Printing and Assosiated Processes

Question 1

Gravure

Answer 1

A printing process that uses an inked plate to transfer a negative image. This then creates a high quality positive print.

Question 2

Offset Lithography

Answer 2

Sometimes shortened to just Lithography. A printing process that uses multiple rolling cylinders to transfer ink from one roller onto another roller with an image. This creates a positive image.

Question 3

Laser Printing

Answer 3

A printing process using a high powered laser to charge a rotating metal drum. Charged areas attract small particles of ink called toner which rub off onto the paper. A heat source then fuses the toner to the paper. A relatively high quality print is produced.

Question 4

Flexography

Answer 4

Sometimes shortened to Flexo. A printing process that is similar to lithography. Used to print onto flexible plastics or other materials. A set of rollers pass ink from an ink well to an image plate and then onto the material.

Question 5

Screen Printing

Answer 5

A printing process commonly used to print onto fabrics and canvasses. Ink is passed through a fine mesh and through a positive image plate, using a squeegee. A positive image is produced.

Question 6

Negative

Answer 6

The inverted (or back-to-front) version of an image. Opposite to positive.

Question 7

Positive

Answer 7

The true (or right-way-round) version of an image. Opposite to negative

Question 8

GSM

Answer 8

“Grammes Per Metre Squared”, the weight of the paper. The thinner/lighter the paper, the lower the number, and vice-versa. Different levels of GSM have corresponding names. For example papers with GSMs between 120-250 are called cardstocks.

Question 9

DPI

Answer 9

“Dots Per Inch”, the resolution of a print from a digital printer. The greater the DPI, the greater the resolution. 75 DPI is common for documents, whereas 300 DPI is common for pictures and presentations.

Question 10

Crop Marks

Answer 10

A circle with a cross hair. This shows to a technician where to make cuts to crop the paper to size.

Question 11

Colour Bar

Answer 11

A correction mark to confirm the accuracy of the colours on the page. Sometimes shown as blocks of colour or as circle swatches.

Question 12

CMYK

Answer 12

“Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key (Black)”, is a subtractive colour model used in printing to produce all colours.

Question 13

RGB

Answer 13

“Red, Green, Blue”, is an additive colour model used on computer monitors to produce all colours.

Question 14

Subtractive Colour Model

Answer 14

All colours mixed together produce black. Subtracting colours makes another colour. For example in CMYK, removing yellow creates blue.

Question 15

Additive Colour Model

Answer 15

All colours mixed together produce white. Adding colours makes another colour. For example in RGB, adding blue to red creates purple.