzzleflow
o Xitron Navigator
• Both smaller and larger companies may create their own mix of applications that work
well together. Such workflows are generally known as Do It Yourself or DIY
workflows. Such systems can be cheaper than off-the-shelf solutions, but they
generally lack the automation, the client-server architecture and the load balancing
capabilities of full-blown systems.
Sometimes scripting is used to tie processes together. There are also applications,
such as Enfocus Switch, on the market that specifically are meant to automate or
integrate various processes or applications.

Workflow tasks
The tasks that a workflow handles can include:

• data reception
• preflight
• imposition
• rendering data
• trapping
• generating proofs, either hardcopy proofs or softproofs
• managing corrections and last minute changes
• output to a digital press, imagesetter or computer to plate (CtP) system
• generating data to automate printing & finishing
• reporting to MIS for both costing and scheduling purposes
• archiving jobs for reprints

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Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and images. This website focusses on printing as
an industrial process, where it is an essential part of the publishing process.
This page describes:

• Print products – the various products that get printed

• The print market
• The printing technologies in use today
• The advantages of printed communication
• Other sources of information about printing

This site contains other pages that have to do with printing:

• The history of printing & pictures from printing museums

• The dictionary of printing terms
• How to do a press check
• The ISO 12647 quality control standard
• Print trivia – very large, small or otherwise remarkable printed products

Printed products
The chart below is from a presentation by Frank Romano, professor at the Rochester
Institute of Technology. It lists the various applications of industrial printing and dates from
2008.

Printing market
Printing companies can be categorized based on the type of customers they serve, the types
of jobs they print and the equipment they use. The printing market can be split in segments:

• Commercial printing – Commercial printers typically print a wide range of products,

from stationery to brochures, catalogs and magazines. Some companies focus on
specific markets, such as quick printers, forms printers, wide format printers, direct
mail printers and companies doing security printing. Web-to-print printers are
companies whose entire print volume is generated by selling print products online.
In-plants are printing facilities that are part of a company or institution and only
produce print for their own employer.
• Publication printing – Newspaper printers, book printers, magazine printers and
directory printers target the high volume work in a specific market. Many of these
companies are both publisher and printer.
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 • Packaging printing – Packaging printers specialize in printing all kinds of packaging
such as boxes, cartons, bags, cans, tags and labels. Many companies specialize in
printing on specific substrates such as metal (e.g. drinking cans) or plastics (e.g. in-
mould printing)
• Industrial printing – When printing is only one of the steps in a manufacturing
process, it fits in this category. This includes printing on textiles, panels, floor tiles or
wallpaper. Decorative or functional printing on products like watches, dashboards or
cooktops is also in this category. Printable electronics is seen as a major new field.
• Home and office printing – Both inkjet and laser printers are used for printing
personal and business documents. Other machines such as thermal and dot matrix
printers are still used in some places.

Globally the USA is the largest producer of printed products. China is second in value but it
is larger in volume. The overall trend for the coming years is a decline of the print market in
North America, Western Europe and Australasia while growth is expected in the other
regions. The data of the graph below are from Pira International and estimate print
production in billions of dollar for 2010 and 2016.

For a more detailed overview and a list of major global printing companies, check out
the printing industry page.

Printing processes
There is a wide variety of technologies that are used to print stuff. The main ones are:

• Offset – The full name of this process is offset lithography. It is the most widely used
printing technique on the market, suitable for printing on paper, cardboard, plastic
and other flat materials. Offset is used for printing books, newspaper, stationery,
packaging, etc.
• Flexo – In flexography flexible (typically rubber) printing plate is used, which extends
the range of substrates that can be printed on. Plastics, metals, cellophane and other
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 materials can be printed on. Flexo is mainly used for packaging and labels and to a
lesser extent also for newspapers.
• Digital printing – A number of different printing technologies such as inkjet and
xerography are often referred to as digital printing. These are the newest processes
and as such, they are gradually replacing other processes. They also offer new
possibilities such as variable data printing, in which each printed copy is different from
the previous one.
• Screen printing – This printing technique can handle a wide range of materials and
the printing surface does not have to be perfectly flat. Printing t-shirts or glass
surfaces or on wood are some of the possibilities.
• Gravure – Also known as rotogravure, this is a technique in which an image is
engraved into a printing cylinder. That cylinder is inked and this ink subsequently
transfers to the paper. Gravure is used for high volume work such as
newspapers, magazines, and packaging.

The image shows a sheetfed offset printing

press. There are more printing techniques besides the ones listed above. These include pad
printing which is used to print on 3-dimensional surfaces and intaglio – nowadays mainly
used for printing stamps and paper currency.

The advantages of printed communication

For some printed products, such as packaging, there is no substitute. For others such as
magazines, newspapers, catalogs and books electronic equivalents exist. The internet,
mobile communication, and tablet publishing have already had a profound impact on the
printing industry. Stating that print is dead overlooks many of the key advantages of printed
communication.

• Many types of print media (newspapers and magazines) still have a loyal readership.
They remain a valuable part of the marketing mix of advertisers.
• Print allows for easy distribution to a particular geographical region.
• Many printed publications have a reputation that is as yet unrivaled by on-line or
electronic media.
• Print media are often more engaging than their electronic counterparts.

Most people assume e-communication is more

environmentally friendly than print.While this may be true in some cases, it is not always so.

• The argument overlooks the environmental impact of producing reading devices, the
storage and distribution of data and the electricity needed to power reading devices.
• People incorrectly assume their home printer has the same environmental impact as
industrial printing presses. In reality, a commercial printing press can produce 100 A4

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 pages using the same amount of energy that a laser printer at home needs to print
one single page.
• The production of paper is becoming more energy efficient. Since 1990 the use of
water has been reduced by over 60%. Energy consumption has dropped 20%.
• Paper is increasingly recycled. In 2009 around 65% of all paper was recycled in
Europe. The US paper industry hopes to recover 55 percent by 2012.
• Once a publication is produced long-term storage and re-reading require no
additional energy.

Printed products
The chart below is from a presentation by Frank Romano, professor at the Rochester
Institute of Technology. It lists the various applications of industrial printing and dates from
2008.

It contains the following product categories (counter clockwise from the bottom):

• AdPromo, the largest category, includes brochures, flyers, booklets as well as

signage and point-of-purchase.
• The packaging category includes labels, as well as flexible and folding cartons.
Printing on corrugated board is also part of the packaging segment.
• Financial includes annual and quarterly reports.
• Letterhead, envelopes, business cards and note pads are examples of stationery.
• The forms category includes not just carbon, carbon-less and multi-part forms but
also internal documents such as reports and handouts.
• More exotic printed products are grouped in the miscellaneous category. This
includes wall paper, wrapping paper, greeting cards, calendars and posters.
• Periodicals include magazines, journals and newsletters.
• Newspapers are typically dailies or weeklies.
• The books segment contains mass market bound and paperback books as well as
professional publication and college & university press.
• Catalogs are printed for both the consumer and business market.
• The best-know type of directories are the white and yellow pages. They dwarf the
market for trade and organizational directories.
• The technical documents category includes manuals, guides and instructions.
• Direct mail consists of post cards, self-mailers, booklets and letter mail.

It is impossible to create a complete list of all of the different types of printed products or
products that are printed on. The list below gives a brief overview of some of the more
generic types of products:

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• Bags
• Binders
• Booklets
• Books – hard cover books, soft cover books, paperbacks, albums,…
• Bookmarks
• Boxes – STE boxes, folding cartons,…
• Brochures
• Calenders
• Catalogs
• Currency or banknotes
• Decals
• Direct mail
• Directories & Yellow pages
• Displays
• Jackets – book jackets, CD jackets,
• Cards – post cards, greeting cards, business cards, appointment cards, credit cards,
promo cards, scratch cards, reply cards, vouchers, tent cards, invitation cards,…
• Flags
• Folders – promotional folders, corporate folders,…
• Forms
• Fridge Magnets
• Inserts
• Invitations
• Labels
• Magazines & Journals
• Manuals & guides
• Posters
• Forms
• Leaflets
• Mailings
• Menus
• Newsletters: dailies, weeklies, national, regional, local, tabloid, broadsheet,
berliner,…
• Point-of-purchase (POS)
• Point-of-sale (POP)
• Posters – adshels, abribus,…
• Reports & annuals
• Sleeves
• Stationery – letterheads, envelopes, notepads
• Stickers
• Tags – price tags, garment tags,…
• Wall paper
• Wrapping paper
• Wobblers

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The printing industry
The print industry is globally one of the biggest industries, larger than the music industry or
the video game industry. It is in general in a slight decline in North-America, Europe and
Japan, but growing elsewhere.
This page describes

• the different types of printing companies

• the largest printing companies
• the biggest print site in the world
• additional sources of information

Types of printing companies

Printing companies can be categorized based on the type of customers they serve, the types
of jobs they print and the equipment they use. The printing market is often split into 4
segments:
Commercial printers
This is the largest market segment. Commercial printers typically print a wide range of
products, from stationery to brochures and magazines. They use a mix of machines, typically
including offset and digital presses.
Most commercial printers work for a wide range of customers:

• Private persons
• SOHO (small office, home office)
• SME (small and medium enterprises)
• Government & large enterprises

Some companies focus on specific markets, such as:

• Quick printers – printing a variety of small jobs in small run lengths for walk-in
customers and local businesses. Copy shops are one type of quick printers.
• Forms printers
• Wide format printers – printing posters, banners, point-of-displays and other large
jobs on paper, canvas, textiles and other substrates. This can be done using offset,
screen printing and increasingly large format digital inkjet presses.
• Direct mail printers
• Security printing – The segment of the printing industry that handles printing
banknotes, passports, identity documents, driver’s licenses, vouchers, lottery tickets
but also packages for luxury or pharmaceutical products.

Packaging printers
Packaging printers have specialized in printing all kinds of packaging such as boxes,
cartons, bags, cans, tags and labels. Packaging printers mostly use offset, flexo or digital
presses.
Publication printing
These companies focus uniquely on printing publications: newspapers, books, periodicals
such as magazines or directories such as the yellow pages. Most printers have specialized
in just one type of publication, such as newspapers. They usually target the high volume
work in their the market, with general commercial printers also doing their share of books
and magazines.

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In-plants
An in-plant is a printing facility that is part of a company or institution. It typically only
produces print for its own employer, although sometimes excess capacity is used for
commercial printing activities. Typical examples of in-plants are the print center of a
university, the print department of a ministry or the print division of banks.
Printing companies do not necessarily fit into one category. Newspaper printing plants also
try to get a piece of the commercial printing market, some commercial printers also do
packaging work, etc. Not included in the above list is industrial printing – those are printing
processes that are an integral part of the manufacturing process of some product, such as
printing on ceramics or floor tiles.
There are additional industry sectors that are closely related to the above sectors. These
include publishers, prepress services and trade binding.

Largest printing companies

The printing industry is dominated by small to medium size business. Many of the
largest printing companies in the world are also active in other sectors, making it impossible
to compile a list purely based on print activity. The largest printing companies in the world
include:

• Amcor – packaging manufacturer & printer, Australia + North-America, Europe, New

Zealand, Latin America & Asia
• Asahi Shimbun Company – newspapers & magazine publisher, Japan
• Bertelsmann – mass media company, Europe + Asia & Latin America
• Cenveo – commercial printer, USA + Europe & Asia
• Cimpress – web-to-print commercial printer, Europe + USA, Latin Ameria, Asia &
Australia
• Crown – packaging printer, USA + Canada, Latin America, Europe & Asia
• Dai Nippon Printing – commercial printer, Japan
• Dangnali Zhongguo – commercial printer, China
• De La Rue – security printer, UK
• Gannett Company – newspaper & publishing, USA
• Leo Paper Group – commercial printer, China
• News Corp – mass media company, USA + Europe & Australia
• Quad/Graphics – commercial printer, USA + Europe, Canada & Latin America
• Reynolds Group Holdings – packaging printer & aluminum company, USA + Europe
& New Zealand
• R.R. Donnelley – communications company, USA + Europe, Asia & Latin America
• Smurfit Kappa Group – corrugated packaging, UK + Europe, North America & Latin
America
• Toppan Printing – commercial printer, Japan
• Transcontinental – newspaper & packaging printer, Canada + USA
• Westrock – corrugated packaging, USA + Europe, Latin America, Asia & Australia
• Yomiuru Shimbun Holdings – newspapers & media, Japan

The first country listed is where the company is headquartered. Large publishers that are
not featured in the above list most likely outsource printing. I haven’t found a list of Chinese
printing companies sorted by turnover, but this overview lists the 10 largest of 2012.

The biggest print site in the world

The largest printing site is the Broxbourne, UK plant of News International, where The Sun,
The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph are printed. The site houses 12 Man Roland
Colorman XXL web-offset presses, capable of printing up to 86000 newspapers per hour.

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Many Chinese sites are also very large. These companies often provide housing for their
employees, leading to sites that are the size of a small city.

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Printing processes
There are a wide variety of technologies that are used to print stuff. The main industrial
printing processes are:

• Offset lithography
• Flexography
• Digital printing: inkjet & xerography
• Gravure
• Screen printing

Additional printing techniques were developed for very specific applications. These include
flock printing, letterpress, intaglio, pad printing, and thermography.
Why a certain job is better printed using one of these processes mentioned can be read
on this page about choosing a printing process.

Offset
In offset lithography a printing plate, which is most often made from aluminum, contains
an image of the content that needs to be printed. When the plate is inked, only this image
part holds ink. That inked image is subsequently transferred (or offset) from the plate to a
rubber blanket and then to the printing surface. The process can be used to print on paper,
cardboard, plastic or other materials, but these have to have a flat surface.
Below is a picture of a 4 color sheetfed printing press. At the far end is the intake where
individual sheets of paper are automatically fed into the press. The 4 towers or printing units
each print one color, typically black get printed first, followed by cyan, magenta and yellow.
The stack of printed sheets is visible on the front of the machine, underneath the press
console & monitor which the press operator uses to control the press.

For higher volume work offset presses use rolls of paper. The picture below shows such a
much larger web press. It is so fast that the printed paper needs to be force dried. The black
unit at the end of the press is an oven.

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Offset is nowadays the most widely used printing technique for an extensive range of
products such as books, newspapers, stationery, corrugated board, posters, etc.

There is a trend that printing promotional

material is gradually migrating to digital printing while some packaging printing is moving to
flexo.
You can find more information on the page dedicated to offset printing.

Flexo
In flexography the content that needs to be printed is on a relief of a printing plate, which is
made from rubber. This plate is inked and that inked image is subsequently transferred to
the printing surface. The process can be used to print on paper as well as plastics, metals,
cellophane and other materials. Flexo is mainly used for packaging and labels and to a
lesser extent also for newspapers.

Some packaging printing is moving from flexo to digital.

Digital printing
Digital printing can be done in various ways. Two technologies dominate the industry:

• Inkjet – In an inkjet printer the image that needs to be printed is created by small
droplets of ink that are propelled from the nozzles of one or more print heads. Inkjet
devices can print on a wide range of substrates such as paper, plastic, canvas or

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 even doors and floor tiles. Inkjet printing is used a lot for posters and signage. It is
also economical for short run publications such as photo books or small runs of
books. In-line inkjet printers are sometimes combined with other types of presses to
print variable data, such as the mailing addresses on direct mail pieces. The press
shown below is the HP PageWide C500, meant for printing on corrugated board.

• Xerography – In xerographic printers, such as laser printers, the image that needs
to be printed is formed by selectively applying a charge to a metal cylinder called a
drum. The electrical charge is used to attract toner particles. These particles are
transferred to the media that is being printed on. To make sure the toner is fixed
properly, the substrate passes through a fuser that melts the toner into the medium.
Laser printers are not only used in offices but also for small run printing of books,
brochures and other types of document. These printers are also used for
transactional printing (bills, bank documents, etc) and direct mail.

In 2009 both techniques jointly accounted for around 15% of the total volume of print.

Digital printing is increasingly utilized for print jobs that were previously printing using offset,
flexo or screen printing.

• In short run small format (A3 size) printing, digital is taking over from offset for both
color and B&W printing. Quick printers and copy shops print digitally on presses from
vendors like Xerox, HP, Canon, and Konica Minolta.
• Labels are also increasingly being printed digitally.
• Billboard and point-of-sale or point-of-purchase jobs are being done by wide-format
inkjet devices.
• There is a wide range of small format printers used to print on phone cases, mugs
and other products.

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 • In book printing publishing companies start to rely more on print-on-demand. The
Espresso Book Machine pictured below is well suited for that job.

There are a number of other digital printing processes that are geared towards specific niche
markets:

• Dye-sublimation is a printing process in which heat is used to transfer a dye onto

the substrate. Dye-sub printers are mainly used for printing on textiles, for proofing
and for producing photographic prints. Some printers can print on a variety of
materials such as paper, plastic, and fabric.
• In the direct thermal printing process heat is used to change the color of a special
coating that has been applied to paper. This process is used in cash registers but
also to add markings, such as serial numbers, to products. For this a transparent ink
is used that changes color when a laser applies heat to it.
• In the thermal ink transfer printing process heat is used to melt print off a ribbon
and onto the substrate. It is used in some proofing devices but seems to be gradually
disappearing off the market.

Gravure
Also known as rotogravure, this is a technique in which an image is engraved into a printing
cylinder. That cylinder is inked and this ink subsequently transfers to the paper. Gravure is
used for high volume work such as newspapers, magazines, and packaging.

Gravure is gradually losing market share to offset for publication printing and to flexo for
packaging applications.

Screen printing
As its name implies, this printing technique relies on a screen, which is a woven piece of
fabric. Certain areas of this mesh are coated with a non-permeable material. In the remaining
open spaces ink can be pushed through the mesh onto a substrate. The advantage of screen
printing is that the surface of the recipient does not have to be flat and that the ink can
adhere to a wide range of materials, such as paper, textiles, glass, ceramics, wood, and
metal.

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The image below shows a screen printing press that is used to print t-shirts.

Increasingly screen printing is being replaced by digital printing.

Additional printing processes

• Letterpress – Once a dominant printing technique, letterpress is now used for

business cards, wedding invitations,…
• Flocking – used to add a (colored) velvet-like texture to paper, textiles, etc.
• Pad printing – used to print on 3-dimensional surfaces.
• Intaglio – nowadays mainly used for used stamps and paper currency.
• Thermography – This is more of a finishing process than an actual printing process.
It produces raised lettering on the printed side of the paper and is used for wedding
invitations, letterheads, business cards,…

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Finishing
Finishing refers to all the activities that are performed on printed material after printing. This
includes binding, the fastening of individual sheets together, and decorative
processes such as die-stamping, embossing or laminating.
Finishing can be:

• an in-line process – which means that units attached to the end of the printing press
perform the finishing operations. This is typically the case with web presses as well
as many digital presses.
• an off-line process – which means that printing and finishing are completely
separate processes.

The overview below list major finishing processes.

Bindery processes
Cutting and trimming
Paper stock may need to be cut or trimmed more than once during the production of a job:

• Sometimes the paper that is in stock is too big and needs to be trimmed prior to
printing a job.
• When multiple signatures are combined on one press sheet, those sheets need to be
cut after printing.
• Sheets may need to be trimmed to fit folding machines or other bindery equipment.
• After folding and binding the unbound sides need to be trimmed. For books, this is
often done with a three-knife cutter, which has three blades to simultaneously trim
three sides.

Cutting and trimming are usually done using a guillotine cutter. A stack of sheets is placed
on the bed of the cutter and the angled stainless steel blade cuts through it at the desired
position. All the stacks are subsequently often placed in a jogger, a vibrating table that
squares the stacks of sheets.
Folding
For magazines, books,… large press sheets need to be folded into signatures. This involves
a series of right-angle folds in which the sheet is folded multiple times. Folding a sheet once
makes four pages, two right-angle folds make eight pages,…

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Other types of work require parallel folds in which two or more folds which are oriented in
the same direction are made in a sheet. This is typically done for leaflets or brochures.
Some common types of folds are:

• the half fold

• the accordion fold
• the gatefold
• the French fold
• the letter fold

There are two common types of folding machines: the knife folder, also known as a right-
angle folder, and the buckle folder. In general knife folders are used for heavier stocks, while
buckle folders are used for lighter paper types.
Collating and gathering
These processes involve placing (folded) sheets in the correct sequence. Collating refers to
sorting individual sheets into sets. Many laser printers and copiers have a collating function.
Gathering is a similar process but it involves folded signatures. Gathering machines have
up to thirty slots or pockets in which signatures are fed manually or automatically. The
machine then gathers the signatures into what is known as a book block. Such machines
can also have a binding function, such as for instance a stitcher.
Binding
There are different ways of binding sheets together. Below are the most commonly used
techniques:

• Perfect binding: Pages are fixed to a cover or spine using glue. This process is used
for paperback books, magazines, telephone guides,…
• Saddle-stitching: Pages are bound by driving staples through the center of the spine
of folded sheets. This wire binding technique is commonly used for magazines,
newsletters, small catalogs,… but is limited in the number of pages that can be bound.
• Side-stitching: This type of wire binding is less common than saddle-stitching. The
staples are driven through the pages, usually parallel to the bind margin. Reports are
often bound this way.
• Thread sewing: A thread or cord is used to stitch a book block together. This is often
done in conjunction with using an adhesive. Thread sewing is used for hardcover
books. Afterward the book cover is attached using a technique called case binding.
As with wire binding, there are two types of thread sewing: saddle-sewing and side-
sewing.
• Comb binding: The teeth of a plastic ‘comb’ are inserted into a series of slits drilled
or punched into a stack of sheets. This process is often used for reports and
presentations.
• Spiral binding: A continuous wire or plastic coil is threaded through holes drilled or
punched into a stack of sheets. Spiral binding is typically used for notebooks.
• Loose-leaf binding: A set of holes is drilled in a stack of sheets which are then
inserted into standard or customized ring binders or post binders. This binding
technique is used for notebooks, presentations, financial reports, manuals or any
other type of publication that require frequent updating.
• Padding: the binding of a stack of sheets using a flexible adhesive so that the sheets
can easily be removed. Notepads are a typical example of padding.

Decorative processes
Embossing and debossing
Embossing is the process of adding a relief image to a book cover or other printed material.
Sometimes an ink or foil is used to accent the relief image. When the stamped image is left
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as is, this is called blind embossing. Debossing is the opposite, creating a sunken image
on the substrate.
Foil stamping
Foils can be a real eyecatcher when applied to book or magazines covers. This is especially
true for metallic foils which reflect light and add a silvery or golden glow. Such foils are
applied using a pattern on a heated die that presses a roll of foil against the substrate.
Adding the foil can be combined with embossing in a process called foil embossing.
Coating
There are different types of coatings that can be applied to printed matter. Some are water-
based and take time to dry, others such as ultraviolet coatings dry when exposed to light or
heat. The different types of coatings include:

• Varnishes protect and also have a decorative purpose. Depending on the effect that
needs to be achieved these can be high-gloss or matte coatings. Sometimes a
varnish isn’t applied to the entire surface but only used to make certain pictures, logos
or text columns stand out. This is called a spot varnish.
• Primers are used to improve the ink reception or to facilitate the application of
another type of coating.
• For packaging, barrier coatings improve the resistance to oxygen, water or
chemicals.

Laminating
Laminating refers to bonding a separate material or layer of material to the printed matter.
The most common type of laminating is sealing the print between two layers of a plastic
material. A typical example of this are menu cards for restaurants which often need to be
both sturdy and water-proof.
Edge staining
The edges of the pages of a book or catalog are sometimes colored to mark different
sections. This is called edge staining. Gilding is a special case of edge staining in which gold
leaf is applied to the edges of a book.

Converting
Converting refers to all of the finishing operations which transform a printed piece into
another physical form. This includes bagmaking and boxmaking but more general
processes such as bookbinding, waxing, coating, laminating, folding, gluing or die-cutting
are also considered converting operations.

Other finishing operations

Die cutting
Irregularly shaped printed matter such as coasters or labels are cut out of the substrate in a
process called diecutting. The die contains knives or creasing rules that have been prepared
specifically for a certain shape.
Glueing
Products like envelopes, stamps or labels need to have a moistenable adhesive applied.
Indexing
Indexing refers to adding plastic index tabs or index thumb cuts to the edges of printed
sheets. These can help readers locate specific information

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How to fold a brochure or flyer
There are many ways a printed piece of paper can be folded. Below is a list of the most
common ways in which brochures, leaflets, pamphlets or folders that are printed on a single
page can be folded.

Once folded, each side or section of the printed piece is called a panel. The names of the
folding schemes are not standardized, the list below shows the most common naming
convention.

• One fold – 4 panels

o Half fold
• Two folds – 6 panels
o Tri-fold
o Z fold
o Gate fold
o French fold
• Three folds – 8 panels
o Double gate fold
o Double parallel fold
o Roll fold
o Accordion fold

The recommendations on this page are fairly general: if you are a designer it is best to
consult with your printer before designing a folded document. Many printing companies offer
downloadable templates on their website.
Half fold or single fold
As the name implies, simply fold the page in half. Sometimes this is also called a gatefold,
for example in the music industry where vinyl LP albums were often packaged in a gatefold
cover.
The front cover (1) is the right panel of the first page and the back cover (2) is the left panel
of the first page. Both panels have the same width.

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Tri-fold or letter fold
Trifolds are commonly used for marketing events, services or products. The panels fold in
on each other to form the finished size. The three panels do not have the same width since
you need to compensate for the thickness of the paper in the fold and tolerances of the
folding machine. For an 8.5″ x 11″ tri-fold brochure or pamphlet, one approach is to make
part 3 which folds to the inside 3.625″ wide while the 2 other panels are 3.688″ wide. Some
printers recommend making panel 2 a bit less wide than panel 1. For users of the metric
system, for example, an A4 page which is 297mm wide is often folded like this: panel 3 is
98 mm wide, panel 2 measures 99 mm and the front panel 1 is 100 mm wide.
You can use the guides in an application like InDesign to visualize this during the design of
the document. Keep in mind that panel 2 is the back cover. The user first sees the front
cover (panel 1) and then upon opening panel 3 so these two panels should have a matching
or consistent style.
Z-fold

This is a 6-panel accordion fold. Each fold opens in the opposite direction to its neighbor,
giving a pleated or concertina effect. All the panels have the same width.
Gate fold or window fold

With a gatefold the two outside panels 1 and 3 each fold towards the middle. They are
slightly smaller than half of the sheet. For a 17” x 11” sheet, for example, panels 1 and 3 are
4.21875” wide while panel 2 is 8.5625” wide. For an A5 open size (210 x 148 mm) folded to
an A6, panels 1 and 3 are 52 mm wide and panel 2 is 105 mm wide.
Double gate fold

This is a gatefold that is folded in two. Consult with the printer if you want to line up images
that must go over the inside panels (1 and 4 in the example below).
Double parallel fold

Paper is folded in half and then half again. The inside panels are slightly smaller than the
outside panels.
French fold or right angle fold or quarter fold

This is a combination of two half folds – The page is first folded in half horizontally and then
again vertically. This folding scheme is commonly used for cards and typically has printing
on only one side.
Roll fold or barrel fold or over-and-over

The paper is folded so that the panels roll in on each other, like a spiral. Panel 1 and 2 have
the same size but then each subsequent panel gets a little smaller so that they can fit inside
each other. For example: for an open 11” x 17” document panel 1 and 2 are 4.3125” wide,
panel 3 is 4,21875” wide and panel 4 4.15625”.
Accordion fold or zig-zag fold or fan fold

Each fold opens in the opposite direction to its neighbor, giving a pleated or concertina effect.
Usually the panels have the same width although there are printers that recommend making
the front cover panel slightly wider. This folding style cannot be machine inserted into
envelopes.
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Perfect binding
Perfect binding is a method of holding the pages of a publication together by applying a glue
to the spine of the gathered pages. It is also known as adhesive binding and is used for
paperback books, telephone guides, catalogs, magazines and other types of multipage
publications. According to PrintWiki around 40% of all US magazines are perfect bound.

• For thicker publications such as books, a soft paper or paperboard cover (a

‘paperback’) is attached over the binding adhesive. Perfect bound publications have
rectangular backbones.
• To make sure that the glue firmly holds all the pages together, the spine of all the
signature is grinded. This creates a roughened texture to improve the application of
the adhesive.

The animation below shows a Muller Martini Vareo perfect binding machine, meant for short
run jobs, in action. You see the inner pages or body of a book or magazine being inserted
into the machine (The operator doing this is not shown). Glue is then applied to the spine.
The body is pushed onto the cover and the entire publication is ready to be sent to an
external trimmer. There are of course fully automated systems as well for binding bigger
runs.
The image below shows a full production line. At the top left a roll of printed pages coming
of a digital press is unwound. A Hunkeler machine cuts and folds book blocks. These are
transferred to the Vareo binder at the bottom right using a robotic arm. The Vareo binder
also needs cover pages, visible on the pallet next to the machine. The bound books come
out of the machine at the back, underneath the book block intake. The transport belt feeds
them into a trimmer and then the finished publications end up in a stack at the left. The
operator stacking them on a pallet has apparently gone missing.
Guidelines for designing perfect bound publications

• Crossovers (images extending from the left-hand page onto the right-hand one)
require extra care. Avoid putting critical image parts, such as faces, on the spine.
• Set up the document to the final trim size and make sure there is a bleed of at least
4 millimeters or 0.125″.
• If you supply the document as PDF files to the printer, supply as single pages – not
spreads. There shouldn’t be a need to include crop marks on the PDF pages. If you
do include them then make sure they are offset by an amount that is greater than the
bleed amount so that the crop marks don’t print in the bleed area.

Guidelines for imposing perfect bound publications

• Check with the bindery how much grind is needed. Typically around 4 millimeters or
.125 inch is sufficient but some prefer more, up to 8 millimeters or .25″. Often binders
prefer not to have any ink in the grindoff area because ink mud builds up on the
grinding tool and has a negative impact on its efficiency. A very small bleed into the
grind area of 1 millimeter or 0.025 inch makes sure small folding inaccuracies are
compensated for.
• Creep is generally not an issue with perfect binding since each flat typically contains
just 8 pages. This depends on the job, however.
• Partial signatures should be placed in between full ones so they are protected. This
is different from saddle-stitching where the partial signature is often placed on the
outside.

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