Printing Press 101: Everything You Need to Know About Presses

PrintRunnerTo the uninitiated, printing may seem like a fairly straightforward process: You design something, you send it off to your printing company (or print it yourself at home), and voila! Words and images appear on the paper like magic! Of course, there’s much more to it than that, and the fact of the matter is that not all printing presses are created equal. First, you have to determine which type of printing press will best meet your needs; then, you have to decide which brands manufacture the best presses. When you choose PrintRunner.com for your printing needs, you can rest assured that the most carefully informed choices have been made for you in order to ensure the highest quality finished product possible. But perhaps you still have questions about the printing presses used by PrintRunner, and the ways in which they’re superior to other printing presses.

The most important thing you need to know about the PrintRunner presses is that the company relies exclusively on offset printing techniques. Essentially, offset printing differs from other printing methods like letterpress or photogravure in that it involves transferring an image from a specially made plate to a rubber blanket. The rubber blanket, with the image intact, is then applied to the printing surface in question. Offset printing is commonly acknowledged as the most affordable yet consistently high quality printing methods available, making it the perfect choice for commercial printers like PrintRunner. The ease with which plates can be created also means that offset printing offers fast turnaround times – another reason why it’s the preferred method of businesses that need to create print marketing materials without going over their deadlines – or busting their budgets.

Basically, offset printing relies on one very basic concept: Oil-based inks and water don’t mix. Whatever needs to be printed is put on a plate which is dampened with both ink and water. The ink adheres to the area with the image or text, while the water does not. As the plate is applied to the rubber blanket, only the image is transferred, and the prints can then be made. This is where the “offset” in offset printing comes in: The plates aren’t applied directly to the paper as they are in other types of printing, such as gravure.

PrintRunner’s full color offset printing techniques offer rich, vibrant, true-to-life colors and crystal clear on-page resolution courtesy of their Komori and Heidelberg presses. These are two of the most prominent names in the printing industry. Heidelberg Druckmaschinen AG is a German company that was founded over 150 years ago, and is currently the largest manufacturer of printing presses worldwide. Their sheet-fed offset printers offer an easy and affordable printing experience that doesn’t skimp on quality. Komori, a Japanese company, is the fourth-largest manufacturer of printers in the world and has been creating superlative printing presses since the 1920s. PrintRunner takes pride in offering customers access to these top of the line machines, which are housed in our spotless facilities in southern California.

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PrintRunner
PrintRunner offers online printing service based in Van Nuys, California. They specialize in supplying discerning clients with superior print stickers, business cards, posters, postcards, and other products at affordable rates. Get a FREE copy of their sample kit now and see for yourself.