Rotary Prinitng

In this process all the sheets can be fed onto a roll as this is largely an automated print process.

The 3 main types of rotary prining are:
-Offset Lithography
-Rotogravure and
-Flexography.


Offset Lithography which is also know as Litho, is a common printing process for letterheads and business cards.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sICgNnb4d8

Rotogravure uses copper plates with a mirrored images to transfer ink directly to the print surface, usually on rolls. This process is more expensive than Litho, but the plates are more durable and therefore and good for long print runs. This process is good for eg.vinyl flooring, magazine pages etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIC2cFbLmAA





and finally,

Flexography also known as Flexo is usually roll fed and has a positive mirror image rubber polymer plate on a cylinder. This transfers 'sticky' ink directly onto the print surface. This process could be used for sweet wrappers, carrier bags, crsip packets etc.