The diagram depicts the lithography process, a popular method for printing newspapers.
Overall, the lithography process has five major stages, beginning with the preparation of the printing plate and ending with the drying of the printed newspapers.
The procedure starts with the fabrication of a flat printing plate, which is then treated with a particular chemical solution that separates image and non-image areas. This process guarantees that the parts intended to carry the print attract ink while the non-image areas resist it. The prepared plate is then moistened with water, which clings to the non-image parts, ensuring that ink only sticks to the selected sections. Following that, ink rollers apply ink to the plate, covering only the image areas.
Following ink application, the plate is turned against a blanket cylinder, transferring the inked pictures to the blanket. Sheets of paper are then fed between the imprint and blanket cylinders, and the images are firmly pressed onto the paper. Finally, the printed newspapers are brought to a drying chamber, where they are dried with a mix of hot and cold air to set the ink. To summarize, the lithography process efficiently creates high-quality newspapers through a succession of well-defined processes that include dampening, inking, and pressing.