offset printing

The most common method of printing, which works on the principle of lithography: that is, that grease and water repel one another.

The printing plate is prepared using a photographic technique, resulting in a type image that attracts greasy printing ink. On the printing press the plate is wrapped around a cylinder and wetted and inked in turn. The ink adheres only to the type area, and this image is then transferred via an intermediate blanket cylinder, which is made of rubber, to the paper. Increasingly, new techniques are being used in offset printing, including chemical and digital techniques, which speeds up the process.