Printing Knowledge

Paper, including both paper and cardboard, is made from plant fibers, fillers, pigments, and adhesives. In packaging printing, to ensure high-quality printed products, five key factors must be considered: people, machines, materials, methods, and environment. As a primary material, the quality of paper has a significant impact on printing. Its effe…

Post-press surface finishing plays a vital role in color printing and packaging production. In today’s highly competitive printing market, the success of a product often depends on the quality of its packaging. The effectiveness of post-press surface finishing directly determines the overall appearance and grade of the packaging, thereby influenci…

Prepress plate-making equipment is highly precise. In practice, a large proportion of equipment failures are caused by external factors rather than inherent defects. These causes are diverse, and solutions must be determined according to actual conditions.
Based on long-term maintenance experience, the following 23 factors are summarized as common …

The success of shadow tone reproduction in printing largely depends on the proper setup and effective use of the black plate (K plate). In practical production, problems such as blocked shadows, muddy dark areas, or loss of detail are often caused not by equipment or materials, but by improper black plate control. Common issues include the followin…

There are various ways to classify printing plates used in book production.
Generally, they can be categorized in two major ways:
(1) By the materials used for making the plate
(2) By the surface structure of the plate
I. Classification by Plate-Making Materials
Common types include wood plates, metal plates, stone plates, resin plates, glass plate…

When creating structural designs for printed products—especially items with irregular shapes such as custom-shaped book covers or specialty packaging—designers need a solid understanding of printing and die-cutting processes. For example, when preparing artwork for a book cover with a special outline, the designer must also prepare a precise die-…

1. Common Standard Sizes for Printed Materials (Finished Size)
Type of Printed Material Standard Size (mm) Notes
IC Card 85×54 Universal standard size
Tri-Fold Brochure 210×285 Designed based on A4 specification
Regular Brochure 210×285 Compatible with A4 paper
Document Envelope 220×305 Suitable for inserting A4 documents
Poster 540×380 Regula…

A thermal dissolution CTP plate is a type of thermal computer-to-plate material. It typically consists of three main layers:
An aluminum substrate that does not require mechanical graining
An ink-receptive thermal imaging layer
A top protective layer, which is either PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) for conventional offset printing or silicone for waterless…

Prepress refers to all technical and creative tasks completed before the actual printing process. It includes typesetting, layout design, image processing, color correction, file preparation, proofing, and plate-making. Prepress is the bridge between graphic design and print production, requiring knowledge of both desktop publishing software and pr…

Tote bag printing can be classified into three main categories based on purpose and design style: advertising tote bags, shopping tote bags, and gift tote bags.
1. Advertising Tote Bags
Advertising tote bags focus on promoting brands and products. By combining creative graphics, recognizable symbols, descriptive text, and appealing print colors, th…

The main methods for controlling gray balance in printing include the gray balance curve, gray scale, gray balance test chart, and the G7 methodology. The following section compares the gray balance curve, the gray scale, the gray balance test chart, and the G7 process in terms of their approaches to gray balance control.
Gray Scale
The most common…

1. Standard Artwork Size for Catalogs
The design file size should be 291 × 426 mm (including 3 mm bleed on all sides).
Add a center guideline to divide the layout into two pages.
2. Standard Finished Size
The finished catalog size is 285 × 210 mm.
3. Layout Requirements
When designing the layout, keep all text and important elements at least 5 mm…

Because the cylinder-to-cylinder (rotary) method uses line contact, it can completely avoid the bubbling issues that may occur in flat-bed hot stamping, while also offering higher speed and better quality. However, since both the stamping plate and the counter-die are cylindrical, the machining difficulty and cost are high, and the heat-transfer ef…

Color separation plays a crucial role in ensuring accurate and high-quality printing output. Below are the common issues frequently encountered during the color-separation process and the challenges they may introduce:
1. Insufficient image resolution
Low-resolution files result in blurred or jagged printed images. The problem becomes more obvious …

1. Single-Page Printed Materials
When imposing single-page prints, leave a 6 mm bleed at the center joining area (vertical center line).
This means each page should have a 3 mm bleed on all four sides (requires two cutting passes).
Note:
If your print material does not contain full-bleed images, backgrounds, or patterned areas, or if it uses a sing…

In offset printing, multiple pages or multiple jobs are often imposed onto a large printing sheet to improve efficiency and reduce production costs. There are three common methods of double-sided imposition: Work & Turn, Work & Tumble, and Work & Back.
The main difference lies in how the sheet is handled after the first side is printed.
1. Work & T…

Q: Many customers request converting spot colors to CMYK to reduce printing costs, yet still want the final print to match a specific Pantone color. This often creates challenges during prepress and the actual printing process. What are the best ways to handle this situation while meeting customer expectations as much as possible?
A:
1. CMYK color …

In print design, embossing and debossing (also known as relief or raised printing) are special techniques that can significantly enhance the tactile and visual quality of printed materials. However, many designers focus solely on the visual aspect of embossing, neglecting specific production requirements. This often leads to unsatisfactory results.…

Problem Description:
Before baking, the printing plate appears clean with almost no stains. However, after baking, many small and irregular dirty spots appear. These spots are often invisible to the naked eye until the plate is mounted on the press and printing begins.
Possible Causes and Solutions:
Excessive washing pressure or uneven coating
Exce…

ncrease Precision During Linearization
When performing linearization, try setting a higher precision level. This helps achieve smoother gradients and reduces visible graininess in printed results.
Understand the Difference Between EFI and OEM Drivers
At the same resolution, if you’re used to printing with the original OEM driver, EFI output may ap…