What is DTP
Using a personal computer or workstation to produce high-quality printed
documents. A desktop publishing system allows you to use different typefaces,
specify various margins and justifications, and embed illustrations and graphs
directly into the text. The most powerful desktop publishing systems enable you
to create illustrations, while less powerful systems let you insert
illustrations created by other programs.
As word-processing programs become more and more powerful, the line
separating such programs from desktop publishing systems is becoming blurred.
In general, though, desktop publishing applications give you more control over
typographical characteristics, such as kerning, and provide more support for
full-color output.
A particularly important feature of desktop publishing systems is that
they enable you to see on the display screen exactly how the document will
appear when printed. Systems that support this feature are called WYSIWYGs
(what you see is what you get).
Desktop publishing (abbreviated DTP) is the creation of documents using
page layout skills on a personal computer primarily for print. Desktop
publishing software can generate layouts and produce typographic quality text
and images comparable to traditional typography and printing. This technology
allows individuals, businesses, and other organizations to self-publish a wide
range of printed matter. Desktop publishing is also the main reference for
digital typography. When used skillfully, desktop publishing allows the user to
produce a wide variety of materials, from menus to magazines and books, without
the expense of commercial printing
Desktop publishing combines a personal computer and WYSIWYG page layout
software to create publication documents on a computer for either large scale
publishing or small scale local multifunction peripheral output and
distribution. Desktop publishing methods provide more control over design,
layout, and typography than word processing. However, word processing software
has evolved to include some, though by no means all, capabilities previously
available only with professional printing or desktop publishing.
The same DTP skills and software used for common paper and book
publishing are sometimes used to create graphics for point of sale displays,
promotional items, trade show exhibits, retail package designs and outdoor
signs. Although what is classified as "DTP software" is usually
limited to print and PDF publications, DTP skills aren't limited to print. The
content produced by desktop publishers may also be exported and used for
electronic media. The job descriptions that include "DTP", such as
DTP artist, often require skills using software for producing e-books, web
content, and web pages, which may involve web design or user interface design
for any graphical user interface.
History
Desktop
publishing was first developed at Xerox PARC in the 1970s.
A contradictory claim is that desktop publishing began in 1983 with a
program developed by James
Davise at a community newspaper in Philadelphia. The program Type Processor One ran on a PC using a
graphics card for a WYSIWYG(What
you see is what you get) display and was
offered commercially by Best
info in 1984.
The term "desktop publishing" is attributed to Aldus founder Paul Brainerd,
who sought a marketing catch-phrase to describe the small size and relative
affordability of this suite of products, in contrast to the expensive
commercial phototypesetting equipment of the day.
Designing
Process and Guidelines
è Have a plan or maske a sketch
è Choose a template/ create a format using guides.
è Setup your document
è Place text In your document
è Format text
è Place graphics in document
è Tweak your graphics placement
è Apply the rules of DTP
è Print a draft
è Make proofreading
è Print your project
Page layout refers to the
arrangement of text, images, and other objects on a page. The term was
initially used in desktop publishing (DTP), but is now commonly used to
describe the layout of webpages as well. Page layout techniques are used to
customize the appearance of magazines, newspapers, books, websites, and other
types of publications.
The page layout of a printed
or electronic document encompasses all elements of the page. This includes the
page margins, text blocks, images, object padding, and any grids or templates
used to define positions of objects on the page. Page layout applications, such
as Adobe InDesign and QuarkXpress, allow page designers to modify all of these
elements for a printed publication. Web development programs, such as Adobe
Dreamweaver and Microsoft Expression Studio allow Web developers to create
similar page layouts designed specifically for the Web.
Since there are many
applications that create customized page layouts, there is also a specific file
format category for page layout file types. These files are similar to word
processing documents, but may contain additional page formatting information
and other types of visual content. You can view a list of Page Layout File
Types at FileInfo.com.
Printing is a process for
reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest
non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such
as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus.
è The earliest known form of printing as applied to paper was woodblock
printing, which appeared in China before 220 A.D
è Later developments in printing technology include the movable type
invented by Bi Sheng
around 1040 A.D. and the printing press invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century.
History of printing
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
There are a wide variety of technologies that are
used to print stuff. The main industrial printing processes are:
- Offset lithography
- Flexography
- Digital printing:
inkjet & xerography
- Gravure
- Screen printing
Additional printing techniques were developed for
very specific applications. These include flock printing, letterpress, intaglio, pad printing, and
thermography.
In offset lithography a printing plate, which is most often made from aluminum, contains an
image of the content that needs to be printed. When the plate is inked, only
this image part holds ink. That inked image is subsequently transferred (or
offset) from the plate to a rubber blanket and then to the printing surface.
The process can be used to print on paper, cardboard, plastic or other
materials, but these have to have a flat surface.
Below is a picture of a 4 color sheetfed printing
press. At the far end is the intake where individual sheets of paper are
automatically fed into the press. The 4 towers or printing units each print one
color, typically black get printed first, followed by cyan, magenta and yellow.
The stack of printed sheets is visible on the front of the machine, underneath
the press console & monitor which the press operator uses to control the
press.
For higher volume work offset presses use rolls of
paper. The picture below shows such a much larger web press. It is so fast that
the printed paper needs to be force dried. The black unit at the end of the
press is an oven.
Offset is nowadays the most widely used printing
technique for an extensive range of products such as books, newspapers,
stationery, corrugated board, posters, etc.
There is a trend
that printing promotional material is gradually migrating to digital printing
while some packaging printing is moving to flexo.
In flexography the content that needs to be printed
is on a relief of a printing plate, which is made from rubber. This plate is
inked and that inked image is subsequently transferred to the printing
surface. The process can be used to print on paper as well as plastics,
metals, cellophane and other materials. Flexo is mainly used for packaging and
labels and to a lesser extent also for newspapers.
Flexography (also called "surface printing"),
often abbreviated to "flexo", is a method of printing most commonly used for packaging (labels, tape, bags,
boxes, banners, and so on).
A flexo print is achieved by creating a
mirrored master of the required image as a 3D relief in a rubber or polymer material. A measured
amount of ink is deposited upon the surface of the
printing plate (or printing cylinder) using an anilox roll. The print surface then
rotates, contacting the print material which transfers the ink.
Originally flexo printing was basic in
quality. Labels requiring high quality have generally been printed Offset until
recently. In the last few years great advances have been made to the quality of
flexo printing presses.
The greatest advances though have been in
the area of PhotoPolymer Printing Plates, including improvements to the plate
material and the method of plate creation. —usually photographic exposure followed by
chemical etch, though also by direct laser engraving.
Some packaging
printing is moving from flexo to digital.
Digital printing can be done in various ways. Two
technologies dominate the industry:
- Inkjet – In an inkjet printer the
image that needs to be printed is created by small droplets of ink that
are propelled from the nozzles of one or more print heads. Inkjet devices
can print on a wide range of substrates such as paper, plastic, canvas or even doors and
floor tiles. Inkjet printing is used a lot for posters and signage.
It is also economical for short run publications such as photo books or
small runs of books. In-line inkjet printers are sometimes combined with
other types of presses to print variable data, such as the mailing
addresses on direct mail pieces. The press shown below is the HP
PageWide C500, meant for printing on corrugated board.
- Xerography – In xerographic printers,
such as laser printers, the image that needs to be printed is formed by
selectively applying a charge to a metal cylinder called a drum. The
electrical charge is used to attract toner particles. These particles are
transferred to the media that is being printed on. To make sure the toner
is fixed properly, the substrate passes through a fuser that melts the
toner into the medium. Laser printers are not only used in offices but
also for small run printing of books, brochures and other types of
document. These printers are also used for transactional printing (bills,
bank documents, etc) and direct mail.
In 2009 both techniques jointly accounted for
around 15% of the total volume of print.
Digital printing is
increasingly utilized for print jobs that were previously printing using
offset, flexo or screen printing.- In short run small format (A3 size) printing,
digital is taking over from offset for both color and B&W printing.
Quick printers and copy shops print digitally on presses from vendors like
Xerox, HP, Canon, and Konica Minolta.
- Labels are also increasingly being printed
digitally.
- Billboard and point-of-sale or
point-of-purchase jobs are being done by wide-format inkjet devices.
- In book printing publishing companies start to
rely more on print-on-demand. The Espresso Book Machine pictured below is
well suited for that job.
There are a number of other digital printing
processes that are geared towards specific niche markets:
- Dye-sublimation is a printing process in
which heat is used to transfer a dye onto the substrate. Dye-sub printers
are mainly used for proofing and for producing photographic prints. Some
can print on a variety of materials such as paper, plastic, and fabric.
- In the direct
thermal printing process heat is used to change the color of a
special coating that has been applied to paper. This process is nowadays still
in use in cash registers.
- In the thermal
ink transfer printing process heat is used to melt print off a
ribbon and onto the substrate. It is used in some proofing devices but
seems to be gradually disappearing off the market.
Also known as rotogravure, this is a technique in
which an image is engraved into a printing cylinder. That cylinder is inked and
this ink subsequently transfers to the paper. Gravure is used for high
volume work such as newspapers, magazines, and packaging.
Gravure is
gradually losing market share to offset for publication printing and to flexo
for packaging applications.
As its name implies, this printing technique relies
on a screen, which is a woven piece of fabric. Certain areas of this mesh are
coated with a non-permeable material. In the remaining open spaces ink can be
pushed through the mesh onto a substrate. The advantage of screen printing is
that the surface of the recipient does not have to be flat and that the ink can
adhere to a wide range of materials, such as paper, textiles, glass, ceramics,
wood, and metal.
जैसा
कि इसके नाम का तात्पर्य है, यह मुद्रण तकनीक एक स्क्रीन पर निर्भर
करती है, जो
कपड़े का एक बुना हुआ टुकड़ा है। इस जाल के कुछ क्षेत्रों को गैर-पारगम्य सामग्री
के साथ लेपित किया गया है। शेष खुली जगह स्याही में एक सब्सट्रेट पर जाल के माध्यम
से धक्का दिया जा सकता है।
The image below shows a screen printing press that
is used to print t-shirts.
Increasingly screen printing is being replaced by digital printing.
- Letterpress – Once a dominant printing
technique, letterpress is now used for business cards, wedding
invitations,…
- Flocking – used to add a (colored)
velvet-like texture to paper, textiles, etc.
- Pad
printing – used to print on
3-dimensional surfaces.
- Intaglio – nowadays mainly used for used
stamps and paper currency.
- Thermography – This is more of a
finishing process than an actual printing process. It produces raised
lettering on the printed side of the paper and is used for wedding
invitations, letterheads, business cards,…
No comments:
Post a Comment