University of Hertingham-Administration department

To: Mrs. A. Garner, Head of Administration From: Chrystalla Athamou Date: 23/2/12 For this event I have been asked to research three printed products: posters, invitations for award winners and VIPs as well as programme sheets for all of the guests. For the three printed products I have been given some requirements that I must follow.

Posters-Should

Invitations-Since there will be 40 award winners and 25VIP guests, this

is a very prestigious award so the invites should have a very high quality feel to them.

be designed by an art student and reflect creative nature of the award winners work. 30 posters would be sufficient for the university site.

Programme-Can be printed out on an A5 paper, since its only a running

order. 300 programmes will cover the largest number of guests attending the event. For each of the products required I have done extensive research into five different print technologies, of which four could be suitable for the tasks. I am recommending the following, as best as I can following the requirements given to me.

Intaglio- The intaglio is a printing process in which ink is retained in

the recessed areas of the printing plate (which is wetted and wiped before every impression) before being transferred to paper or other printing surface. Gravure printing is also an intaglio process. press-Oldest method (used first by Gutenberg in 1455) of commercial printing in which raised letters or images pick up ink from a roller and transfer it to the paper. It is a relief-printing process, opposite of the intaglio process.

Letter

Offset Litho or Digital-Most common commercial printing technology

in which the image to be printed is photographically transferred to a metal or plastic printing plate which is wetted by water. The image portion of the plate repels water but picks up oil-based ink from a roller, and the non-image areas retain water but repel the ink. The inked image is then transferred first to a sheet of rubber or plastic (called a 'blanket')which transfers it to the paper. The objective of this double transfer it to avoid the printing plate's contact with paper (and thus reduce its wear) which has a rougher surface than the blanket.

 Linocut/woodcut

& Letterpress printer-Woodcutis a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, (the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges). The areas to show 'white' are cut away with a knife or chisel, leaving the characters or image to show in 'black' at the original surface level.

Compared to intaglio techniques like etching and engraving, only low pressure is required to print. There are three methods of printing to consider:

Stamping: Used for many fabrics and most early European woodcuts

(140040). These were printed by putting the paper/fabric on a table or other flat surface with the block on top, & pressing or hammering the back of the block. Rubbing: The most common method for Far Eastern printing on paper at all times. Used for European woodcuts and block-books later in the fifteenth century, and very widely for cloth. Also used for many Western woodcuts from about 1910 to the present. Printing in a press: presses only seem to have been used in Asia in relatively recent times. Printing-presses were used from about 1480 for European prints and block-books, and before that for woodcut book illustrations. Simple weighted presses may have been used in Europe before the print-press, but firm evidence is lacking.