1. NAME Hussain Majeed
L2 Media Production
Know about print production technologies and techniques
Research Task Sheet
We are currently planning the making of a horror poster. But we also need to understand
how print products are made and the technologies that can be used.
You will soon be asked to do a presentation on these different technologies so this
research task sheet will help you prepare.
Use the internet to find out what the following technologies are. If you find a useful
source write down the web URL.
1 Outline/describe/explain the following hand printing technique:
Linocutting is a printmaking method; this method is used for printing e.g. sketches.
Linocutting is a variant of woodcut, were a sheet of linoleum
Occasionally laid on a wooden blocks used for the relief exterior. A design is carved into the linocut
exterior with a sharp knife called the V cutter; the shape of the edge of the cutter is a V shape that is
why is called that. The lino is inked with a roller, this is called a brayer, and then it must be
impressed onto paper or fabric. The actual printing can be either done by hand or by pressing with a
hand.
Linocutting can be used to make a hand print, example, sketches, all you need to make a hand print
of your sketches, is by using a tracing paper, the sketched paper, roller, V cutter, spoon, cello tape
and a water based ink, blank paper and a pencil.
You need first to trace the sketches or one sketch by using a tracing paper, then you need to flip the
tracing on its other side, after that you put the tracing paper on a linocut and tape around the linocut
so the paper would not move, then you start to outline around the sketched piece with a pencil, but
there must be pressure so the sketch can be copied on the linocut, after that you have to remove the
tape and the sketch is printed on the linocut, when it has, you must get the V cutter so you can carve
the outline the sketch on the linocut, when the carving is finished, after that you need to paint on the
lino is by using a water based ink with a roller, you role on the lino with the ink, then you have to
put a blank paper on the lino, after that you have to use a spoon and then rolling the spoon on the
paper, when you finish rolling the sketching, the sketching will be printed on the blank paper.
That is how you do a hand print.
An advantage of linocutting is cheap.
You can copy as much as you want of the sketch that printed on the lino and copy the sketch so
many times by using 4 things blank paper, a roller, ink and spoon.
You roll ink with roller on the lino then you put the blank paper on the lino then you roll the spoon
on the paper, the sketch will be copied on the paper and that is it, you can do this method again and
again with out spending lots of money on printing.

2. NAME Hussain Majeed
A disadvantage of Linocutting, is dangerous, when carving the sketch onto the lino with the V
cutter, because you must keep one hand on the lino so it would not move and the other you must
hold the cutter to carve the sketch, but your hand must be kept from the edge of the cutter so they
wouldn’t be any accidents.
A second advantage of linocutting is you can print, not just on piece of paper you can e.g. print on
cards and this good, so you can make something special for your family, friends and so on.
A second disadvantage of Linocutting, it takes a long time to print the sketch on a blank paper, if
the sketch is not printed on the lino, it takes about 2hrs to prepare the things that you need for
printing and to start, sketching, tracing, carving and so on.
So a person must, thing about his time, the person must not rush, so he can print correctly.
A third advantage of linocutting is you can print different kinds of things on e.g. a blank paper or
you can make different kinds of shapes from the paper and the lino.
This will be so much helpful for people than using normal printers to print stuff, some printers can
do these things, but they will cost lots of money.
A third disadvantage of Linocutting, is accuracy, the person must be carful, the person must not
rush the method, because if he rush with anything in this method, then he will make mistakes and
everything will go wrong and he has to start all over again and that is not good.

3. NAME Hussain Majeed
2 Outline/describe/explain the following mechanical printing techniques:
Offset Lithography is the most common type of commercial printing.
Offset lithography method works by, first transferring an image photographically to a thin metal,
paper, or plastic printing plates. Unlike the other types of printing, in offset lithography the image
on the printing plate is not attached or lifted. Rollers apply oil-based ink and water to the plates.
Because oil and water don't combine, the oil-based ink would not stick to the non-image parts. Only
the inked image portion is then transferred to a rubber cylinder that then transfers the image onto
the paper as it passes between it and another cylinder beneath the paper. The meaning of offset
refers to the statement that the image isn't printed directly to the paper from the plates, but is offset
or transferred to an additional surface that then makes contact with the paper.
Offset lithography can be, used by magazine and newspaper publishers. It also used for
stationary such as books and brochure printing, people can be expected in high-quality
production from this technique. Computer aids are as well used to assess recognize the
right mixture of colures to create certain images.
An advantage of Offset lithography, it is high and consistent image quality. The method can be used
for small, medium or the best jobs. There are two kinds of offset printing machines in common
usage for publication today. One of them is in sheet-fed offset printing; separate pages of paper are
supplied into the machine. The pages can be pre-cut to the final publication size or decorated in
After printing.
A disadvantage of Offset lithography, plates are expensive and they wear out fast,
This is not good because they are necessary for Offset lithography; the machine would not print
without these plates and more money need to be paid.
A second advantage of Offset lithography, it produces big jobs, meaning that a company makes lots
of copies from that print that they have done such as a piece of drawing, this is very good, that mean
they make lots of money from their customers and it saves money.

4. NAME Hussain Majeed
A second disadvantage of Offset lithography is, time consuming, if you the press is in a hurry
to do that job, offset printing may not offer a quick result. It takes time to set-up the printing
press. The plates will first need to be improved as well and that is not very good, it will not
just affect the timing of the press, it will make them worry and they will not work in a proper
way.
A third advantage of Offset lithography, it is cheap, every time you print from it, and it will charge
you less, because most of the cost is in the setup of the printer. Any additional quantity costs only a
few pennies per paper and ink.
A third disadvantage of Offset lithography, it has slightly poorer image quality compared to other
types of printing such as rotogravure or photogravure.
Tendency for anodized aluminium printing plates to become sensitive, because to chemical
oxidation and print in non-image/background parts when developed plates are not cared for
properly.
3 Outline/describe/explain the following digital printing techniques:
Laser printing, is an electrostatic digital printing method that quickly makes high quality text and
graphics by passing a laser beam over a charged drum to define a different charged image. The
drum then selectively collects charged toner (toner is a microscopic powder that consist of plastics,
colorants and other chemicals.) and transfers the image to a blank paper, which is then heated to
permanently repair the image. While with digital photocopiers and multifunction printers (MFPs),
laser printers use a xerographic( xerographic is a dry photographic or photocopying method, where
a negative image created by a resinous, a powder on an electrically charged plate is electrically
transferred to and thermally permanent as positive on a paper or other copying outer) printing
method, but differ from analogue photocopiers in that the image is made by the direct scanning of
the medium across the printer's photoreceptor. Therefore, it is proved to be a much faster process
compared to the latter.
Laser printing can be, used to make documents such as a report from Microsoft word or you have a
pretention from a PowerPoint you want to print or maybe you have images you want print to
advertise your supermarket.
An advantage of Laser printing, is, is quick and cheap, Laser printers are cheaper to use, if you print
more papers. It is a fact that vendors give inkjet printers away knowing that they will make plenty
of money on the ink. Laser printers may cost more up front, but the cost per page is a little as a tenth
of what it is for inkjet printers.

5. NAME Hussain Majeed
A disadvantage of Laser printing, it uses the toner, toner is a microscopic powder that consist of
plastics, colorants and other chemicals. Like any small powder, it can be gathered up and carried
by the air and you can breathe it in. Some laser printers emit large quantities of toner particles,
contributing to indoor air pollution. As of the date of publication, there is no evidence that this is
dangerous, but it's still a good idea to keep your office's laser printer in a ventilated area, just in
case.
A second advantage of Laser printing, the user can have waterproof printing, if he wants. In
normal printers the ink smears when it got wet. It doesn’t happen with a laser printer;
plastic is melted to the sheet and is completely water-proof.
A second disadvantage of Laser printing, it is a big printer and utilize complicated technology
and it carry out fast output, the result of which is a relatively large hardware gadget which it
take up a lot of space and that is not good for anybody who has a small house or want to
save space for other things that he want put in it’s place.
A third advantage of Laser printing, needs no ink, it uses the toner.
There is nothing need to be dried up, so nobody have to wait and waist his time for the ink to dry
up.
A third disadvantage of Laser printing, they operate badly, with any normal paper you have.
Between the sometimes complicated way that paper travels inside them and their high temperature
fuser rollers, you cannot print whatever paper you have with a laser printer. So you need to use
specially designed laser papers for anything out of the ordinary or the printer will be damaged, so
the owner must be careful of which paper he uses.

6. NAME Hussain Majeed
A disadvantage of Laser printing, it uses the toner, toner is a microscopic powder that consist of
plastics, colorants and other chemicals. Like any small powder, it can be gathered up and carried
by the air and you can breathe it in. Some laser printers emit large quantities of toner particles,
contributing to indoor air pollution. As of the date of publication, there is no evidence that this is
dangerous, but it's still a good idea to keep your office's laser printer in a ventilated area, just in
case.
A second advantage of Laser printing, the user can have waterproof printing, if he wants. In
normal printers the ink smears when it got wet. It doesn’t happen with a laser printer;
plastic is melted to the sheet and is completely water-proof.
A second disadvantage of Laser printing, it is a big printer and utilize complicated technology
and it carry out fast output, the result of which is a relatively large hardware gadget which it
take up a lot of space and that is not good for anybody who has a small house or want to
save space for other things that he want put in it’s place.
A third advantage of Laser printing, needs no ink, it uses the toner.
There is nothing need to be dried up, so nobody have to wait and waist his time for the ink to dry
up.
A third disadvantage of Laser printing, they operate badly, with any normal paper you have.
Between the sometimes complicated way that paper travels inside them and their high temperature
fuser rollers, you cannot print whatever paper you have with a laser printer. So you need to use
specially designed laser papers for anything out of the ordinary or the printer will be damaged, so
the owner must be careful of which paper he uses.