commercial processes

Question 1

what does cmyk stand for?

Answer 1

• cyan
• magenta
• yellow
• key

Question 2

what does rgb stand for?

Answer 2

• red
• green
• blue

Question 3

when is rgb used?

Answer 3

household and office printers, technology screens

Question 4

when is cmyk used?

Answer 4

commercial printing such as newspapers and packaging

Question 5

how does rgb printing work?

Answer 5

The printer has a colour cartridge containing three colours and a separate black cartridge. As the printer passes through the paper, the inks are mixed to the desired colour and jetted onto the paper in the correct place.

Question 6

how does cmyk work?

Answer 6

It divides an image up into the 4 colour areas. Paper is passed through 4 plates or rollers, each of which print the desired amount of that colour.

Question 7

what is offset lithography?

Answer 7

the process by which cmyk colours are printed

Question 8

describe offset lithography

Answer 8

• for each of the 4 colours, the image is applied to an aluminium printing plate using UV light
• plate is chemically treated so the blank area attracts water and the image attracts ink
• plate is attached to a plate cylinder
• oil-based ink and water are applied to the plate cylinder with rollers
• Water is used so the ink doesn’t stick to those areas
• image picks up ink and blank area picks up water
• plate cylinder presses against a blanket cylinder which presses away excess water and transfers the ink image to a piece of paper

Question 9

how does offset lithography print double sided?

Answer 9

there are rollers above and below

Question 10

why is die cutting suitable for commercial manufacture?

Answer 10

• speeds up the production of cardboard packaging for mass manufacture of product packaging
• multiple copies of nets can be cut in one go
• once set up process allows for highly accurate, repetitive production of die-cut items
• a net can be cut out as a flat shape and assembled into a 3D construction at a later point