Printing Techniques - Canon ColorPASS-Z5000 Color Manual

A
A-5 Desktop Color Primer

Printing techniques

Until recently, most color printing was done on printing presses using one of several
printing techniques—offset lithography, flexography, and gravure, to name a few.
All traditional printing techniques require lengthy preparation before a print run can
take place. Short-run color printing, including ColorPASS printing, eliminates most of
this preparation. By streamlining the process of color printing, the ColorPASS makes
short print runs economically feasible.
In contemporary offset lithographic printing, digital files from desktop computers are
output to an imagesetter, which creates film separations. The film is used to make a
prepress proof, which is an accurate predictor of the final print job and allows you to
make corrections before going to press. Once the proof is approved, the printer makes
plates from the film and runs the print job on the press.
Desktop
computer
Desktop
computer
With a ColorPASS, you simply print the file. The ColorPASS processes the PostScript
information in the file and sends four bitmaps (one each for cyan, magenta, yellow,
and black) to the print engine. The ease of ColorPASS printing makes possible
experimentation that would be too costly on press, allowing unlimited fine-tuning of
color and design elements.
Imagesetter Film
Print device
Proof Press
Color prints
Print run