Offsetowy

Offsetowy is an adjective used in Polish to describe anything related to offset printing (druk offsetowy) or offset lithography. The term derives from offset, reflecting the principle of transferring ink from a printing plate to a rubber blanket and then to the substrate, which separates image areas from non-image areas.

In practice, a maszyna offsetowa is a typical offset press; talerz offsetowy refers to the offset plate; wałek offsetowy or cylinder offsetowy denotes cylinders involved in the process; papier offsetowy is paper suitable for offset printing. The process uses a printing plate (usually made of aluminum) prepared with an image, a dampening system to keep non-image areas wet, and ink that adheres to the image areas. The ink is first transferred to a blanket cylinder and then to the print substrate.

Offsets are used for high-volume production due to efficiency and high quality. Offset presses can be sheet-fed or web-fed. Color printing is commonly done with the CMYK process. The quality is often described as high fidelity with a wide tonal range; compared to letterpress, offset offers better gradations and faster production for large runs. However, it requires initial setup and makeready time; environmental considerations include ink formulations, dampening systems, and wastewater treatment.

Some specialized variants include heatset and coldset offset printing, for different substrates and drying methods, affecting finish and production speed. Additionally, in broader Polish usage, offsetowy is primarily used in graphic arts; in everyday language one would say druk offsetowy or technika offsetowa.