What Are Post Press Activities

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Every product need finishing before it is finally completed and is delivered, even if it is printing. In fact, printing remains incomplete until it is properly finished. Printing has been broadly classified into pre press, press and post press. Post press involves the activities that determine the final look of the project. The last phase basically involves four steps, namely cutting, folding, assembling and binding. However, many companies may include many other sub steps, such as trimming, drilling, saddle-stitching, polybagging, shrinking and wrapping of the specifications. Others involve processes like die-cutting, punching, indexing, wire stitching, ultra-violet exposure and plain stitching. Although, all projects are not subject to go through all the given processes, for instance simple folded pamphlets do not require binding.

Post press being the most vital phase of printing, high quality and the most advance technologically programmed machinery is used. Take up programmable cutting machine for instance, it ensures that the paper is cut with precision and accuracy.

The process of finishing the project is very vast. The process adopted depends entirely on the type of project being handled, because there are also lesser finishing processes like perforating, varnishing, drilling, etc. If you consider greeting cards, they might require to be dusted with gold bronze. Similarly, metal as printed products formed into utensils of different sizes and shapes may need to be painted from inside to protect the contents to be stored in it.

Other projects are sometimes subject to the finishing processes like mounting, pasting, laminating and collating. A number of post press operations are exclusively meant for screen printing, like vacuum forming and embossing.

As far as the uses of chemicals are concerned for post press operations, very limited number and volume of chemicals are brought in use. Adhesive chemicals are typically used as a major type of chemical for binding and other assembly operations. Else, the uses of chemicals remain till printing phase only.

The process of post press is also associated with the most vital stage that is, the packaging and distribution. Once the project is assigned with a final look, it is the important that the product is packed and delivered to the destination safely and securely. In this phase printed materials are packed securely into their respective boxes and then they are dispatched to the any given location(s). Until the order is not delivered to its destination safely, post press phase is not said to be completed. Hence, the most secure, reliable and suitable shipment services are used to deliver goods to the location(s).