Lithography/Offset?
Out of context: Reply #11
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- gramme0
Julien, digital plates are used in DI (Direct Imaging) presses, HP Indigo (digital offset) presses, and contemporary offset lithographic presses. In the first two instances, the image is transferred directly from the computer to printing plates that are pre-installed or pre-hung inside the press. In the third instance, the image is transferred directly to plates that are *then* hung on the printing press. This latter approach is how most commercial printing is done these days.
There are still some printers, mostly small shops, who use negatives to transfer art from computer to plate. This is a photographic process that burns the image onto a negative which is then transferred to the plate. This process is quickly disappearing, as the digital way is quicker, more efficient, and uses fewer materials and fewer chemicals.
- Actually I should say, in the third instance the plates aren't digital, but the computer > plate transfer is.gramme