Offset lithography make-ready, gravure, letterpress

a) The most widely-used commercial printing technique where the imposed pages are exposed onto plates, which are treated to attract the inks only onto image areas. The image is transferred from the plate onto a flexible rubber blanket and then from the blanket to the printing substrate.

b) This is a direct printing technique, during which the printing parts are situated in a raised position on the printing plate. Important applications of this process are newspapers and commercial printing.

c) A printing technique which is characterized by the printing parts being located deepened or engraved in the printing form. The most important applications of this printing method are packaging and illustrated magazines. It always deals with products which are produced in great quantities, since making the printing cylinders is very time-consuming and costly.

d) These operations include setting up the press to accept the size and thickness of paper being used, putting the printing plates on, putting the correct sort and colour of ink on the press, adjusting the folder, ensuring that the colour is of the right strength and that the image is in the right position — checking, in fact, that everything is correct prior to printing. Thus it is a crucial area in printing, as the eventual cost of the job and the quality of the result depend on this part of the process.

V. Speak about advantages and disadvantages of different printing techniques