What Is Printing?

Printing is the process of reproducing text and images on a physical surface—usually paper, but also materials like vinyl, fabric, plastic, metal, and more—using ink, toner, or other marking substances.

Printing uses a variety of different processes to create many different materials. Digital copiers are the most common in today’s day and age. Using a mixture of CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black)  toners, digital printing allows full color prints to be obtained quickly and affordably. 

Printing presses were the pioneers of the printing industry, and are still used today though maybe not as commonly. These operate using ink and plates to produce up to 4 colors in an image. Printing presses are often used in large runs of printing, such as envelopes.

Large Format Printers print on larger materials, such as vinyl, foam core, coroplast, fabric, and more.

Overall, printing is more than just the documents on your printer at home. These different machines and processes help produce materials as small as a run of business cards, a large run of envelopes, or a banner for your next event. Even in today’s digital world, printed materials allow us to stay informed and connected to each other.