There’s a lot to printing. The activity actually entails the use of various materials for the whole process. It also involves a diverse use of methods. The printing methods in application today have been produced over long periods of time. The older methods are constantly being replaced by modern technologies and so the future is unpredictable. The world prints over 45 trillion pages each year highly explaining the emergence of printing companies. The printing companies have gone a long way in creating employment opportunities for many people.
It is common belief that 3D printing will change the world. The 3D technology has been in use for quite some time now but it does not lose its prestige and if anything, it gets all the more better with the days. The materials and technologies used have improved extensively in the recent years.
Plastics as well as metals were used extensively in the recent years to create prototypes. The prototypes looked like paraffin waxes. The structures were used mainly by engineers who needed to create a product but needed to see what it actually looked like. The prototypes therefore played a great role in the architectural field.
The great revolution began when new materials started being used by different companies. Different plastic and metal blends were used for this purpose. Prototyping developed to more solid items being created. The materials or parts produced could be applied to the real life.
An industry that greatly uses 3D printing is prosthetics. This is because a lot of personalization is required. It is gaining a lot of popularity in the making items that require personalization.
Printing methods have to be understood if one wants to be able to understand printing in general. There are many printing methods in application today but the major ones are actually four. These are namely offset lithography, gravure, flexography, and letterpress.
The oldest is letterpress. It is also diminishing in popularity due to the advent of new higher technologies in the markets today. It was a Chinese invention and it is actually still in use especially in news paper production. The output is mid quality.
Flexology is 1900’s invention. It was extensively used for printing materials for packaging of food. The packaging materials that needed printing were plastics as well as other materials of a non-absorbent nature. Envelopes and labels that are sensitive to pressure can use this technology.
Gravure is also ancient and prints wrapping materials, magazines as well as wallpapers. Offset lithography is ancient too and was in application in the 1800’s. It is used for magazines, newspapers as well as many other applications.