The document provides details about Shiv Offset India Pvt. Ltd., a printing company that specializes in foil and file printing. It describes the various machines used, including CNC, cutting, printing, punching, pasting, and folding machines. The printing process involves multiple stages from plate making to printing to punching, sorting, pasting, inspection, and packaging. File printing specifically involves 6 stages - sheet cutting and plate making, printing, punching, sorting and pasting, inspection, and packing. Offset printing technology is highlighted as providing high quality prints at large volumes with less maintenance compared to other printing methods.

1. Report on Printing Technology
Nishant Chowdhri
Shiv OffsetIndia Pvt. Ltd. is a printing industry specializing in Foil
printing and File printing.It is divided into 2 industries, Saikripa for Foil
printing and Shiv Offsetfor File printing.The industry comprises of
various CNC machines,cutting machines,printing machines,pasting
machines and folding machines from companies such as
Komori,Bobst,Heidelberg etc. which results in high end finishing and
accuracy, guarantying superior quality and achieving high productivity in
less time. The industry prints sheets for various companies like sun
pharmaceuticals,IPCA,Cipla,Plethico,Dr. Reddy’s etc.Its a 24 hour
running industry with a very friendly working atmosphere.
This report tells about the various machines and their mechanism used for
foil printing and file printing as well as the processes involvedin the
various stages involvedfrom cutting to packaging.The reportis mainly
divided into 2 main categories-
1) File Printing
2) Foil Printing

2. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to whole-heartedly thank Mr. J.N. Agrawal,who gave me the
opportunity to visit and learn about the various processes involvedin a
printing industry.It was his guidance and support that allowedme to
understand the intricate details of the theoreticalprocessesin a practical
scenario.Iwouldalso like to thank Mr. Srichand Sadhija,Ownerof the
industry ;Mr Vicky Sadhija and Mr. Jitendra Sadhija,respective Directors
of the industry, who allowedme to pursue this summer training and
motivated me to learn as much as I can.At last I would sincerely like to
thank Mr. Jitendra Singh Negi,MrVimlesh and to all the workers ofthe
industry who taught me the various processesofthe machine with
perseverance andwere always ready to solve my doubts.Without them it
would have been impossible for me to move a step further.
FILE PRINTING

3. File printing comprises of 6 stages-
1) SheetCutting and plate making
2) Printing
3) Punching
4) Sorting and Pasting
5) Inspection
6) Packing
Stage 1-
The plate is one of the fundamental requirement in the printing process.It
contains the image which is required to be printed via the offsetmethod.To
make the plate CTP i.e. Computer To Plate Machine is used in which a
plate is made by creating a positive mirrored master of the required image
as a 3D relief in a rubber or polymer material.The image areas are raised
above the non image areas on the rubber or polymer plate and the
aluminium plate gets ready.
In this machine firstly the plate is loaded onto the image setterfor
imaging.Here the machine reads the selectedimage file from the
computer ,makes the positive of that image and exposes it to the
plate.This aluminium plate is coatedwith a polymer which becomes
hard in that part where the image has been transferred to it while the
remaining coating is still soft.Once this image transfer process is
complete the plate then goes to the plate processorin which the plate
comes in contactwith the watervia a mechanism comprising of series of
rollers.The waterremoves the unexposed chemicalfrom the sheetbut
the exposedarea still remains on it because ofhardening.The completed
plate then comes out of the machine and is ready for printing usage.
Stage 2-
In the Printing stage,5-colourOffsetPrinting Komori Lithrone SX/S 29
CNC machines are used.The machine can be divided into 5 main units-
a) Feeder
b) Feedtable
c) Printing section

4. d) Varnishing section
e) Delivery
Firstly the colour used for printing is made with a specific type of ink with
the help of pantone book.This colouredink is checkedand is then given to
the operatorwhich puts the ink into the ink tray of the printing section.
The feedersectioncomprises of a pneumatic arm,suction
cups,blowers,chainand pulley,sensors,cams,steelplate springs etc.Here a
pile of sheets are loaded onto a steelplate which is then pulled up to the
desired height by the action of pulley and chain mechanism.Once the pile is
set,a pneumatic arm attachedwith suction cups,blowers,cams and springs
is kept on top of the pile.Here the pickup suckers attachedwith their
suction rubber suck the sheet,simultaneouslyblowers blow air so that only
1 sheetis suck at a time.Then with the help of cams,the timing is so
adjusted that when the pair of pickup suckers suck the sheetand comes
back to its original position the other suction cups i.e the forwarding
suckers takesthe sheetand moves it forward to the feed table.Thenthese
cups come back to its position with the help of springs attached.This entire
mechanism of suction,blowing, camtiming and spring back action is used
in the feederand the sheetis transferred to the feedtable.
The feed table comprises of belts and different types of rollers like plastic
rollers,nylon brush rollers and rollers with ball bearings.Here,whenthe
sheetreaches,the rollers roll and provide the driving force for the sheetto
move on the belts of the feed table.The rollers are adjusted manually so as
to provide the necessarypressure required for the sheet to move smoothly
in forward direction rather and crumbling or folding.The belts also
provide the surface for the sheetto move and thus the sheetthen enters to
the printing section.
The printing sectioncomprises ofvarious sized spur gears which are used to
rotate the cylinders/rollers at different times.This sectionis the most
important sectionofthe machine.Here the main printing takes place.This
sectionhas rollers like dampening bridge roller,metering roller,transfer
cylinder,impression cylinder,copper cylinder,rubber cylinder etc.The process
of printing is as follows.The dampening roller is in contactwith copper and
rubber rollers.Chilledwateris supplied to the machine from a chiller via pipes
which reaches to the dampening rollers via the rubber and copper rollers so
that unevenness gets removed.Now,the ink in the ink tray also reaches to the
metering roller via the ink duct rollers and copper rollers. To avoid getting a
final product with a smudgy or lumpy look, it must be ensured that the

5. amount of ink on the printing plate is not excessive. This is achievedby using a
scraper, calleda doctorblade. The doctor blade removes excess ink from the
metering roller before inking the printing plate.Rubber rollers are used to
provide correctpressure and copper rollers have certainmagnetic properties
because ofwhich they attract the unwanted ink and hence colourdepth is
maintained.The dampening and Metering roller are in contactwith the plate
roller.Before the start of the machine the operatorattaches the aluminium
plate made by the CTP machine to the plate roller.Because ofdifferent sizes
of gears with different teeth ratio,the roller timing is so adjusted that first the
dampening roller comes in contactwith the plate roller therefore the entire
plate gets coveredwith a layer of water.Thenimmediately the metering roller
comes in contactwith the plate roller.The ink used in printing is very specific
since it has a property.This property is the soul of the entire printing
process.The property is- INK REPELS WATER AND WATER REPELS INK
i.e. INK AND WATER DO NOT MIX.The positive part of an image is a
water-repelling ("hydrophobic") substance, while the negative image would
be water-retaining ("hydrophilic"). Thus, when the plate is introduced to a
compatible printing ink and water mixture, the ink will adhere to the positive
image and the waterwill cleanthe negative image. This allows a flat print
plate to be used, enabling much longerand more detailed print runs
Hence,whenthe ink comes in contactwith the watercoatedplate,it gets
repelled from the sectionwhere the plate has no image.Butthe area where the
plate has been exposedhas magnetic properties in it.Hence it attracts the ink
towards itself irrespective of water’s repulsive force.Hence in the entire
plate,ink adheres to the exposedimage area and the rest due to water
repulsion falls in the tray placedbelow the unit which canbe re-used.Chilled
wateris used to reduce the heating causedduring the entire process.Asthe
plate gets coatedwith the ink,the plate roller comes in contactwith the blanket
roller,where a rubber blanket(which can be re-used) is attachedwith the
blanket cylinder by the operator.Entire impressionof the image to be printed
comes onto the rubber blanket.This blanketroller is in contactwith the
impression cylinder where our sheetis present.Whenthe two rollers meet each
other,the entire impression on the rubber blanketgets transferred to the
sheet.Materialrubber is used so as to apply uniform pressure to the sheet
while the impression process takesplace becauseofwhich the colourdensity is
even and is maintained.Unlike gravure printing process where the foil comes
in direct contactwith the ink cylinder,here instead of direct contact,a blanket
roller is used to impart impression to the sheet,hence the process is calledas
OFFSET printing process. If the image was transferred directly to paper, it
would create a mirror-type image and the paper would become too wet.
Instead, the plate rolls againsta cylinder coveredwith a rubber blanket, which
squeezes awaythe water, picks up the ink and transfers it to the paper with
uniform pressure. Once the sheetgets printed,it moves on to the next printing

6. unit for next colour via the transfer rollers.The entire mechanism is
same.Here the roller timing is of utmost importance which is controlled by the
various sized spur gears.
Once the printing is done,the sheetmoves to the varnishing section,where
the sheetcomes in contactwith Indox roller on which a layer of chemical
resin is present. When the two rollers come in contacta coating of this
varnishing chemicalgets transferred onto the sheet.Afterthis the sheetis
passedthrough UV light/IR Lamp and blower so that the ink and the
varnishing chemicaldries quickly.The gasesemitted are ejectedout of the
machine by an exhaust chamber.The sheetthen reaches to the last unit of
the machine i.e. delivery unit with the help of a gripper attached to a
chain,which holds the sheet from a side and moves towards the pile
supporting plate by a gearand chain movement mechanism.
The offsetprinting machine comprises of various sensors anddetectors
such as front lay detector,side laydetector,overshootdetector,cylinder
impression-on detector, double sheetdetector,sheetcounting sensors etc.
It also has various control blocks such as dampening unit cover,varnish
fountain cover,inkertop cover,coverbetweenplate and blanket etc. which
if are open will immediately stop the machine.
The machine also has a control panel and a touch screenwhere commands
to the machine are given,pressure values are setand ink density
requirement is maintained.
Offsetprinting is bestsuited for economicallyproducing large volumes of
high quality prints in a manner that requires little maintenance.The
advantages ofusing offset printing technologyoverother printing
technologies are-

7.  Are consistentlyof the highestquality
 Use less chemistry and water
 Require less processormaintenance
 Allow you to achieve maximum productivity
 Optimize ink / waterbalance on press
 Help you reduce your environmental impact
Stage 3-
In stage 3,Punching of the printed sheet takes place.This processis
achievedby a NC Punching Machine named Bobst Novacut106.The
machine mainly comprises of 5 units-
a) Feeder
b) Feedtable
c) Platenpress
d) Stripping station
e) Delivery
The feedermechanism is similar to that of the offsetprinting press
mechanism involving a pneumatic arm,cams,suctioncups,springs.
A pile of printed sheets is kept on the pile supporting plate which can be
raisedup or lowereddown by a pulley mechanism.Thenthe lifting suction
cups,whichare setparallel to the pile by the operatorlifts a sheetand the
carrier suctioncup grasps the sheetand moves it to the feed table without
rubbing it during the return motion.The suction pressure can be set
manually.A device press foot rests on the pile when the lifted sheetstarts to
leave and injects air betweenthe sheet and the rest of pile.Side separators
helps to separate the sheetwith the help of an air flowing side nozzle,the
pressure of which canbe adjusted.Also, Prebreakersare usedfor flattening
the hump building up because ofair accumulating betweenthe
sheets.Sensors are attachedatthe feedersuch as-
 Front lay oos –sheetfront edge is misaligned.
 Two sheetsensor –severalsheetsreachinfeed at the same time

8.  Side guide-sheetis badly aligned laterally
Various control parameters canalso be set on the touch screensuch as
suction pressure,suide guide adjustment,longitudinal positioning of the
suction unit,lateral pile positioning etc.
The feed table which is placed over a belt works with an aim to transfer sheets
from feeder to the stripping stationwithout any alignment alteration.It uses-
 Infeed rollers which applies equal pressure to ensure correctalignment on
the feedtable.
 Pressure rollers distributed symmetrically over the width of the sheet
applying pressure according to its weight.
 2 nylon pressure rollers on the front lay of the paper which prevents it
from bouncing back.The restof the rollers are uniformly spreadover the
stream to press the sheetagainstthe belts.
 Rotary brushes which are infront of the nylon rollers
 Sheetguides which are placedon the side edges of the sheetto keepthe
edges ofthe sheetflat and facilitate its entry into the further stage.
 Pressure balls which are placed on the belts to ensure that the sheetmoves
forward and allows lateralalignment.
 Front guides which ensure that the shock of arriving sheetis well
distributed.
 Side guide which provides tensile force used so that no slack is formed on
the sheet.
 Sheetdown holder which ensures that the sheetis correctlyinserted into
the grippers and multidirectional bridges that guides the corrugatedsheets
further.
At the Platenpress,seriesofsteps are followed.Firstly the cutting die
comprising of cutting blades and creasing blades is kept on the tray of platen
press with CITO creasing matrix stuck on it by the operator.The tray is sent
in to the machine and the lower plate is opened on which the creasing plate is
kept.This plate is also inserted to the machine.Thenmachine runs in inching
process andthe layers of CITO creasing matrix gets attachedto the creasing
plate in the die pattern.This creasing plate will now be used for this job to
provide better crease to the product.Then the creasing plate is removed and a
paper is kept on coveredwith carbonpaper. Again machine runs in inching

9. mode and the die pattern gets made on the paper.Redtapes applied on to the
table which will exert pressure on the sheet at that part for smooth cutting and
creasing.Thispaperis kepton top of the die cutting plate and creasing plate is
kept to its previous position.
At platen press,various locking systems are presentsuch as locking of lower
cutting equipment,locking of chase which locks the travel movement but
allows upper chase to swivel on the outer guides.
Now in the stripping section,the grippers holding the sheetmoves in a jerky
way attachedwith a chain.Here the cutting die does not move but the creasing
plate moves up pneumatically.When the sheetreaches onto the creasing
plate,the entire surface moves up due to pneumatic pressure and presses the
die cutting plate upwards thereby the die blade providing the cutting and
creasing.Thesheetkepton top of the die also gets pressedby the creasing
plate and hence applies pressure downwards so that smooth cutting takes
place.The creasing plate ensures that proper crease is made.When this process
is over the creasing plate comes downand the sheetattachedto the griper
moves forward to the delivery sectionvia the chain movement and leaves it on
the delivery station.The cutting force is controlledby a handwheel
manually.The maximum cutting force of the machine is 2.6MN.
The production rate is shownin as No. of sheets cut per hour.
The sheettravelling is controlled electronicallywith the help of computer
screen.
CUBE-ControlUnit BobstElectronics.
Stage 4-
In the pasting process,BobstAmbiton pasting machine is used.The machine
comprises of lots of flat belts(30*3mm),rollers with ball bearings,Nylon
rollers,gears, sensors,conveyerbelts,shafts etc.Here the sheets enterthe
machine one by one from the feeder driven by motor.2 folds along the
crease lines are made simultaneously on the opposide side of the sheet.Then
at one folded side of the sheetglue is applied by a wheel on which gum
comes from a gum tank.Then the next two remaining folds are given one by
one and the gum makes the opposite side meet and stick to it.The final
product is then passedto a series ofrollers an conveyer belts where
uniform pressure is applied so that proper and strong sticking of the sheet
takes place.
The machine has sensors to sense the alignment of the job and also to count
the number of jobs done.

10. After this manual inspectionand counting is done and then the final
product is packed.
Shiv OffsetIndia Pvt Ltd also specializes in Literature paper printing
which serves as a manual guide for users to read instructions and rules.It
also involves similar process as-
1) PaperCutting
2) Printing
3) Printed paper cutting
4) Folding
5) Inspection
6) Packaging
The above 3 mechanism are exactlysimilar to thar of file printing.The
only difference being that in paper printing,2 colour Komori printing
machine is used and secondlyon paper printing can be done on both the
sides of the paper.
For paper cutting,PolarHigh Speed Cutting Machine is used.The
machine has monitoring sensors,controlpanel, screen, handwheel,
mainswitch etc.The bes of the machine has balls of metal in it which
guides and directs the sheet movement.Operatorfeeds the data such as
the cutting distance,coordinates into the screenand accordinglythe cut
is made.The machine is provided with a light barrier which forms a
curtain of invisible beams in front of the cutting knife.If there is any
obstacle in betweenthe path of the beam,the machine automatically
stops.The machine has 2 holders on the machine bed which holds the
pile of sheets firmly so that no slack gets createdoralignment is not
lost.After the pile is held by the holders a knife comes down as per the
input distance and cuts the pile in a single stroke providing a cutting
force downwards,the equal and opposite inertia force in upward
direction gets cancelledby the holder’s applied force.This processis
used for sheetcutting.
The folding stage is a different stage in paper printing.The machine used
in this stage is Heidelberg Literature Folding Machine.

11. There are various kinds of paper folds.Theyare Parallelfold,Accordion
or Fan fold,Letter fold ,gate fold and Double gate fold.
The machine used here specializes in parallel fold technique in which
the folds are always parallel to eachother.
Also,there are two types folding principles-
1) Knife fold principle: Two folding rollers running againsteachother
and a folding knife which can move vertically thereby creating a fold.
2) Buckle Fold Principle: 3 folding rollers and one buckle plate make
the fold.
The machine uses the secondtechnique.The basic principle in this
folding machine is as follows-The two folding rollers arrangedvertically
over one another run in counter rotation and transport the sheetinto
the buckle plate.
When the lead edge of the sheethits the end of the buckle plate while
being transported to the folding rollers a buckle fold is formed in the
buckle space.The folding rollers running in counter rotation picks up
the creaseand transports the sheetfurther for the next fold.The fold is
formed as the sheetpasses betweenthe rollers.
Eachbuckle cancreate one fold.
The buckle plates are arranged alternatelyabove and below.Forcertain
types of fold buckle plates can be replace with sheetdeflectors which
allows to skip one or more buckle plate and transfer the sheetdirectly to
the next buckle plate.Deflectors are also usedto create cross folds.
A camera is also attachedto the machine at the infeed and the image is
shown on the screen.The jobof the camera is to check the alignment and
the registrationof the page when it is entering the machine.Sensors are
also attachedfor the same job.When the alignment is disturbed,the
camera reads it and the machine immediately stops which has to be
resetmanually then.
FOIL PRINTING

12. Foil printing is a 4 stage processusedin medicine packaging
specifically.The respective stagesare-
1) Cutting
2) Printing
3) Inspection/Doctoring
Stage 1-
It involves unwinding,cutting and then rewinding of the job
(Aluminium Rolls) into desired diameter rolls.This process is done by a
Center Winding Slitting Machine.
A Slitting Machine comprises of Air Shaft,Tensionbrake,collar,pulleys and
belts,spur gears,squirrelcage motor,sensors etc.
In this,the aluminium roll is mounted on an air shaft which is then locked
on the machine.Air is filled in the air shaft via a nozzle so that the job is
held firmly on the shaft and does not move on it.Then on the controlpanel
tension force value is given to the tension brake which provides the torque
to the air shaft of same value as set by the operator.Using a series of rollers
the starting edge of the job is moved and the job is unwounded.The reel
after moving through a seies ofrollers passesthrough the cylinder where it
will be cut and then to the rewounding cylinder.Once this process is
complete,the operator using a scale and sets the surgicalblade on the
machine ,the distance betweenthem being equal to that of the desired roll
diameter.Once the motor is switched on,using a mechanism of gears and
pulleys,respective rpm is given to the rollers.The surgicalblade makes
contactwith the reel and cuts it.This cutting mechanism is continuous in
which the blades are always in contactwith the reel.After the cut,the reel
gets rewinded according to the setup. Depending on how much down
pressure and/or torque that is applied to the roll determines on how hard
or soft the roll will be wound.This entire mechanism of unwinding,applying
torque,cutting and rewinding of aluminium foil takes place simultaneously.
Sensors are attachedin the machine at the point where the reel is
transferred from the air shaft to the rollers for cutting i.e. during the

13. unwinding process.Theiruse is to maintain the alignment of the reel so that
a straight cut is receivedon the reeland not a slant cut.
The slitting machine used here is made by Alteem,Trivedi and Co.
Stage 2-
This stage involves printing on the aluminium foil via evaporation
method.This process is achievedusing a Gravure Printing machine.
Gravure printing is an intaglio printing technique, where the image being
printed is made up of small depressions in the surface of the printing plate.
The cells are filled with ink, and the excess is scrapedoff the surface with a
doctor blade. Then a rubber-covered roller presses paperonto the surface
of the plate and into contactwith the ink in the cells. The printing cylinders
are usually made from copperplated steel, which is subsequently chromed
to enhance its ink retaining capacity.
The machine mainly consists ofthe following parts-
 Printing cylinder: a seamless orfull cylinder, made from either steel,
aluminium, plastic, or composite material, which is engravedwith the
image to be printed
 Doctorblade: the device that removes ink from the non-engraved
portions of the printing cylinder and also removes excessink from the
engravedsections
 Impression roller: a rubber coveredsleeve that is mounted on a steel
mandrel. Its primary purpose is to press the job againstthe printing
cylinder
 Inking system:consisting of an ink pan, ink holding tank, and ink pump
with supply and return ink pipes
 Drying system: consisting ofa chamber which dries the ink once it is on
the job and prior to it reaching the next printing unit. Drier capacities
are determined basedon the required printing speed, ink type (solvent
or water based), and ink lay down volume
During the gravure printing process the job is unwounded and is passed
through the webaligner whose job is to maintain the sheetalignment
longitudinally which is used for printing.Sensors are attachedon the web

14. aligner which moves left or right to adjust the alignment rather than sheet
moving.
The printing cylinder rotates in the ink pan where the engravedcells fill
with ink. As the cylinder rotates clearof the ink pan, any excessink is
removed by the doctor blade. Further around, the cylinder is brought into
contactwith the job, which is pressedagainstit by the rubber covered
impression roller.
The pressure of the roller results in the direct transfer of ink from the cells
in the printing cylinder to the surface of the job.Rather than being in direct
contactthe ink gets transferred from the printing cylinder to the
impression roller.Since the Aluminium foil is charged,itattracts the ink
towards itself therefore the ink evaporates fromthe printing cylinder and
sticks on the impression roller,hence the process is termed as Evaporation
process. As the printing roller rotates back into the ink pan, the printed
area of the job proceeds through a dryer towards the head of the machine
by passing through a series of roller to reach the next printing unit, which
is normally a different colouror may be a varnish or coating.
Precise colourto colour registrationis made possible via automatic side
and length registercontrol systems.
After eachcolour has been printed and any coatings applied, the web is
'rewound' into a finished roll.
The ink to be printed is mixed with ethyl acetate oracetic acid so that it
dries quickly when passedthrough the drier.
Gravure printing is used for long, high-quality print runs such as
magazines, mail-order catalogues, packaging and printing onto fabric and
wallpaper. It is also usedfor printing postage stamps and decorative plastic
laminates, such as kitchen worktops.
The gravure printing machine used here is made by Trivedi and Co.
Stage 3-
The printed and wounded aluminium foil is then sent to doctoring
machine for inspection
In the doctoring machine the roll is unwounded and passedthrough a bed
via belts and pulleys.On top a torch is connectedto properly light the bed.A
camera is attachedto the machine which continuously records the images
of the sheetmovement.These pictures are available on a computer

15. screen.The camerais focusedon the barcode printed.If any fault such as
smudge,wrong print alignment,torn sheetetc is found then the machine
stops automatically and the operatormarks that place so that the receiver
knows about the fault.After passing through the bed the reel gets wounded
on a shaft which is then sent for packaging.
Step 4-
The last and the final stepis Packagingin which the final printed
and inspectedaluminium foil rolls are packedand delivered according to
the requirement.

16. CONCLUSION
The printing sector is a 24*7 running sector involving paper printing , foil
printing , file printing etc. Without the functioning of this sector it has hard to
imagine a smooth life.Hence scope for automation is vast and continues to
evolve as the time unfolds.
Shiv Offset Pvt. Ltd. was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn the
processes involvedinprinting , how every step is unique from other in terms
of operation and what are the raw materials and decisions required to
accomplish the final product.The use NC machines here has significantly
automated the printing technology and continues to improve exponentially
thereby reducing production time and increasing production rate.
With the increasing reading population, the opportunity for NC machines to
improve as well as scope for a new and better technology is boundless.