Mono Printing

Monoprint: This is what you call a print produced by using a previously worked plate (with lines etched into it , for example) and creating a single, un- repeatable, impression from it. For example: if you ink and wipe a plate in black as you would a normal etching and then paint colored ink over the surface of it and run it through the press all at once the result is called a monoprint

Techniques for monoprinting

Stamping ink onto the plate. Inking up a texture and offsetting it on the plate by burnishing. Using a texture ( for example lace) to remove ink off the surface of a plate. Using mineral spirits or plate oil to remove or thin the ink.

Drawing white lines with a brush handle, etc. through an inked plate. Wiping the plate with a tarlatan to give it that swirled look that the kids are just wild about these days... Cutting stencils out of paper and using a roller to put the patterns on the plate. Remember - there are NO RULES - anything that produces good images is fair game. Experiment and innovate!

Litho Printing

 Litho printing is also known as lithography or lithographic printing or planography or planographic printing. Litho printing works on the basic principle that oil and water do not mix. Unlike relief printing and intaglio where the image and non-image areas are at different levels, in lithography there is only one surface.

 In intaglio and relief printing the image areas to be printed are raised and the nonimages areas form the base surface, which is lower than the image areas. However, in lithography the image areas and the non-image areas are all on the same level. The printing surface is flat

Technique
1. The printing plate has the image to be printed, in relief, on its surface (the image stands out slightly from the printing plate surface). 2. The printing plate is kept dampened. Ink is applied to the plate but it is repelled from the dampened surfaces which are the non-image areas. 3. As the printing cylinder rotates the ink is transferred to the rubber blanket cylinder. 4. The ink, now on the rubber blanket cylinder, is pressed onto the paper or card as it is pulled through the machine. (The paper is trapped between the blanket cylinder and the impression cylinder - these pull the paper through the machine)

Process

Advantages
Many commercially-printed books, brochures, business forms, catalogues, labels, letterhead, newspapers, magazines, posters, product packaging and stationery are produced using offset lithography. Other printing methods include flexographic, gravure, screen and digital or nonimpact printing. Lithography is popular due to its low cost and versatility, and the high quality of its results, which have smooth, clear images with no impressions left on the page.

Clarity
Offset lithography creates clear, smooth, sharp images and text on a variety of materials. With traditional offset lithography, the blanket--that is, the part of the press which presses against the paper or printing surface--is made of a soft rubber which conforms to almost any paper surface or material, unlike systems which use inflexible metal plates for printing. Modern offset presses frequently use computer-to-plate systems, which further increase the clarity and sharpness of the image.

Lack of Impressions
Letterpress and gravure (intaglio, rotogravure or photogravure) printing characteristically leave impressions: raised or indented text and lines on the page, serrated edges and rings of ink. For some projects, leaving marks on the paper is seen as a sign of authenticity, but many manufacturers don't want readers distracted from the content of their message by the way it was printed. In addition, these impressions make stacks of printed items thicker, which can affect transportation and storage costs. Lithographic images lack these artifacts.

Low Cost
Lithography was initially invented by Alois Senefelder in 1798 to provide a lower-cost alternative to copperplate engraving. Much of the expense of printing with offset lithography comes from setup costs, and printing requires little maintenance. Offset lithography isn't cheaper for small projects. However, the unit cost of each page goes down as the quantity printed goes up, making offset lithographic printing the cheapest, most cost-effective method for producing commercial quantities of high-quality printed items.

Speed
Many sheet-fed lithographic presses print simultaneously on both sides of the paper, which decreases printing times. Some web press lithographic machines can print as many as 50,000 sheets per hour.

Versatility
Lithographic printers use equipment for any length of press run. The slower, more precise sheet-fed lithographic presses are used for short- and medium-run printing like art reproduction, coupons, direct mail inserts, greeting cards and posters. The high-speed, more efficient web presses are used for medium- and long-run printing like advertising flyers, books, catalogues, magazines and newspapers. In addition, lithographic presses work not just on paper but on a wide variety of printing surfaces, including cloth, leather, metal, plastic and wood.

Disadvantages
Materials Lithography started out using a limestone tablet that was drawn and then 'etched' by using a mixture of water, oils and gum arabic. The supplies are complex and highly specialized; even with the use of modern machines, the process is expensive. Time Frame

The length of time is another disadvantage: it can be up to 40 hours just for the drawing time, the etches take at least an hour each, and, in using colors, each one is added separately.

Amounts The amounts of lithographic prints are limited, with most artists choosing to print from five to 100 copies. Compared with reproductions, it isn't a medium well suited for high production (See Additional Resources Below).