Understanding Print TechnologiesBy Hussain Majeed

LinocuttingHow do you make it • Linocutting is a printmaking method• Linocutting is a variant of woodcutting • A design is carved into the linocut exterior with a

sharp knife called the V cutter.• The lino is inked with a roller and then it must be

impressed onto paper or fabric. • The printing can be done by hand

How did I do the Hand Printing

• First I thought about an Idea about sketching something, it took me about 2mins then I started sketching my work on a sketch pad.

• I sketched kind of everything that came on my mind.• Then I traced some of my work on a tracing paper and

shaded some bits in, afterwards I flipped the tracing paper and I laid the paper on a lino cutting and cello taped around the tracing paper so it would not move.

• When I did that, I started tracing on it and I put pressure on it to make the sketch appear on the lino.

• On the lino cutting my sketch appeared, after that I carved my sketch into the lino cutting with a tool called the V cutter.

• It was hard but I got there in the end.

• When I finished I took my lino and painted it with water based ink using a roller, after that I laid paper on top and started pressing on it with a spoon.

• When I finished it had been printed on a piece of paper, this was the final process.

How it can be used

•Linocutting can be used to make a hand print, e.g, sketches, you need to make a hand print of your sketches, is by using a tracing paper, the sketched paper, roller, V cutter, spoon, cello tape and a water based ink, blank paper and a pencil.

You need first to trace the sketch by using a tracing paper, then you need to flip the tracing paper on its other side, after that you put the tracing paper on a linocut and tape around the linocut so the paper would not move, then you start to outline around the sketched piece with a pencil, but there must be pressure so the sketch can be copied on the linocut, afterwards you have to remove the tape and the sketch.

Then it will be printed on the linocut, when it has, you must get the V cutter so you can carve the outline the sketch on the linocut, when the carving is finished, after that you need to paint on the lino is by using a water based ink with a roller, you role on the lino with the ink, then you have to put a blank paper on the lino, after that you have to use a spoon and then rolling the spoon on the paper, when you finish rolling the sketching, the sketching will be printed on the blank paper.That is how it is done.

Advantages and disadvantages of Linocutting Advantages • The first advantage Is cheap, you can copy as much as you

want of the sketch that printed on the lino and copy the sketch so many times by using 4 things, blank paper, a roller, ink and spoon.

• You roll ink with roller on the lino, then you put the blank paper on the lino , after that you roll the spoon on the paper, the sketch will be copied on the paper and that is it, you can do this method again and again with out spending lots of money on printing.

• The second advantage of linocutting is you can print, not just on piece of paper you can e.g. print on cards and this is good, so you can make something special for your family, friends etc.

• The last advantage of linocutting is you can print different kinds of things from it, onto different things, such as a blank paper, or you can make different kinds of shapes from the paper and the lino.

• This will be so much helpful for people than using normal printers to print stuff, some printers can do these things, but they will cost lots of money.

Disadvantages

• The first disadvantage of Linocutting, is dangerous, when carving the sketch onto the lino with the V cutter, so the person must keep one hand on the lino, so it would not move and the other it must be grasped on the cutter to carve the sketch, but the person hand must be kept from the edge of the cutter so they wouldn’t be any accidents.

• The second disadvantage of Linocutting, it takes a long time to print the sketch on a blank paper, if the sketch is not printed on the lino, it takes long time to prepare the things that you need for printing and to start, sketching, tracing, carving and so on.

• So a person must, think about his time, the person must not rush, so he can print correctly.

• If he makes on mistake he must repeats the whole thing all over again.

• The last disadvantage of Linocutting, it can’t not be used in factories, so if the person wants to buy a printed e.g. image from linocutting, he has to buy it from e.g privet homes.

Offset Lithography: Mechanical Printing• Offset Lithography: Offset printing is a commonly

used printing method, where the inked image is moved from a plate to a rubber sheet, then to the printing surface.

• It is founded on the repulsion of oil and water, the offset method uses a flat denoting image carrier.

• where the image have to be printed to get ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing part appeals a water-based film, known as "fountain solution", keeping the non-printing parts ink-free.

Unlike the other types of printing, in offset lithography the image on the printing plate is not attached or lifted. Rollers apply oil-based ink and water to the plates , because oil and water don't combine, the oil-based ink would not stick to the non-image parts. Only the inked image segment is then transferred to a rubber cylinder that then transfers the image onto the paper as it passes, between it and another cylinder beneath the paper. The meaning of offset referring to the remark, that the image isn't printed directly to the paper from the plates, but is offset or transferred to an additional surface that then makes contact with the paper.

How it can be used• Offset lithography can be used by magazine and

newspaper publishers. It also used for stationary such as books and brochure printing, people can be expected in high-quality production from this technique. Computer aids are as well used to calculate the right mixture of colures to create certain images.

• The first advantage of Offset lithography, it is high and consistent image quality. The method can be used for small, medium or the best jobs. There are two kinds of offset printing machines in common usage for publication today.

• One of them is in sheet-fed offset printing: separate pages of paper are supplied into the machine, the pages can be pre-cut to the final publication size or decorated in

after printing.

Advantages and disadvantages of Offset lithography Advantages

The second advantage of Offset lithography, is the cheapest printer to make high quality advertisements.

The last advantage of Offset lithography, it produces big jobs, meaning that a company can make lots of copies from that print that they have done such as a piece of drawing, this is excellent, that mean they make lots of money from their customers and it them saves money.

Disadvantages• The first disadvantage of Offset lithography, plates

are expensive and they wear out fast,• This is not good, because they are necessary for

Offset lithography; the machine would not print without these plates and more money need to be paid to buy them.

• The second disadvantage of Offset lithography, is time consuming, if you the press is in a hurry to do a job, offset printing would not offer a fast result. It takes time to set-up the printing press. The plates will first need to be improved as well, it will not just affect the timing of the press, it will make them worry and they will not work in a proper way.

• The last disadvantage of Offset lithography, it has slightly poorer image quality compared to other types of printing such as rotogravure or photogravure.

• Tendency for anodized aluminium printing plates to become sensitive, because to chemical oxidation and print in non-image/background parts when developed plates are not cared for properly.

Laser printing• Laser printing, is an electrostatic digital printing

method that quickly makes high quality text and graphics by passing a laser beam over a charged drum to define a different charged image.

• The drum then selectively collects a charged powder called toner and then transfers the image to a blank paper, which is then heated to permanently repair the image.

How it can be used

• Laser printing can be, used to make documents such as a report from Microsoft word or you have a pretention from a PowerPoint you want to print or maybe you have images you want print to advertise your supermarket.

Advantages and disadvantages of Laser printing Advantages

• The first advantage of Laser printing, is cheap, Laser printers are cheaper to use, if you print more papers.

• The second advantage of Laser printing, needs no ink, it uses toner.

• There is nothing need to be dried up, so nobody have to wait and waist his time for the ink to dry up.

• The last advantage of Laser printing,, it is cheap, every time you print from it, the only expensive thing is the laser when you need to set it up.

Disadvantages

• The first disadvantage of Laser printing, it uses toner, toner is a microscopic powder that contains of plastics, colorants and other chemicals.

• It is like any small powder, but it is dangerous, it can be gathered up and carried by the air and you can breathe it in. resulting to illness and air pollution.

• The second disadvantage of Laser printer ,it is a big printer , it is made of complicated technology, it carries out fast output, it is a fairly large hardware gadget

and that is not good for anybody who treat the printer badly, it will not work in a proper way , the owner must take care, the setup most not be wrong.

• The last disadvantage of Laser printing, they operate badly, with any normal paper you have. Between the complicated way that paper travels inside them and their high temperature fuser rollers, you can’t print whatever paper you have with a laser printer.

• So you need to use specially designed papers for laser printers, or the printer will be damaged, so the owner must be careful of which paper he uses.