Printing Knowledge

Name Thickness/mm Name Thickness/mm
80gsm art paper 0.065 105gsm matt coated paper 0.09
105gsm art paper 0.085 128gsm matt coated paper 0.12
128gsm art paper 0.105 157gsm matt coated paper 0.16
157gsm art paper 0.135 200gsm matt coated paper 0.19
200gsm art paper 0.17 210gsm matt coated paper 0.21
210gsm art paper 0.19 230gsm matt coated paper 0.23…

An inkjet coder is only as reliable as its printhead. The printhead is the most delicate part of the machine, and the way it is handled day to day decides both print quality and how long the head keeps working. Small, consistent habits cost little time, and they protect the single most expensive...…

Lamination film is one of the quieter cost centers in post-press finishing. The same film roll can cover very different numbers of sheets depending on how the job is handled, and most of that difference comes down to operator technique rather than machine settings. Four working habits, plus caref...…

Water-soluble inks, also called water-based inks or aqueous inks, are widely used in inkjet printing systems. Understanding their physical and chemical properties is key to maintaining consistent print quality and preventing common issues like nozzle clogging or poor adhesion. This article breaks...…

Understanding Photosensitive Materials for Screen Printing

Screen printing relies on photosensitive emulsions to create durable, high-resolution stencils on …

Understanding the different types of digital printing inks is essential for anyone involved in print buying, design, or self-publishing. Each ink technology behaves differently on various substrates, affects print quality, and comes with its own cost and performance trade-offs. This guide breaks...…

In offset printing, the quality of your printed piece depends heavily on the paper you choose. Understanding how paper properties interact with ink and press conditions helps you make better decisions for your print projects. Five key paper characteristics have the most direct impact on the final...…

Letterpress printing, which uses raised type and image plates to transfer ink onto paper, remains a respected technique for creating distinctive printed pieces. From limited-edition books and art prints to high-end business cards and invitations, the process produces impressions with a tactile qu...…

Gravure printing has long been a preferred choice for high-volume print projects, from magazines and catalogs to packaging and labels. Its ability to deliver consistent color quality across long runs, combined with cost efficiency at scale, makes it a cornerstone of commercial printing. But the c...…

If you have ever ordered custom stickers or product labels, you may have noticed that a roll of label stock is never a single piece of material. Peel a die-cut label off the backing and you are separating two layers. In fact, a typical pressure-sensitive label construction contains seven distinct...…

On a folding carton , color is often the first thing a shopper notices. A food brand's red, a cosmetic brand's rose gold, a toy brand's bright blue: these hues are usually printed as spot colors rather than CMYK builds, because four-color process inks cannot reproduce the full range of vivid, sat...…

Shipping labels, warehouse bin tags, retail price stickers, and compliance labels all start the same way: someone has to print them. A label printer puts that task in your own hands, and the machine you choose affects daily cost, print quality, and how smoothly your operation runs. The right pick...…

Custom printed napkins are standard in restaurants and hotels across Europe and North America, and the market is growing quickly in China as dining brands look for low-cost ways to reinforce their identity. Most of these napkins are produced by flexographic printing, a process that suits thin, ab...…

Screen printing on dark fabric is a different job than screen printing on white or light-colored fabric. On a light shirt, the ink sits on top of the fabric and keeps its full brightness. On a dark shirt, the fabric color shows through translucent ink, so the printed image looks muddy and dull. M...…

When a printed book or label looks sharp, with colors lining up perfectly from sheet to sheet, the credit often goes to motion control technology inside the press. The machine must move paper, rollers, and print units at exactly the right speed and position, thousands of times per minute. Small e...…

Inkjet all-in-one machines handle a lot of everyday work for designers, self-publishers, and small offices. They produce the quick color proofs you check before a job goes to a commercial printer, and they handle small print runs that do not warrant a full production cycle. A machine that is not...…

Flexographic printing, or flexo, is a rotary process that runs a continuous web of material through the press at high speed. Labels, flexible packaging , and folding cartons are typical jobs. Because the web never stops moving, the press must keep it under steady control from the unwind roll to t...…

When 100 gsm coated paper is trimmed on a guillotine cutter, printers sometimes see a classic defect: the finished stack comes out narrower at the top than at the bottom. Watch the cut closely and the lower sheets appear to bulge upward for a moment. Many print buyers assume the machine is broken...…

You judge a printed book by its cover, but you feel its quality when you run a finger down the trimmed edges. A clean, square trim makes a paperback feel professional. A rough one, with chipped corners or fibers sticking out, cheapens the whole job. Most of these defects start at one machine: the...…

Ink fill-in, also called plugging or tinting, is a print defect that appears as blocked letters, merged halftone dots, and dirty-looking blank areas. Small type becomes hard to read, fine lines lose their shape, and images look muddy. For print buyers and designers, the result is a job that fails...…