Packaging graphic chain - Printing activity

As seen in the article [AG 6 700] (dedicated to prepress), the emergence of new technologies has considerably broadened the means of communication. This means that, more than ever, printed matter is the preferred medium for packaging printing.

As studies have often shown, the act of buying is essentially triggered by the visual aspect of the packaging. On a hypermarket shelf, it only takes a fraction of a second for one product to be positioned more favorably than another, depending on its appearance and identity. The ultimate stage in the process - printing - is the identification of the product and its graphic charter.

Printing consists in reproducing and fixing the shapes and colors of a model on a given material, without significantly modifying the properties of the material itself. Behind this fairly simple formula lies a relatively complex system that requires the selection of printed and unprinted areas; the aim of printing being to be able to deposit (or not) ink on the printing substrate.

To be able to offer such great diversification, with very different printing substrates, printers have developed a number of printing methods (processes), which we will discover in order of importance.