Printing quality And Finishes

Question 1

What do the colour bars in printing do?

Answer 1

Colour bars check the density of the colours
• colour bars are printed at one edge of a sheet. They’re used to check that the colours are being printed correctly
• the colour bar shows the density of each other. The print worker checks these and can change the settings on the machines if any fine tuning is needed
• without a colour bar, you wouldn’t get consistent colours every time

Question 2

What do crop marks show in printing?

Answer 2

Crop marks show where to cut the sheet.
• printers print crop marks on to sheets to show where the printed sheet needs to be cut to size (guillotined)
• the crop marks are printed at each corner and dotted lines show where the page should be cut - they don’t show on the actual page though
• the sheet is printed with the background colour extending about 3mm beyond the crop marks - this extra bit is called the bleed area. This is done to ensure that there are no white marks around the edges of the cut sheet, even if it’s cut slightly too large

Question 3

What do print finishes do?

Answer 3

Print finishes can make your product look top quality.
• after the colours have been printed, you can use a print finish on your product.
• finishes can improve the look of your image. Your final product will look nice and professional - so people are likely to buy it
• they help to protect your product from being damaged
… But adding a print finish can be expensive

Question 4

What does varnishing do?

Answer 4

Varnishing makes things shiny.
• varnishing is used to make things look smooth and glossy, so they look more exciting and high-quality
• you can varnish the whole product, e.g. Playing cards - this makes them slide over each other
• or you can varnish specific areas (e.g. Book titles) to draw attention to them - this is called spot varnishing

Question 5

What does laminating mean?

Answer 5

Laminating means sandwiching in plastic
• laminating means sandwiching a document, e.g. A menu, between two layers of plastic. The laminating machine heats the plastic and seals it together.
• laminating business cards, menus and posters makes them last longer without getting damaged
• many packaging materials are a lamination of different papers, cards, plastics and aluminium foil

Question 6

What does embossing do?

Answer 6

Embossing leaves a raised impression
• embossing means pushing a shaped die into the back of the material to leave a slightly raised impression on its surface
• it’s used to draw attention to a particular bit of the product, e.g. The title of a book, a logo or an image
• it’s an expensive process but it adds texture and can suggest quality

Question 7

What does foil application do?

Answer 7

Foil application makes things look fancy.
• foil application (or foil blocking) means using heat and pressure to print metal foil onto certain areas of a product
• like embossing, it’s used in packaging to draw attention to a logo or brand name, and to give the impression of a quality product- but it’s expensive
• it’s also used on greeting cards, book titles and wrapping paper

Question 8

What do the registration marks check in printing?

• circle with a plus in the middle, overlapping the edges of the circle

Answer 8

Registrars check the position of the plates
• printers use colour registration marks to check the printing plates are aligned in the right position
• if the printing plates aren’t in the right position, the image will be printed a bit fuzzy
• if the plates are all in the right places you get a single, clear image