Design for print - Print processes - Web offset Printing

Web offset Printing

Web offset printers are suited to fast turnaround of high quality print where large print-runs are involved. Web offset presses can print several million A4 full colour sheets per hour with a wide range of finishing optionsavailable – many printers offering them inline (i.e. not as a separate ‘bolted on’ process). So if your project is high volume and needed quickly and it’s not too specialist (needing thicker papers or a special process for example) then web offset might be the printing process you need for your project.

Web of paper being fed through a 48 page web offset press

Magazines
Web offset printers are great at producing high volume, high quality magazines. If you’re looking to print over around 10-20,000 magazines, and have a demanding delivery schedule to keep, then web offset will probablybe the right solution as it’s fast, printing straight to the web of paper as it’s fed into the press. Many web offset printers also have processes for ensuring colour reproduction (often ISO certified colour standards) and many comply with PEFC/FSC and or ISO 14001 environmental standards if you need to ensure brand or corporate environmental guidelines are adhered to.

Brochures & Catalogues
Similarly, larger volumes of brochures and catalogues are well suited to web offset printers. However the point at which to go web offset or use another process isn’t always clear and is dependant on a variety of factors such as length of run, paper weight, inks to be used – and even finishing required. If you’re not sure, it’s worth getting independent advice.

Finishing options are extensive. A definition and information on some typical finishing options can be found here.

Direct Mail
Web offset printers are often used to produce the ‘base’ direct mail print work, which is then over-printed with further personal information for each customer. Printing larger quantities web offset reduces the cost for the majority of the print, leaving the personalisation information to be printed digitally. Doing the whole project digitally would, in many cases, be prohibitively expensive for larger direct mail printing runs.

Finishing options for the direct mail piece are extensive too and include the use of a variety inks such as coin-reactive, metallic and thermochromic inks; varnishes; remoist glue application and die cutting or pattern perforation.

Other types of print project can be run web offset, but again as long as they are of sufficient quantity to cover the press setup (make ready) costs and the wastage that occurs when getting a web of paper up to speed on the press.

Web offset is a form of offset printing in which a continuous roll of paper is fed through the printing press. Pages are separated and cut to size after they have been printed. Web offset printing is used for high-volume publications such as mass-market books, magazines, newspapers, catalogs and brochure.

There are two methods of web offset printing, known asheatset and coldset (or non-heatset). In the heatset process, the ink is dried rapidly by forced-air heating. In the non-heatset or coldset process, the ink dries more slowly by ordinary evaporation and absorption.

Some web offset presses transfer text and images to only one side of the print medium at a time. Others can print on both sides simultaneously. The paper width is usually between 11 and 56 inches (approximately 28 and 142 centimeters). The paper is fed through the system at speeds ranging from 5 to 50 feet per second (approximately 1.5 to 15 meters per second).

Web offset printing differs from sheet-fed offset printing , in which individual pages of paper are fed into the machine. Sheet-fed offset printing is popular for small and medium-sized fixed jobs such as limited-edition books.