Packaging

Used to cut sheet materials, e.g. card, fabrics and leather. Foam rubber surrounds the blade and is compressed during cutting. It's used to release the material from between blades.

Die cutting is also known as ...

• forme cutting
• press-knife cutting

Lithography

Mainly used for commercial printing, e.g. paper and card.

Process works on the basis that oil and water dont mix:

• Specially treated plates, normally made from aluminium sheet, are photographically exposed.
• The unexposed parts of the plate (the image) attract grease (the ink) and reject water.
• The exposed parts of the plate (the area not being printed) reject grease and attract water.