Materials - Copper, zinc or steel are usually the metals used as a base in etching but glass is also used.  A waxy ground is used in this process then appointed etching needle is used to create the design in the waxy ground. The design is actually printed onto the metal by a strong acid.

Cost- Glass etching can cost up to $125 but the normal cost for copper and steel etching is between $5-$10.  But the thinner the alloy metal the higher the price.

Advantages and DIsadvantages -The advantages of hand etching are that is a hard skill to master but when you have mastered it you become unique and can charge large amount of money, and because you can etch on many different material you can be versatile for the customer and more appealing and have a wider market.

Cost-The costing of intaglio is similar to etching because it takes the same skills and materials.

Advantages and disadvantages- The advantages of intaglio are that the skills highly regarded just like etching, but the disadvantages would be that it takes a long time, its very time consuming.

Cost- To screen print t-shirts is would normally cost between £4-£5. But depending on the design and the company the price may rise.

Advantages and disadvantages- The advantage of screen-printing is that you can print text or images onto a wide variety of materials.  The disadvantage would be that the design can’t be to complicated otherwise the lines of the design wouldn’t be so clean.

Cost- The cost of woodcut images cost range between £50-£200. This depends on the detail and the age of the piece.

Advantages and disadvantages- A disadvantage of woodcut printing would be that it takes a long time but the advantage of that is you can use the actual wood block more than once to create the same image multiple times.

Cost-  Some older pieces of lithography can cost up to $500. This is because of the designs and the age of the piece.

Advantages and disadvantages- The advantage of lithography is that it can be used many times to create the same image. The disadvantage is that it can take a lot of time to get a good print because the limestone is very smooth.

Cost- Costing’s vary from company to company. Smaller company’s tend to be more expensive then larger company’s.

Advantages and disadvantages- The advantage of using a letter press would be it’s a fast way to process many of the same image of text. But the disadvantage would be that the printing press and parts can cost a lot.

Materials- A printing plate is used to press ink into paper of cardboard.

Cost - The cost of gravure printing is relatively cheap because the printing plate can be used over and over and the materials aren’t to expensive.

Advantages and disadvantages- The advantage of gravure printing is that it is quick and can be done cheaply; this is good for customers as well as the company itself. The disadvantage of this method is that the start up cost is a lot.

cost- The fabric used in this process costs $10-$40 per square yard.  So prices vary between different manufacturers.

advantages and disadvantages- The advantages of this process are that you can print on to many different materials to go with different promotions. The disadvantage would be that the designs have to be simple or the design won’t come out as sharp.

Cost- The cost of using a photocopier is no more than 10p. But to buy a printer/scanner/copier it would cost £50. Office desktop would cost £200. Floor standing would cost £2000

Advantages and Disadvantages- The advantage of using a photocopier you get a

Cost- The cost of a laser printer would be around £200-£300. For a desktop laser printer.

Materials- You would have to use a PC or a Mac in this process, which is linked to a desktop printer.

Cost-The cost of this would be the cost of the computer which could be anything between £200-£500. And maybe the cost of the programs if they weren’t already installed.

Advantages and Disadvantages- The advantages of desktop publishing would be

Cost- The cost of this would include the fabric or paper and the computer and printer.

Skills and knowledge required- If you are screen printing on to material, you need to know the curve of the material and how to lower the chance of breaking the design, you do this by stretching out the material.

costs-  The costs to produce 25-49 printed t-shirts with just one colour on can cost 1.69 a shirt. This can go up with the amount of shirts and the amount of colours.

skills and knowledge required- The skills and knowledge needed to run a letter press would be knowing how to set the letters up in the machine, and how it effetely works just incase something goes wrong. They also need patients because it is very time consuming.

cost- The letterpress is the most expensive form of printing and is usually only used for special occasions such as weddings. For a set of 100 single sided wedding invitations it wouldcost £3.00 per invitation.

speed aesthetic- The letterpress is a slow process but it gives a very good clean result that is why it is used for special occasions.

technical considerations- The technical things you need to look out for when using a printing press would be to keep the letters themselves clean and only colours in the one ink because a mix of inks wouldn’t give the same clean effect.

what uses they have now and though history- The letterpress is now used for special occasions such as wedding invitations. In the past the letterpress was used for everything even printing newspapers this has changed now because of how long the process is.

skills and knowledge required- The skills to use a photocopier are very basic unless you have to re-fill the ink cartridges especially on a floor standing photocopier normally used in big business.

costs - The cost of a floor standing printer would be around £2000. A price for a desktop printer would be around £150-£200. Then you would have to buy re-fill ink cartridge’s.

speed aesthetic considerations- The speed of a photocopier fast, and it gives you good clear results if you have copied an image or text that hasn’t got a vast colour difference. To copy a image in colour thought the process would be longer but not by much.

technical considerations- You don’t want to put a fuzzy or unclear image into the photocopier because it decency of the image will going lower. You also need to keep the copier itself clean incase of defects to the screen which scans the image. 

what uses they have today and through history-- Photocopiers have always been used to copier images or text exactly. By now people are starting to develop a new style of printer which can change a 2D image into a 3D image, but in many stages.

the Guardian print centre had two bases one in London and the other in Manchester.

in  the london centre the newspaper is printed on a 2 MAN Colorman Presses and in manchester a
1 MAN Colorman Press is used.

them on a towel to take some of the moister away so the paint will stay on the potato.

2)Then you can carve a design into your potato base using something like a screw or small carving knife.

3)When you’ve carved your potato leave it on the towel for a bit longer.

4)While you’re waiting pick out your fabric or paper you’re going to print onto.

5)Put your paints on a paper plate and have a paintbrush to hand to paint the potato base if needed.

6)Once your already you can start printing, you do this by taking the potato you have cut and placing in face down in the paint,

7)Then take your potato and place in on the fabric or paper your printing on to, you may have to press down if the potato is not completely level otherwise you might not get a complete print.

8)Once you’ve done this a few times in different colours and different print shapes take your fabric or paper and put it somewhere to dry.

Review own work: I think that my work was good but not professional looking, i think this was because i wasn't sharp enough with my cutting to make a clear and clean outline of the shape. to make my work better also i could of made my paint thicker or applied it evenly to the potato to make to cleaner.

skills and knowledge: To do potato successfully you need to have certain skills like being able to cut the potato so that is makes a sharp print on the paper/material you use. To do this you need to be accurate when cutting and know what you want your print to look like on the paper. you also need the knowledge to decided what paper/ material you are going to use because different materials give different finishes.

Any technical considerations: There are a few technical things you have to worry about when potato printing like what cutting tool makes the best print and also what paint to use that doesn't leak everywhere and make a mess and also makes a clean print. you also have to make sure you have a large working space because all the equipment takes up a lot of space, you also need drying space.

cost: The cost of potato printing isn't to expensive, you can buy a pack of potatoes for about £2.50, the paint for about a pound (little tester pots) and a roll of brown paper costs about 50p. but if you wanted to spend more and get extra bits you could but the basics of potato printing is cheap.

what uses they have now and throughout history:potato printing is used mostly for teaching children about shapes and for art purposes but in the past it was used for sign making, in general for printing letters for the public signs or notices.

speed: potato printing can take a long time but this is because of the potato cutting, thats the time consuming part. After that the process is relatively fast.

Grading Criteria 1

Assignment 1 - Investigating Print-Based Media Production

Task 1: Techniques & technology – Unit 18 (P1 Part)

Task 2: Print products and printers – Unit 18 (P1, M1 & D1)