Fine Print

Fine Print Knowledge Center

The online guide to print and design.

Introduction
A Brief History of Printing
PrePress
Planning and Strategy
Design Tips
Color Management
File Submission
Proofing
Materials and Stocks
Inks
Platemaking
Types of Printing
Offset Lithography
Digital Printing
Screen Printing
Gravure
Thermography
Flexography
Letterpress
Large Format
Specialty Printing
3D Printing
Promotional
Security Printing
Green Printing
Types of Finishes
Coatings
Binding
Folding
Scoring
Die Cutting
Embossing
Foil Stamping
Perforations

A printing method invented in 1937 by the American patent lawyer Chester F. Carlson that functions in the following manner: a drum coated with a photo semiconductor is charged up and then partially discharged by a motif projected onto it.

Dark areas retain their charge and toner applied to these areas remains in place. The image created in this way is then transferred to paper and fixed with heat.

Originally designed for copiers, the technology is now also used for laser printers and digital printing systems.

A plateless printing process in which electrostatically charged powder (toner) is bonded to paper using heat.

The imaging process uses the original artwork rather than a computer file.

More commonly know as photocopying.