Printing technology has definite scope in today's media-driven world. Print
media one of the strongest and powerful mass communication media, is a large
scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction
printing. Print technology was invented in the fourteenth century by Johannes
Gutenberg of Europe, most popularly known as the father of printing. Though
printing used to exist in China and East Asia much earlier initially as Wood
block printing and then as movable printing, it was the printing press or the
movable type printing of Gutenberg that the later developments were derived
from.
Most notable among the printing techniques later developed include Steaming
press (1830), Rotary printing press (1843) where the content to be printed are
rolled around a cylinder, which enabled mass production, and its more popular
variations such as Offset press (where the inked content is transferred from a
plate to a rubber surface and then to the printing surface), Gravure (where the
content to be printed is made up of small depressions in the surface of the
printing plate) and flexography (where a flexible plate is used), digital
printing and many more. With recent advances in engineering and the boom in use
of computers in business, modern technology has changed the way in which
printing is now executed. Latest presses are mostly computer controlled.
Printing means presentation. It is the presentation of our ideas, views,
thoughts, news & events, expressions and skill in the form of printed
text or graphic format. In other words, it is a tool to express creativity
using technical skills. It is a multi-disciplinary profession, which deals
with text and graphics to make a final print by transferring ink on paper
or board or other materials. The printed material either book, magazine
or newspaper has a strong impact on society and plays a key role in nation
building. Print media influences every sphere of our life. It not only
helps in educating people but also provide them a clear picture of what
is going on in and around the world.
Printing technology, a part of the mass communication process involves
several skills, in which technical skills holds prime importance. Each person
engaged in performing typesetting, designing, pasting, plate making, image
setting, camera work, printing and binding has a specific and specialized role
to perform and contribute for the final output.
The type of printing process / technique used varies depending on the sort of
final product your employer's business produces. The most popular
applications of printing are newspapers, periodicals and hoardings, which
include colour magazines, books, brochures, posters, catalogue, pamphlet,
banners and so on. Others manufacture labels for foodstuffs, bottles and
clothing. Some produce specialised items such as chip packets, frozen food
wrapping and CD labels. Offset printing (combined with lithography
technique is commonly used for books and newspapers), Rotogravure (for
magazines, packaging), Flexography (for labels, packaging, newspapers), screen
printing (for printing on T-shirts, floor tiles etc.), digital printing such as
inkjet (for books, packaging etc), laser (for bills, documents), dot-matrix etc
are some of the common techniques used.
