How Offset Printing Works

The next time you read your favorite magazine or go through the latest catalog that arrives in your mailbox, stop for a moment and think about how that publication came to be. First, writers, editors and designers participate in the creative process­. Printers take that creative work and turn it into the publications you read every day. Printing is a fascinating process involving huge high-speed machines, 2,000-pound rolls of paper, computers, metal plates, rubber blankets and sharp knives.

Offset lithography, the most commonly used printing process, and detail the three production steps: pre-press, press run and bindery. We'll follow the publication of our new magazine, How Stuff Works Express, from start to finish to explore this process.