Fibers in Commercial Printing
Fibers Can Contaminate Your Printed Products
Shine a low angle light across unprinted sheets to spot fibers.
Just because you are searching for a low cost low cost printing, doesn’t mean that you can’t still find a quality product. The trick to that is recognizing what defines poor quality. Here are some tips to help you determine if your printed product suffers from poor print quality.
Occasionally the print can be disrupted by Fibers which have contaminated the system |
Common Fibers that Cause Blemishes in Printing
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There are three common types of fibers which can be a cause of specks:
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| In general, fibers are water receptive and reject ink. These fibrous materials will adhere to the blanket or plate and accept water but will not take on any ink, and will therefore cause a speck in the print in the form of its own shape. (Figure 1) By retrieving the fibrous material, the tape pull can be examined to identify the type of fiber and then possibly determine its source. | |
 Print can be Disrupted by Fibers |
2. Tape pull of paper fibers through a loupe. …and how paper fibers appear at higher magnification.
3. Tape pull of cotton fibers through a loupe. …and how cotton fibers appear at higher magnification. 4. Tape pull of synthetic fibers through a loupe. …and how synthetic fibers appear at higher magnification. |
Look for possible fiber picking in printing
Wood Cellulose: If the fibers are cellulose paper fibers (Figure 2), the sheets should be checked for possible fiber dust. This can be done by shining a low angle light (Note: See photo Figure 2 on page 18) across the unprinted sheets in the lift. If no loose surface dust is found, look through the printed sheets to find the original sheet upon which the defect begins, and look for possible fiber picking.
Fragments of cotton get swallowed by the printing press
Cotton: If the fibers are cotton (Figure 3), there is a possibility that a portion of a cleaning rag could have been caught in the press, and the remnants have contaminated the ink. The ink fountain should be washed up and fresh ink placed in the fountain. It is common practice in the pressrooms to use rags as dams” to control the flow of ink to the rollers and rag fragments may break away.
Fibers can be synthetic from rags or brushes
Synthetic: If the fibers are synthetic (Figure 4), they may have two possible sources. As above, a synthetic rag could have contaminated the system, or the plastic bristles from a hickey-picker roller could be breaking apart.
There you have it, another way your printed product can get botched up. Getting a refund or complaining to your printer you may have never considered as easy solutions for resolving quality of print. Use these tips to arm yourself before engaging with a commercial printer. If your supplier understands you are “savvy” from the hop your chances of getting a high quality printed piece is greater.
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