Printing Processes for Fabulous Wedding Invitations

The look and feel of your wedding invitation will be largely dependent on your choice of print process. And the process you choose is also one of the top factors to consider when planning your wedding budget. Here is a short primer on the most popular processes.

Digital Printing: Is a flat printing method that is achieved by laying down a screen of colored dots at the same time. Because of it’s one pass printing, Digital Printing is a less expensive option for multiple-color printing, and is a popular process used for the majority of colorful invitations seen online.

However, the paper required to use the Digital Printing process must be thinner and more malleable, and therefore your more luxurious, heavier stock paper cannot be printed using this method.

Flat Printing – Also called Offset Printing and/or Lithography, Flat Printing is recognized by clean edges and smooth print, and the ink appears to lay flat atop the paper. Using a black & white image, a plate (metal or paper) is created and then treated so that the ink adheres to the image and not the void. The plate is put on the press, and the image transferred to the paper.
Flat printing is recommended for images that are shaded or screened.

Full color Offset Printing requires four plates and four printing passes in order to individually lay down each of the four colors from which all colors are composed: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK).

Because the printer must be set up with a new printing plate and new ink color for each pass, this printing method is generally more expensive than digital printing.

Thermography Printing – This process is produced in the same manner as Flat Printing, above, except with one additional step.

While the ink is still wet from the above mentioned process, the ink is dusted with a powder compound. The excess powder is removed by a vacuum, and then the paper is heated, which causes the the ink and powdered compound to swell or raise. This produces a raised image, simulating the look of engraving. See the image below:

Matte Thermography – This process is the same as thermography printing, above, except that an alternative compound is used, resulting in look that’s not as shiny, but more on the dull or “matte” side.

UV Thermography – This is another thermography process, except for this process an alternative powder compound is used which will not smudge or melt when run through laser printers.

Engraving – Perhaps considered the most prestigious type of printing process, for this process, letters and/or designs are etched into a copper plate. The plate is then inked and wiped clean, leaving ink in the engraved sub-surfaces. Each piece of paper is hand-fed into a press where the paper is forced against the plate with extreme pressure, drawing the ink from the depressed areas into the paper. This results in a raised, inked impression, and produces the characteristic bruising impressions on the back of paper.

The “bruising,” or faint indentation on the back of the paper, is a sign of fine engraving. The plate, or plates, are customarily included with the printed items and can be reused. See the image of engraving below:

Embossing – The process for embossing is similar to the engraving process, but in reverse For this process, the plate is pressed into the paper, from behind, to create a raised look for the text and/or design. Embossing requires thicker lines, in order to produce a clear impression in the paper, so it’s recommended that type-styles, monograms and designs suitable for embossing only should be used. Embossing can be done in combination with ink or with no ink, which is called Blind Embossing. See an example of Blind Embossing below:

Letterpress Printing – The oldest method of printing (developed in the 14th century), was originally produced from cast metal type or plates, on which the image or printing areas were raised above the non-printing areas on the plate. The ink then touches only the top surface of the raised areas on the plate, and the inked area is transferred into the paper, indenting the paper where the plate comes into contact with the paper. At times a slight embossing might appear on the back of the paper. Letterpress printing is usually sharp and crisp, as the image below:

Foil Stamping: Similar to other printing processes, “Foil Stamping” utilizes a metal die to transfer wording or design to paper. This process has recently skyrocketed in popularity because of it’s chic ability to transfer it’s high gloss, shiny medium to otherwise matte card or paper. For this process sheets of colored foil are heat-stamped onto paper via the metal die. Foil colors are generally metallic and have a high gloss finish, but they are available in matte finishes as well. See an example of Foil Stamping below: