Personalized Invitations & Stationery; 4 Color Offset Printing

Today, technology is one of the most important aspects in the world of printing. The type of equipment used for any kind of printing job can greatly impact the outcome of the entire project. All companies these days are aware of this factor, and hence strive to upgrade their printing technologies, to keep up with the rapid technological advances. One of the most recent developments in the world of printing is the use of 4-color offset printing.

Being one of the most widely used techniques, offset printing involves the transference of an inked image from a plate to a rubber blanket, and from there on to a printing surface. When offset printing is used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on the repulsion of water and oil, then the offset method involves a flat or planographic image carrier, wherein the image that is to be printed obtains ink from the rollers, while the non-printing part attracts a film of water, keeping the areas that are non-printing ink free.

4-color offset printing is the traditional method of printing most of the color work. However, maps have been the only exceptions because of the requirements for fine lines. The 4-color offset printing technique utilizes three basic colors that are present in the subtractive color model, namely Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. Theoretically, a mixture of 100% of these three colors will produce a fourth black color, which in reality is a shade of dark brown. Thus, this black or dark brown is used in prints as a separate color. Named after these four essential colors, the model is commonly referred to as CMYK.

The advantages of 4-Color Offset Printing

By using 4-color offset printing, you will get a consistent high quality image. Cleaner and sharper than letterpress printing, 4-color offset printing uses a rubber blanket that matches the texture of the printing surface.
Apart from paper, 4-color offset printing can be used on a wide range of surfaces. For example, it can be used on cloth, leather, wood, metal, and rough paper to name a few.
It is efficient because of its fast and easy production of printing plates.
A 4-color offset printer has a longer plate life than the direct litho presses. This is because there is no direct contact between the plates and the printing surface.

Even though 4-color offset printing requires less standardized inks, the biggest advantage of using this method is that it also includes the use of full color advertisements and color photographs, with no additional costs. The use of these sophisticated digital techniques to develop four-color separations has made it possible to create superior quality orienteering maps. This, however, is not the basic method for printing orienteering maps; it is used as an alternative. This technique will only be satisfactory when legibility, color appearance, and line quality are of the same quality as the conventional spot color printed maps. Nevertheless, mapmakers will have to take into consideration the potential errors and limitations of using this particular technique. The duplication of thin lines or contours requires special care and attention.