finishing-and-treatment-manufacturing-processes > Lithography

Lithography, also known as Lithographic Printing or Litho, is a printing process based around the principle that water and oil do not mix.

Lithography is an intaglio printing method, where the image is transferred from a plate onto the desired surface. This can be done directly or offset, using an additional roller. Offset Lithography is the most popular variant.

This process is typically used to print brochures, booklets, leaflets and other printed material which needs to have a strong visual impact. For enhanced aesthetics, special finishes including metallic, high gloss and UV varnishes can be utilised.

Compared with Digital Printing, Lithographic Printing provides a higher quality, but takes longer to print. Lithography is more expensive at low volume quantities due to setup procedures. However, excluding setup costs lithography is cheaper per sheet than digital printing, which makes it more cost effective at high volumes.