What is Design for Print ?

As a group we had to come up with a list or summarisation of what we thought design for print actually is.
And so we came up with a list



And then we tried to come up with a summarisation and this is what we came up with...

In order to design for print the designer must take the appropriate audience, context, processes and materials in to consideration to produce a physical outcome.

However we then discussed this concept as a group , and we came to the conclusion that there are too many variables and processes involved in design for print and you can't come up with a distinctive definition. 

We did come up with six categories that can help to define design for print

• Format
• Colour
• Production
• Processes
• Finishing
• Stock

The last category- stock is the only differential factor between design for print or design for web. 

Also another factor that makes the two different is time. Once something is printed it is definite and the information on it can't be retracted or changed and so the information is now technically past, whereas information on the web is dynamic and it can be deleted and changed, its present (as such)

Format 

CD Inserts and Covers 

Magazines

Colour

Process Color Printing (CMYK)Process color printing, also known at four-color process printing, is a method that reproduces finished full-color artwork and photographs. The three primary colors used are cyan (process blue), magenta (process red), andyellow. These inks are translucent and are used to simulate different colors, for example, green can be created using cyan and yellow. The "K" in CMYK is black. Black ink is used to create fine detail and strong shadows.
Artwork and photos are reproduced when the colors in the artwork are separated, then halftoned (converted to dots). Process colors are reproduced by overlapping and printing halftones to simulate a large number of colours.

Spot Color Printing
If you need to match a particular color, perhaps a logo color, and have a limited budget, then spot color is something to consider. Spot colors are printed with premixed inks on a printing press or screen printer. Each spot color is reproduced using a single printing plate or screen.
To ensure that a printer uses the exact color that the designer intends, the Pantone Matching System (PMS) is used. Each PMS number references a unique spot color and these colors can be found on a swatch chart. By using this type of numbering system, people can convey the exact colors for a printed piece to each other without actually looking at the same samples.

It's important to remember that spot colors may not actually translate to matching process colors. Unlike process printing, which prints dots of color, a spot color is printed at 100% and has no dot pattern.

Production

Die Cut
A die is a specialized tool used in manufacturing industries to cut or shape material using a press. Like molds, dies are generally customized to the item they are used to create. Products made with dies range from simple paper clips to complex pieces used in advanced technology.
Die cutting is the process of using a die to shear webs of low-strength materials, such as rubber, fiber, foil, cloth,paper, corrugated fiberboard, paperboard, plastics, pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes, foam and sheet metal. 

Hot Stamp
In a hot stamping machine, a die is mounted and heated, with the product to be stamped placed beneath it. A metallized or painted roll-leaf carrier is inserted between the two, and the die presses down through it. The dry paint or foil used is impressed into the surface of the product. The dye-stamping process itself is non-polluting because the materials involved are dry.
Dies may be made of metal or silicone rubber, and they may be shaped directly or cast. They can carry high levels of detail to be transferred to the surface and may be shaped to accommodate irregularities in the surface.

http://www.underconsideration.com/fpo/archives/2013/09/let-there-be-lights-gruppo-cordenon-promo.php

Processes

Inkjet

Inkjet printing is a type of computer printing that creates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper, plastic, or other substrates. Inkjet printers are the most commonly used type of printer, and range from small inexpensive consumer models to very large professional machines that can cost tens of thousands of dollars, or more.

The concept of inkjet printing originated in the 19th century, and the technology was first extensively developed in the early 1950s. Starting in the late 1970s inkjet printers that could reproduce digital images generated by computers were developed, mainly byEpson, Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Canon. In the worldwide consumer market, four manufacturers account for the majority of inkjet printer sales: Canon, HP, Epson, and Lexmark, a 1991 spin-off from IBM.

The emerging ink jet material deposition market also uses inkjet technologies, typically printheads using piezoelectric crystals, to deposit materials directly on substrates.

There are two main technologies in use in contemporary inkjet printers: continuous (CIJ) and Drop-on-demand (DOD).

Advantages:

• Compared to earlier consumer-oriented color printers, inkjets have a number of advantages. They are quieter in operation than impactdot matrix or daisywheel printers. They can print finer, smoother details through higher printhead resolution, and many consumer inkjets with photographic-quality printing are widely available.
• In comparison to more expensive technologies like thermal wax, dye sublimation, and laser printing, inkjets have the advantage of practically no warm up time, and lower cost per page. However, low-cost laser printers can have lower per-page costs, at least for black-and-white printing, and possibly for color.
• For some inkjet printers, monochrome ink sets are available either from the printer manufacturer or from third-party suppliers. These allow the inkjet printer to compete with the silver-based photographic papers traditionally used in black-and-white photography, and provide the same range of tones: neutral, "warm" or "cold". When switching between full-color and monochrome ink sets, it is necessary to flush out the old ink from the print head with a cleaning cartridge. Special software or at least a modified device driver are usually required, to deal with the different color mapping.
• Some types of inkjet printers are capable of very high speed printing. One commercial high speed ink jet printer can print on 30 inch wide web at 200 meters / minute.

Disadvantages:

• (Original) ink is often very expensive. According to the BBC (2003), "The cost of ink has been the subject of an Office of Fair Trading investigation. Which? magazine has accused manufacturers of a lack of transparency about the price of ink and called for an industry standard for measuring ink cartridge performance".
• Many "intelligent" ink cartridges contain a microchip that communicates the estimated ink level to the printer; this may cause the printer to display an error message, or incorrectly inform the user that the ink cartridge is empty. In some cases, these messages can be ignored, but some inkjet printers will refuse to print with a cartridge that declares itself empty, to prevent consumers from refilling cartridges. For example, Epson embeds a chip which prevents printing when the chip claims the cartridge is empty, although a researcher who over-rode the system found that in one case he could print up to 38% more good quality pages, even though the chip stated that the cartridge was empty.
• The lifetime of inkjet prints produced by inkjets using aqueous inks is shorter (although UV-resistant inks are available) than those produced with solvent-based inkjets and so-called "archival inks" have been produced for use in aqueous-based machines which offer extended life.
• Because the ink used in most consumer inkjets is water-soluble, care must be taken with inkjet-printed documents to avoid even the smallest drop of water, which can cause severe "blurring" or "running". Similarly, water-based highlighter markers can blur inkjet-printed documents and discolor the highlighter's tip.
• The very narrow inkjet nozzles are prone to clogging. The ink consumed cleaning them—either during cleaning invoked by the user, or in many cases, performed automatically by the printer on a routine schedule—can account for a significant proportion of the ink used in the machine.

These disadvantages have been addressed in a variety of ways:

• Third-party ink suppliers sell ink cartridges at significant discounts (at least 10%−30% off OEM cartridge prices, sometimes up to 95%), and also bulk ink and cartridge self-refill kits at even lower prices.
• Many vendors' "intelligent" ink cartridges have been reverse-engineered. It is now possible to buy inexpensive devices to reliably reset such cartridges to report themselves as full, so that they may be refilled many times.
• Print lifetime is highly dependent on the quality and formulation of the ink as well as the paper chosen. The earliest inkjet printers, intended for home and small office applications, used dye-based inks. Even the best dye-based inks are not as durable as pigment-based inks, which are now available for many inkjet printers.
• Many inkjet printers now utilize pigment based ink which are highly water resistant: at least black ink is pigment-based. Resin or silicon protected photopaper is widely available at low cost, introducing complete water and rub resistance for dye and pigment inks, although it should be noted that the photopaper itself must be designed for pigment or for dye inks, as pigment particles are too large to be able to penetrate through dye-only photopaper protection layer.
• Inkjet printing head nozzles can be cleaned using specialized solvents; or by soaking in warm distilled water for short periods of time.

Offset

Offset printing is a commonly used printing technique in which the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on the repulsion of oiland water, the offset technique employs a flat (planographic) image carrier on which the image to be printed obtains ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a water-based film (called "fountain solution"), keeping the non-printing areas ink-free.

Offset lithography is one of the most common ways of creating printed matter. A few of its common applications include: newspapers, magazines, brochures, stationery, and books.  Compared to other printing methods, offset printing is best suited for economically producing large volumes of high quality prints in a manner that requires little maintenance. Many modern offset presses use computer to plate systems as opposed to the older computer to film work flows, which further increases their quality.

Advantages of offset printing compared to other printing methods include:

• Consistent high image quality. Offset printing produces sharp and clean images and type more easily than, for example, letterpress printing; this is because the rubber blanket conforms to the texture of the printing surface.
• Quick and easy production of printing plates.
• Longer printing plate life than on direct litho presses because there is no direct contact between the plate and the printing surface. Properly developed plates used with optimized inks and fountain solution may achieve run lengths of more than a million impressions.
• Cost. Offset printing is the cheapest method for producing high quality prints in commercial printing quantities.
• A further advantage of offset printing is the possibility of adjusting the amount of ink on the fountain roller with screw keys. Most commonly, a metal blade controls the amount of ink transferred from the ink trough to the fountain roller. By adjusting the screws, the gap between the blade and the fountain roller is altered, leading to the amount of ink applied to the roller to be increased or decreased in certain areas. Consequently the density of the colour in the respective area of the image is modified. On older machines the screws are adjusted manually, but on modern machines the screw keys are operated electronically by the printer controlling the machine, enabling a much more precise result.^[8]

Disadvantages of offset printing compared to other printing methods include:

• Slightly inferior image quality compared to rotogravure or photogravure printing.
• Propensity for anodized aluminum printing plates to become sensitive (due to chemical oxidation) and print in non-image/background areas when developed plates are not cared for properly.
• Time and cost associated with producing plates and printing press setup. As a result, very small quantity printing jobs may now use digital offset machines.

Finishing

Embossing/ Debossing

Embossing and dembossing are similar processes that create a different result. Both processes involve making a metal plate and a counter. The plate is mounted on a press and the paper is stamped between the plate and counter. This force of pressure pushes the stock into the plate, creating the impression.

Embossing produces a raised impression on your paper stock, while debossingcreates a depressed impression.

Things to remember when designing for a piece that includes embossing/debossing:

• Be aware that embossing is a mechanical process that manipulates the paper stock, so by default, it will also manipulate your design.
• Set your type with more space between letters than usual. If you put them too close to one another, they can merge and become one element once the embossing has been done. Embossing makes design elements look smaller and reduces the sharpness of smaller items.

There are two ways you can emboss your work at home: dry embossing andheat embossing.

Dry embossing, also called relief embossing, is done by tracing a stencil with some paper over it with a special tool called a stylus to get the raised effect on it.

Heat embossing, also referred to as stamp and heat embossing, is done by stamping an image on a piece of paper, sprinkling powder over the stamped image, and then applying heat.

Varnish

A varnish is a liquid coating applied to a printed surface to add a clear glossy, matte, satin, or neutral finish. Here are the types of varnishes:

Gloss Varnishing: A gloss varnish gives the printed surface a glossy sheen look.

Matte Varnishing: A matte varnish gives the surface a non-glossy, smooth look.

Silk or Satin Varnishing: A satin varnish gives the printed surface a neither a high gloss or matte, but the middle ground. 

UV Varnishing: Ultraviolet (UV) varnishing is a process for achieving an even more striking type of coating on your printed material.

All over UV Varnish: This is a UV seal applied all over the printed surface

Spot UV Varnish: A spot varnish is applied to chosen spots (areas) of a printed piece. This has the affect of highlighting and drawing attention to that part of the design.

Stock

Coated paper

Coated paper is paper which has been coated by a compound to impart certain qualities to the paper, including weight, surface gloss, smoothness or reduced ink absorbency.

Kaolinite, calcium carbonate, Bentonite, talc... are used to coat paper for high quality printing used in packaging industry and in magazines. The chalk or china clay is bound to the paper with synthetic viscofiers, such as styrene-butadiene latexes and natural organic binders such as starch. The coating formulation may also contain chemical additives as dispersants, resins, PE: to give water resistance and wet strength to the paper, or to protect against ultraviolet radiation.

Thermal Paper

Thermal paper is a special fine paper that is coated with a chemical that changes color when exposed to heat. It is used in thermal printers and particularly in inexpensive or lightweight devices such as adding machines, cash registers, and credit card terminals.

The surface of the paper is coated with a solid-state mixture of a dye and a suitable matrix; a combination of a fluoran leuco dye andoctadecylphosphonic acid as an example. When the matrix is heated above its melting point, the dye reacts with the acid, shifts to its colored form, and the changed form is then conserved in a metastable state when the matrix solidifies back quickly enough.

Usually, the coating will turn black when heated, but coatings that turn blue or red are sometimes used. While an open heat source, such as a flame, can discolor the paper, a fingernail swiped quickly across the paper will also generate enough heat from friction to produce a mark.

Multicolor thermal paper first became available in the early 1990's with the introduction of the Fuji Thermo-Autochrome (TA) system. This was followed in the early 2000's by the development of the Polaroid "zero-ink" (ZINK) system. Both of these methods rely on multi-layer coatings with three separate colorizing layers, but different methods are used for independent activation of each layer.

Most direct thermal papers require a protective top-coating to:

• reduce fading of the thermal image caused by exposure to UV light, water, oils, grease, lard, fats, plasticizers, and similar causes
• provide improved print head wear
• reduce or eliminate residue from the thermal coating on the thermal print heads
• provide better anchorage of flexographic printing inks applied to the thermal paper
• focus the heat from the thermal print head on the active coating.

What would I like to learn this year : 

I would like to learn how to and experiment with 

• Foiling
• Embossing/ debossing
• And various varnishing techniques

I find these the most interesting and relevant to myself and my practice, and I really like all of these finishing techniques. I haven't really experimented beyond the initial process.