Single Color Offset Printing Machine

Offset printing, also called offset lithography, is a method of mass-production printing in which the images on metal plates are transferred (offset) to rubber blankets or rollers and then to the print media. The print media, usually paper, does not come into direct contact with the metal plates.Offset printing is generally used for larger printing projects due to the set up costs involved. It uses large metal plates to transfer images to rubber sheets or “blankets”. These sheets then transfer the image on to the paper via a rolling method; think a roller stamp, only much larger.Four-color printing means that four different ink colors are used to create a range of printable colors. The "four-color" in "four-color printing" refers to the four ink colors—cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK)—used in offset printing presses and many digital presses.A few of its common applications include: newspapers, magazines, brochures, stationery and books. But offset can also be utilized for other applications such as business forms, security printing and flexible packaging.Offset printing, as a development of lithography (q.v.), is based on the principle that water and grease do not mix, so that a greasy ink can be deposited on grease-treated printing areas of the plate, while nonprinting areas, which hold water, reject the ink.