[Printing process]

The big family of printing industry

For most people, the first image of printing might be copying paper from the copy machine. However, it takes many people to help make a book or just a business card. Everyone plays a key role like a tiny screw. One mistake from the screw might cause many problems to the whole thing! The client might be a person, a group, a company or a government agency. How does the entire printing process begin with?

We analyzed the information from Internet and interview, we realized that there’s no standard procedure of printing. It changes according to the products. The complexity of printing 1,000 business cards and printing first edition of books are not the same. Not to mention printing DM, paper package etc. However, we still sort out 8 procedures that are complete but not too complicated to understand:

The 8 main procedure of printing:

1.Plan

2. Design

3. Finish Artwork

4. Make Film

5. Correct

6.Print

7.Bind

8. Process

From the beginning:

The above is the version we sorted out. To understand it well, we still need to elaborate from the very beginning. From planning to finish the product, there are many procedures and takes numerous work and expert technology. For example, we might need designers, writers, typists, art editors, color specifiers, plate makers, correctors, printing technicians, binding technicians, etc. Even after packing the printing matters, we need carriers to carry the products between factories. We cannot finish the final products without one of them. Everyone plays an important role in the procedure.

The following paragraph is about the printing procedure. We explain it with pictures:

The printing procedure starts with the clients find a printing company, then the more important parts in the pre-made procedure are making digital file, making film, sampling, correcting, finishing the plate; then is printing; last come to the processing, binding, delivering and collecting money. (To get more information, you can look at the page of pre-printing preparation, in printing process, binding and processing.)

Every parts of the procedure need labor to complete. If it is some easier printing matters, you might just need to print it out. The procedure can be standard operating procedures, as known as S.O.P. It begins all the way from planning to delivering. We made a chart to explain the printing jobs in order:

Process	Notes
Planning	Planning is to decide the way to print, the size, material, paper or colors use according to the topic. Even choose the related processing factories, etc.
Designing	Write paragraph, design and plan layout according to the plan. It is the procedure before finish the artwork. Need to arrange the photography and graphing for the artwork. Arrange and communicate the schedule between companies or factories.
Finishing Artwork	According to the primary layout, arrange the literature, pictures, graphic to the right location and mark the right colors. Follow the order to process the artwork and finish it.
Film making	The use the finished artwork to make film. They use computer to scan pictures and analyze the colors, separate it into 4 colors. Take pictures for the texts and lines. Make films with the right number of screentones (printing screentone). Arrange the text, graphic according to the finished artwork then make films. Then they use the films to print a colored sample for the designers to proofread.
Correcting	This is the last step before the actual printing. The designers need to check the colored sample with the finished artwork. Any part that needs correction need to carefully marked with red pen and explain with simple sentences or clear instructions. The information need to deliver to the plate makers correctly to avoid unnecessary lost.
Printing	Transfer the revised film for 4 different colors to printing plates. Send the plates to the printer, and it will start to print things. If you want to get ideal printing result, you need to know the elements of printing first. There are many variable elements that might influence the quality greatly.
Binding and Processing	The last job in the procedure is to bind and process. The normal single page products usually need to cut, press, and fold. There are some jobs like stamping gold, laminating, or other fining jobs etc.


1.Planning 、2. Designing、3. Finishing Artwork	4. Filming 、5. Correcting


6. Printing	7. Binding and Processing

Lccnet Inc.－The KnowHow that graphic designers need to know

Picture resource: GuangFu Research Team

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