Offset printing is one of the most common techniques used in commercial print runs due to its great price and image accuracy. However, like all intricate processes, this type of printing has many different steps. The first step is pre-press production, and it involves the transfer of the original document to film and then to plates for printing. These days some documents in digital format can be sent to presses without even plates being made, but many originals are transferred first to film and then to plates for each run. Film negatives can be made from digital files and most of the time if an original is a hard copy it’s scanned and then the negative made from the digital copy to allow for adjustment of color and sharpness. Making the negative is a simple process but determining what the best balance of color and shadow is for the run is always a process of fine tuning. While fine art reproductions such as giclees are expected to take a bit of time and attention when it comes to color balance, it’s not as well known how much work goes into making sure that large commercial offset printing runs are balanced color-wise so that the negative is perfect. Once the negative is done, it’s transferred to the printing plate. This happens in much the same way as developing photographs. A specific level of light is passed through the negative to expose the printing plate. When the plates are exposed to light they react, and this reaction activates an ink-receptive coating. This creates areas of the plate that will allow ink to adhere to it while other areas of the plate won’t hold ink. Each color print run has 4 plates made for it: black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. The human eye can blend four separate dots into one color, and so all of the offset printing materials created are made from 4 simple colors arranged in certain patterns and intensity. It’s an intricate process that is mostly automated in the larger print houses with careful color analysis coming regularly throughout the run. Next time you pick up a brochure, take a look behind the paper in your hand and imagine the steps that went into printing it. Offset is a well known choice in the printing world, and like most things, it relies on the first step of pre-press production.