Offset Printing

Offset printing, probably the most popular printing process used today, works by transferring an inked image from the printing press to a rubber blanket and then to the printing surface. Offset printers can be either sheet-fed, where pre-cut paper is delivered to the printer, or web press, whereby large rolls of paper are delivered seamlessly to the printer and cut to size later.

Sometimes offset printing is used in conjunction with the lithographic process, which is based on the principle that ink and water do not mix. With offset lithography, an ink receptive coating is activated at the image area. On the press, the plate is dampened, first by water rollers, then by ink rollers. Ink adheres to the image area and water to the non-image area. As the cylinders rotate, the image is transferred to the blanket. Paper passes between the blanket cylinder and the image is transferred to the paper.

Letterpress

Until offset printing became popular, letterpress printing was the standard. Now, however, letterpress is largely used for specialty work, including fine art prints, books, posters, business cards and forms, etc. Letterpress printing involves raising the image area on the plate so that only that area comes in contact with the paper. The process is similar to how a handheld rubber stamp functions. Modern letterpress, however, uses a photo-etching technique to remove the non-image area from the plate.

Flexo

Modern flexography, often called flexo, is a versatile process that uses photo-etched plates. The non-image areas on these plates are etched away, leaving only the printing surface that carries the ink directly to the substrate. Modern flexo is well-suited for any job that can be printed on a substrate that can be supplied in a roll form, including paper, box boards, foils, plastics, newsprint and more. Common applications for flexo include labels, tabs, corrugated boxes, cartons and newspapers.

Gravure

The gravure process turns everything in the image into halftone dots. The plate cylinder consists of tiny cells of various depths and widths that hold the ink. As the press runs, a doctor blade scrapes excess ink off the surface of the plate, leaving ink only in the cells. Then, as the paper contacts the plate, the ink is transferred, reproducing type, rules, graphics and photographs as composites of very fine dots. Gravure is generally used only in very long runs like in the printing of publications and packaging, etc.

At Banyan Printing, our capabilities include a number of different types of printing as well as color copying. Contact a Banyan professional to discuss printing process that best suits your project and budget.

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Every Door Direct Mail®, or EDDM, allows a restaurant, for example, to canvas potential surrounding customers in as wide an area as desired. Or, maybe that same restaurant is located on one side of a causeway and wants to mail a coupon to potential customers across the bridge as incentive to make the drive and dine. Just select the area for the mailing, and with EDDM, Banyan does the rest.

EDDM is amazingly versatile too. Direct mail recipients can be targeted by zip code, county, city and even specific addresses. Customers can pull by mail routes or neighborhoods, and residences alone can be mailed or both residences and businesses in the selected area. You can mail to any combination of P.O. boxes, rural routes and city routes.

And because Banyan Printing is a full-service printer, we can do as much of the upfront work as you need, including designing and printing your mailer, assistance with selecting the area to which to be mailed and interfacing with the Post Office for completing your EDDM campaign.

Contact your representative at Banyan Printing to find out more about Every Door Direct Mail® and how we can help you with printing and direct mail needs.

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