Full Colour printing (Process Printing)
is a printing technique widely used today. This process allows you
to produce nearly every colour under the rainbow.
The process invloves separatating
files to be printed in to four colour components: cyan, magenta,
yellow, and key, also called black. The colour separation is known
as color screening, this is a generally a digital process. A separate
print plate will be made for each color. Each plate is created as
a halftone, meaning that the colour is separated into a series of
tiny dots. In areas where there is very little colour, the dots
will be small and spaced well apart. In areas of colour strong,
the dots will be larger, and may have no space in between them.
Each plate is printed separately
and overlaid over the previously printed ink. When all four plates
have been printed, the result is a colour image. The small dots
on each individual plate will come together to create a complete
colour image, although they can still be seen with the aid of a
magnifying glass. If the plates are not properly aligned during
the printing process, the result is a misregistered image which
is blurry and illegible. See Stochatic Screening. |
