Poster printing has gained immense popularity as the best means of communication, advertising and art depiction. With the advances in technology, there are now different methods for poster creation, each with varying quality, price, and time. As with anything, it’s critical to understand the available printing technologies on the market when deciding on the best option for your project.
One of the most effective and oldest methods which many people still use to create quality and professional posters is offset printing. The process involves transferring ink from a plate to a rubber blanket then onto the desired surface. It's largely used for printing offsets in bulk. It’s because of its cost effectiveness that offset poster printing is firmly established as an ideal method for most businesses and large scale events.
Over the recent years, digital printing has become more common, especially when the print runs are smaller. Such a process does not make use of printing plates, which would otherwise be used as a medium in the past for printing pictures, prints out the document directly from the machine itself. A host of advantages can accompany digital poster printing: turned around quickly, self customizable prints and even numerous variations of the same print can all be produced seamlessly.
If you are looking for designs that are intense in color and are busy, then screen printing is the answer. It entails pushing ink using a mesh screen onto the poster material giving it depth. Screen printing is ideal for one-off posters or those where a few colors are dominant since they afford a high quality and deep impression.
Lithographic printing, or litho, is when an image is fed onto a plate and then paper is pressed against it while oil and water don’t mix. It is known for its ability to reproduce images that contain high levels of detail and color. Lithographic poster printing is suitable for advertising and promotional needs that involve bulk printing of posters such as company marketing campaigns or printing books with many photographs.
Large format printing is focused on intense poster and banner production. This technique enables large images to be produced but without losing quality. Large format poster printing is mainly applicable in billboards, event posters, and advertisement banners where displaying a clear sizable image is necessary in order to attract attention.
As time passes, giclée printing becomes a popular archival method in the modern arts and photographic industries. This is because it uses high-resolution inkjet printing with pigment inks which creates images with incredible detail and accuracy. Therefore, it can be said that giclée printing is ideal for fine art prints and long-lasting posters and limited prints that have to, later on, be used.
UV printing works in a relatively modern way which uses ultraviolet light to instantaneously cure the ink as it is printed onto the substrate. As a result, the prints are extremely resistant to scratches and do not flake or peel off. UV poster printing can even be used for outdoor placements or other works that have to be durable enough and can withstand harsh environmental conditions to ensure the vibrancy of the imagery.
Sublimation printing is a new technique which uses heat to dye materials, usually fabrics and polyester surfaces. Therefore, this method works well for the creation of posters on atypical materials like fabrics or garments. In addition, sublimation posters come with bright colors. They are often used for promotional purposes such as marketing dummy items or custom fabric posters.
Flexography is a form of printing that employs flexible plates and is mostly suited for labels and packaging. Nevertheless, it can also be utilized in poster printing, particularly in cases of mass production. Flexography is quite effective on many surfaces including plastics thus making it appropriate for posters which are meant to be produced quickly and are strong.
Letterpress printing is as ancient as the majority of printing practices, although in this case, the inked raised type makes an impression on the paper. Although quite rare today in poster printing, it is considered quite appealing due to the special character it has. Thanks to their textured finish, letterpress posters are appealing, and because of this, they are used for events or projects that are short run printed pieces.
Inkjet printing is one of the most common methods as well as one of the easiest ways of printing posters and images in poster form for personal use. It employs the use of tiny nozzles that spray ink on the paper in an appropriate manner hence works best for short run prints or home prints. It may not be very strong as the other methods but certainly works well for small or one time use posters on a personal level as it is low-cost.
Just like Embossing, foil printing is a great way to add a metallic finish to your posters. The metallic foil is shiny and makes the design look reflective. It is often used to embellish a part of a design such as text and logos. Since foil posters are captivating, this type of poster printing is best used for special events such as birthdays, limited editions, or even advertisements which are meant to be stunning.
With the myriad of poster printing methods in the market today, getting a method that is most suitable for a given need should not be a challenge, regardless of whether it’s personal needs or advertising needs. Different printing technologies such as UV, offset, lithographic to digital printers have their own advantages in terms of their ability to produce quality print out. In the light of these different types of printing, one will be able to settle on the most suitable process for their project, which will enable them to get results satisfying in terms of the expectations in quality and even the pricing.
