Polygraphy: what is hidden behind this beautiful word? They can denote both a process and a separate book, notebook or calendar. At its source stood the first printer Ivan Fedorov. Perhaps he can be called the founder of a whole industry of modern industry. We encounter print media daily: newspapers, books, advertising leaflets, cafes and restaurants menus and even personal passports are related to printing products.
Printed products
Everything printed and replicated using technical means is printing. What are printing methods? This is printing on offset or digital machines.
The cycle of creating printing printing consists of technological steps:
β’ creating a layout;
β’ prepress preparation;
β’ printing;
β’ post-printing processing.
Both types of printing have prepress preparation of the original original layout, which is fundamentally different in its criteria. Post-press processing is the same in both industries.
Printing offset cycle
Offset printing technology involves prepress, consisting in the output of the matrix, on the basis of which the entire circulation is subsequently made. To obtain high-quality prints, it is necessary to make color correction, color proofs, film output, which affects the total cost of the order, lengthens the production time and makes it impossible to adjust the source when the printing process is already running. These are the disadvantages of the offset printing method, but there are much more advantages.

Offset printing method allows you to make the largest number of printed sheets using one original layout. As the circulation increases, the cost per unit of the final product decreases. The quality of offset depends on the class of machines on which the printing is performed, the paper on which the image is transferred, and the inks used in the production. The highest quality and brightest products are obtained on photo-offset machines. For the offset method, roll paper or cut sheets are used according to technological requirements.
The technology of a full-cycle printing house includes a multi-stage process - from creating a layout to packaging the finished product. Books, magazines, newspapers,
booklets, leaflets with a print run of more than 3,000 pieces are mostly printed in offset way, since this option is much more profitable than ordering digital printing.
Types of printing products:
β’ books;
β’ different types of packaging;
β’ newspapers;
β’ catalogs;
β’ magazines;
β’ notebooks;
β’ folders;
β’ posters;
β’ posters;
β’ leaflets;
β’ brochures;
β’ forms;
β’ postcards;
β’ calendars;
β’ smaller products.
Digital Printing
What does this phrase mean? The most affordable way to quickly get a small number of business cards or flyers is to print in numbers! The fastest way to get the image you want. Digital printing requires minimal preparatory work and additional materials. Image output to the machine (plotter, printer, copier, risograph) occurs directly from the monitor screen.
With high-quality calibration of colors set by the printing press and on the monitor screen, color proofs are almost never needed, since the color on the screen is fully consistent with the color of the received image. There is always the opportunity to make corrections to the text, change the color, layout, enlarge or reduce the image, set the number of copies from one to a thousand.
Digital express
The digital method of replication is also called operational printing - you can get a copy of the image within one minute. The advantage of this type of printing is its visibility, control over each copy of the circulation, the ability to get exclusive products, correction during printing, the minimum number of copies for a low fee.
Digital printing is carried out on different types of media: fabric, paper and cardboard, self-adhesive film, glass, plastic, ceramic tiles. A universal machine for all
types of printing does not exist, but the method of transferring to these materials is digital.
Types of printing digital production:
β’ business cards;
β’ leaflets;
β’ brochures;
β’ postcards;
β’ folders;
β’ calendars;
β’ posters;
β’ posters;
β’ labels.
Post printing
The final technological cycle, which includes the process of formatting the final product. It consists of several steps necessary to give the final product the desired shape and size. That is, the book must be assembled, bound and placed on the cover, and the business card must acquire its size.
The main types of post-printing processing:
β’ cutting;
β’ scoring;
β’ folding;
β’ stitching;
β’ die cutting;
β’ perforation;
β’ varnishing;
β’ selective UV varnishing;
β’ lamination.
Printing Formats
For better production returns, industry standards have been introduced. Polygraphy was no exception. What is standardization in the printing industry? First of all, we streamlined the approach to the formats of the paper on which the material is printed. When ordering printed products, the size of the original layout in millimeters is determined and adapted to the existing standard paper sizes on which the print run will be printed.
Paper Size Classification Tableseries a | size mm | series B | size mm | series C | size mm |
A0 | 1189 x 841 | B0 | 1000 x 1414 | C0 | 1297 x 917 |
A1 | 841 x 594 | IN 1 | 707 x 1000 | C1 | 917 x 648 |
A2 | 594 x 420 | IN 2 | 500 x 707 | C2 | 648 x 458 |
A3 | 420 x297 | IN 3 | 353 x500 | C3 | 458 x 324 |
A4 | 297 x 210 | AT 4 | 250 x 353 | C4 | 324 x 2259 |
A5 | 210 x 148 | AT 5 | 176 x 250 | C5 | 229 x 162 |
A6 | 148 x 105 | AT 6 | 125 x 176 | C6 | 162 x 114 |
A7 | 105 x 74 | AT 7 | 88 x 125 | C7 | 114 x 81 |
A8 | 74 x 52 | AT 8 | 88 x 62 | C8 | 81 x 57 |
Each sheet size has its own name and corresponding size. For example, a sheet of standard printer paper has a size of 297 x 210 millimeters and an A4 series.