Printing

Question 1

Ink Jet

Answer 1

Most common format of printer to be found in homes, schools or offices.
Advantages:
- Inexpensive to buy
- Photographic quality
- Can print on different types of paper
- Quick for short print runs

Disadvantages:
- Ink is expensive
- Liquid ink can take time to dry and can smudge
- Only print on limited sizes from A5 to A3

Question 2

Colour laser

Answer 2

Advantages:
- Printers are fairly expensive to buy
- Good quality but not photogenic
- Very quick for short and medium print runs.

Disadvantages:
- Only prints on normal not glass paper
- Toner is expensive
- Drum and fuser are expensive to replace
- Only prints on A5 to A3

Question 3

Screen Printing

Answer 3

Advantages:
- Low cost print for mid volume runs
- Bright vibrant colours
- Can print on different materials from paper to fabric

Disadvantages:
- Liquid ink can take time to fry and can smudge.
- Solvent inks are expensive
- Ink is bad for environment

Question 4

Offset Lithography

Answer 4

Advantages:
- Low cost for high volume print runs
- Photogenic quality
- Can print on different paper types and sizes
- Quick for large print runs

Disadvantages:
- Time consuming to set up
- Specialist training required
- Expensive initial set up cost

Question 5

Registration Marks

Answer 5

• Used to align the separate colours of ink when printing a page with more than one colour.
• They are crucial for accurate alignment and for printing technicians to check if a colour is offset

Question 6

Crop Marks

Answer 6

• Allows you to crop at the correct area and boundaries of a page, this creates bleed of elements which are outside crop marks.