Offset Printing

Offset printing is a printing method in which the inked image is transmitted (i.e., "offseted") from the plate to an intermediate blanket before being printed on the substrate. Following are the general terms you come across in offset printing



  • Opacity- This means the quality of being impenetrable by liquids or light. With paper, it refers to the ability to keep print from showing through to the other side.

  • Opaque- In production it means a solution or paint used to block out areas on a film negative to keep them from being reproduced on the plate.

  • Overprinting- It normally means printing an image over another impression. It also refers to printing a secondary color over a primary color in graphic arts work.


Process of offset printing

Offset printing has been the most general form of commercial printing for the last sixty years. The most vital element of the offset printing process is a plate manufactured from metalor polyster. This plate takes the copy of the image to be printed. The method of printing is as follows



  • The plate is chemically treated so that water can be absorbed only by the non-image areas of the plate.

  • The plate is next attached to a plate cylinder, which rolls precedent the water roller. At this time, the water on the water rollers is absorbed by the non-image areas of the plate, i.e. the areas not needing ink.

  • The cylinder next rolls over the ink roller. At this point of time, the ink on the ink rollers sticks to the areas of the plate that are free of water.

  • The rubber surface on the offset cylinder takes the ink from the plate cylinder and presses it onto the paper, as it is being rolled among the offset cylinder and the impression cylinder.


Types of Offset Presses

Offset presses are primarily of two kinds:



  1. Sheet-fed Offset Printing Press: In this sort of offset press the printing is carried out on single sheets of paper as they are fed to the press one at a time.

  2. Web-fed Offset Printing Press: In this type of offset press the printing is carried out on a single, continuous sheet of paper fed from a huge roll. The sheet is then cut into individual sheets of preferred sizes.


There are a lot of more differences between the different types of offset presses.

Advantages of Offset



  • Great image quality.

  • Works on a broad range of printing surfaces including paper, wood, cloth, metal, leather, rough paper and plastic.

  • The unit cost goes declines as the quantity augments.

  • Superiority and cost-effectiveness in high volume jobs. While today's digital presses are close to the cost/benefit ratio of offset for high quality work, they are not yet able to contend with the volume an offset press may produce.

  • Several modern offset presses use computer-to-plate systems as opposed to the older computer-to-film work flows, further increasing quality.

  • Economical-It is less pricey, especially when there are huge quantities involved

  • Widespread Usability - It may be used on the widest range of printing surfaces, counting paper, wood, metal, even leather

  • simplicity of creating the printing plates

  • The paper does not have to be rated for the elevated temperatures and strain of either the copiers or laser printers

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