In the printing industry, many things have changed due to advancing technology. Printing is the process of reproducing text or images and it requires a medium for creating the print. We have come a long way from woodblock printing back in the day, and now the latest technology in printing is known as digital printing. This process is also constantly changing and advancing and we are always coming up with new, innovative techniques every day.

What is the Digital Printing Process?

The digital printing process is the process of printing on different types of media using a digitally processed image. This media includes paper, plastic, acrylic and others. This process does not involve a lot of manual steps unlike other traditional methods, which helps make digital printing close to error-free. Digital printing is a more effortless and highly effective way to print, but it can be quite expensive. The printers that do digital printing usually use inkjet or laser printers. They will drop designs on almost any type of substrate and ensure that they are on there firmly.

Digital Printing Steps

The digital printing method involves the following steps:

Step 1

It begins with preparing the design for printing. Some customers will bring in their designs and others can outsource it. The design should be prepared based on instructions and requirements of the customer. Meetings will be held to discuss changes and alter the design. Then, the final design will be forwarded to the customer.

Step 2

After the final version of the image is approved, the image will be brought into the right format for printing. The format of the image is crucial because it makes the image readable for the printer to print it out correctly.

Step 3

Next the printer will be cleaned. Cleaning the printer is one of the most important steps because it makes sure that things go smoothly while the printer is printing. It can also help prevent the printer heads from drying out and becoming damaged. This cleaning will need to be repeated after every 100th iteration, sometimes sooner. It will depend on the amount of colour in the print.

Step 4

Quality checks will be conducted before the printing process begins. The ink drums which collect the wasted ink must be emptied out. With each restart, the printers will use a certain amount of cleaner found stored inside of it. There should be checks made to make sure that there is a good amount of cleaner for this process to occur. The ink’s temperature will also need to be monitored in order to avoid any damage to the print heads.

Step 5

Once all of the quality assurance tests are completed, pallets should be prepared to hold the product. Pallets come in two different sizes and are used based on the requirement of the product. Then the product is laid out on the pallet and it is now ready to be printed on.

Lamin-8 offers a wide array of printing and laminating solutions for your specific business needs. We work with a range of commercial & retail customers to meet their printing, mounting, and finishing requirements, such as commercial printers, graphic designers, architect services, schools and students, document service centers, commercial graphics & image service providers, professional photographers, and artists and galleries. Our team of printing and laminating services specialists would be more than happy to assist you. Call us at (416) 977-4422, and we will bring your photos to life.