Tuesday, 22 December 2009

Printing Services - Over The Years

By Beth Smith

When it comes to distributing info to a large number of people, print is one of the most popular media. Over the years the printing services industry has developed immensely & has reached its present form of a diversified industry. Today it can address almost any need of the clients associated with printing & its ancillary requirements.

With the invention of the first printing press by Gutenberg in the--00's, bulk printing services in the form of relief printing developed into a full fledged industrial service. In relief printing the printed image appears elevated from the base, just as you see in a rubber stamp. Nowadays relief printing is not as popular and has very limited uses.

The industry has seen radical transformation in the printing techniques used, and these changes were most of the times driven by progress in technology. Modern printing methods have developed to a great extent, and each method has its own uses. The mind-boggling diversity of available options in printing techniques in fact greatly confuses the clients.

Of all printing methods in the market today, offset printing tops the list in popularity. In this method, limited ink is used to print the image, which is first applied on metal plates and is then transmitted onto paper. This method is best for mass printing, as it is both faster and lesser expensive than other methods in the market.

Other well known forms of printing that have developed over time are electrostatic printing, which can be compared to photocopying, and thermal printing, which creates the print impression by heating coated thermal paper in select areas.

However, digital printing is the most recent technological innovation in this field. As the name tells you, in this method, images are created on a computer, which are then checked for correctness and are finally printed. But this fast and trustworthy method works best in situations where only a small number of prints is required. As the printer can customize each print in this method, it can be employed for computer form printing, where documents such as receipts or bills can be printed for different customers, with each having an identical format but varying contents.

The advent of the internet in printing has been another huge leap for the industry. Most printing firms run their own websites that permit customers to easily place orders and study designs and templates, without them having to walk or drive all the way to the firm's premises for this purpose.

Printing has always taken giant evolutionary jumps with the advancement in technology. The good news is that this trend of progress is going to continue unabated in the future too, bringing positive advancements to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

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