Offsetlithographyisoneofthemostcommonwaysofcreatingprintedmatter.

Afewofits
commonapplicationsinclude:newspapers,magazines,brochures,stationery,andbooks.Compared
tootherprintingmethods,offsetprintingisbestsuitedforeconomicallyproducinglargevolumesof
highqualityprintsinamannerthatrequireslittlemaintenance.[7]Manymodernoffsetpressesuse
computertoplatesystemsasopposedtotheoldercomputertofilmworkflows,whichfurther
increasestheirquality.
Advantagesofoffsetprintingcomparedtootherprintingmethodsinclude:

Consistenthighimagequality.Offsetprintingproducessharpandcleanimagesandtype
moreeasilythan,forexample,letterpressprintingthisisbecausetherubberblanket
conformstothetextureoftheprintingsurface.

Quickandeasyproductionofprintingplates.

Longerprintingplatelifethanondirectlithopressesbecausethereisnodirectcontact
betweentheplateandtheprintingsurface.Properlydevelopedplatesusedwithoptimized
inksandfountainsolutionmayachieverunlengthsofmorethanamillionimpressions.

Cost.Offsetprintingisthecheapestmethodforproducinghighqualityprintsincommercial
printingquantities.

Afurtheradvantageofoffsetprintingisthepossibilityofadjustingtheamountofinkonthe
fountainrollerwithscrewkeys.Mostcommonly,ametalbladecontrolstheamountofink
transferredfromtheinktroughtothefountainroller.Byadjustingthescrews,thegap
betweenthebladeandthefountainrollerisaltered,leadingtotheamountofinkappliedto
therollertobeincreasedordecreasedincertainareas.Consequentlythedensityofthe
colourintherespectiveareaoftheimageismodified.Onoldermachinesthescrewsare
adjustedmanually,butonmodernmachinesthescrewkeysareoperatedelectronicallyby
theprintercontrollingthemachine,enablingamuchmorepreciseresult.[8]

Disadvantagesofoffsetprintingcomparedtootherprintingmethodsinclude:

Slightlyinferiorimagequalitycomparedtorotogravureorphotogravureprinting.

Propensityforanodizedaluminumprintingplatestobecomesensitive(duetochemical
oxidation)andprintinnonimage/backgroundareaswhendevelopedplatesarenotcared
forproperly.

Timeandcostassociatedwithproducingplatesandprintingpresssetup.Asaresult,very
smallquantityprintingjobsmaynowusedigitaloffsetmachines.

Asheetfedoffsetpressconsistsof4mainsections:

1.

thefeederandlaysystem
2.
3.

theprintingunits
thedeliverysystem

4.

thecontrolstation

1.

thefeederandinfeedsystemensuresthatoncethepalletofpaperhasbeenloadedintothe
pres,papersheetsarefedthepaperstackintothepressonebyoneinexactlythesame
position.

2.

theprintingunitseachprintasinglecolour,ononlyonesideofapaper

Therearedifferentkindofoffsetprintingmachines,havingdifferentamountofprintingsections:itmay
havefrom4to10printingsections.4ofthemareforthe4coloursweuseinprinting:Cyan,Magenta,
YellowandBlack.Wecanoftenseethatprintingmachineshavethe5thprintingsections,whichisfor
oneseparatedcolourwhichcanbemixedmanually.

Ifwehave10printingsectionsforexample,then,theother5sections,havetheexactlythesame
functionsasthefirst,allowingbothsideofthepapertobeprintedinonepass.

Betweenthe1stsetof5unitsandthesecondone,aperfectingcylinderrealignsthepapersothatthe
reversesideisfacingupwards

3.

afterthepaperspassthroughtheprintingsystem,thedeliverysystemstackstheprinted
sheetsonthedeliveryboard

4.

Duringtheprintrun,thepressoperatortakessamplesheetsfromtheppressandchecksthem
atthecontrolstation.

Letslookclosertotheprintingprocess.

Beforetheprintruncanstart,theplatesmustbeloadedintotheprintunits.
Theplatesusedinoffsetprintingarethin,flexible,andusuallylargerthanthepapersizetobeprinted.
Thereare2kindsofplatesinOffsetprinting:

 Metalplates:usuallymadeofaluminum,althoughsometimestheyaremadeofmultimetal,
paper,orplastic.
Polyesterplates:Thesearemuchcheaperandcanbeusedinplaceofaluminumplatesfor
smallerformatsormediumqualityjobs,astheirdimensionalstabilityislower.
Whenloadingtheplateintheprintingunit,extremecareisneededbecauseevensmallscratcheson
theplateswouldbevisibleintheprintedimage.
Allthecolourseparationplatesmustbeinaccurateregisterwitheachother,andeveryplatehas
registerholestolocateitpreciselyonboth:theplatesetterandthenontheprintingpress.
whenwehaveamodernprintingmachine,theprintingplateisautomaticallywrappedontotheplate
cylinder,anditspressingagainsttherubberblanketcylinder.

Theprintunitsinthepressaresuppliedwithinkviaapipeddistributionsystemfromacentralink
reservoir.(whentalkingaboutmodernsmachines.)Othermodelsofprintingunits,canbesupplied
withinkseparatelyandmanually.
Thereare2mainkindofprintinginkweneedtoknowwhenworkingwithoffsetprintin
1. Modernvegetableoilbasedprintinginkareenvironmentallysustainableandcontainonly
biologicalsolventsratherthan
2. themineraloilsfoundintraditionalinks
The1st4colourprintunitsareloadedevenlywithinkintheorder:
1.

black

2.

cyena

3.

magenta

4.

yellow

5.

Individualcoloursorvarnishesmaybemixedbyhandonthe5thunit.

Whenlookingattheartwork(designerswork)wecanseethatcertainareasoftheimagehavemore
intensecolourthanothers,andthepresssoftwarehasdeterminedthatthemoreorlessinkmustbe
suppliedfromeachinkductacrosstheinkrollers.(thisiswhywhenwearelookingattheinkcylinder
wemayseestripesinsteadofonesolidcolour.
Theprintingunitautomaticallyadjuststhisforeachcolour,andtherunisreadytostart.

Thenthepalletofpaperisloadedintothepress,andcarefullyalignedwiththefeedersystem.
Airblastandsuctiondevicesseparatethesheetsfromthestackandfedthemintothepressoneata
time.
Differentdetectorsmeasurethethicknessandalignmentofthepapersheetssothatthepaperwould
entertheprintingunitveryregister.
Grippersmechanicalfingerspullthesheetintothe1stprintingunit.furthergrippers,takethesheet
throughthepressuntilthe4colourprintedimagebuildsonthepaper.

Finallythegrippersystempullsthesheetsintothedeliverysectionandstuckthem.

Atthepointofexit,theinkonpaperisstillwet,andthiscouldcausethesheetstosticktogetheror
smudgeifthepaperstuckishandledroughly.
Toavoidthis,antisetoffpowderissprayedontothesheetsbeforetheystacked.

Beforeprintingthewholestackofpaper,the1stsheetsareautomaticallyormanuallyverifiedtoseeif
thepaperwasalignedright,andifthecolourfitstherightborders.
Afterverifyingthe1stsheets,thenecessarycorrectionsareimplemented.
Afterallthechangeshavebeenmade,anothersheetisbeingprintedtoconfirmcorrectcolourand
registerthroughouttherun.

Thefinalstageoftheprintrunistocollatethedifferentsheetstogether,bindthemandcutthemto
size.
Youneedtocutthepaper,becauseusuallythepaperloadedintheprintingunitsarebiggerthanthe
printedsurface.thisishowthestandardsizedarebiggerthantheprintingformat.
Thepapersheetsarecutedifneededusingaguillotine.
After,thepagesaresortedincorrectorder,andstitchedorstapledtogether.
Thisishowyougetabookormagazinebyusingthepaperfedoffsetprintingmachines.

MinistryofEducationoftheRepublicofMoldova
TechnicalUniversityofMoldova
FacultyofLightIndustry
ModernLanguagesDepartment

Portofolio
Theme:TheOffsetPrinting

Performedby:AndreiCuciucDTP141
Checkedby:LecturerL.Ciumac

Chisinau2015