A printing machine is the equipment that prints ink on a substrate, such as cloth, paper or plastic. This process is based on applying pressure to the substrate to transfer the dye or ink. It may be as simple as the printer plugged into your computer or as complex as an industrial web press. A printing machine is used in almost every aspect of business and society to communicate with the public.
Printing machinery is used to create documents, magazines and books. It is also used to produce promotional items, packaging and a variety of other products. The most common printing techniques are digital, offset and flexographic. Digital technology has transformed the way that we produce printed materials by allowing greater quality and efficiency to be achieved with reduced cost.
In the early days of printing, a frame was used to set groups of small individual metal letters known as type. These were arranged into the desired lines of text by a compositor and then laid out together to form pages known as galleys. These were then inked and run through the printing press, producing an inked sheet of paper.
Modern commercial printing machines are usually powered by electricity and use an inking roller to apply ink to the page. It is important that the ink be positioned correctly to ensure accurate printing. After the plates have been imaged and clamped into the press, an operator adjusts the ink keys for proper alignment of the color planes using printed crosses and other positioning marks. Some recent model presses have motorized plate changing mechanisms, reducing the time required for this step.