Choosing Print Methods
"Printing is not always printing"
Most people see a printed item without any conscious thought about how the image got on the paper, but often there are multiple ways to "print" that piece. The staff at American Printing & Copying, Inc. in Colorado Springs can help you get the finished printed or copied product you want because we understand these printing methods. A simple description of each is below:
Offset Printing Press
Or sheet-fed press is a machine that picks up one sheet of paper at a time and feeds it through a series of rollers which transfer liquid ink from a printing plate onto the paper.
Web Printing Press
Similar ink transfer process to offset press, but this machine works with a large continuous roll of paper which is later trimmed into sheets.
Letter Press
A machine that uses a three-dimensional carved metal die and pressure to make an image on a sheet (it is also sheet-fed). The image can be "blind" (no color), "tinted" (with all or part of the image inked), or "foil stamped" (a shiny metallic foil pressed onto the paper).
Digital Black & White / Color Copy Machines / Laser Printers
Also imprint one sheet of paper at a time, feeding it through a series of rollers and past electrical wires where the powdered toner is adhered to the paper with an electrical charge, then heat-fused to the paper.
Ink Jet Printers
spray a fine dot of liquid ink onto the paper, also one sheet at a time.