Since the introduction of Gutenberg’s letterpress in 1440, the printed word has been a staple of human civilisation; since that first printing machine, there have been many variations, but all operated on the principal of transferring ink from a stencil onto a piece of paper. Printing and allied machinery and equipment are vital to most sectors of industry; without these products, companies would not be able to print labels, banners, clothing (i.e. t-shirts) or other necessary items.

Offset printing has been the preferred method for commercial printing for many years. The process works by transferring coloured ink one colour at a time; the first pass through the machine lays down the first colour, and so on and so forth. The end result is high quality designs and lettering with very little bleed through. The offset printing press itself consists (usually) of four rollers; as the 1 ton roll of paper passes over the rollers, the ink is laid down in the pre-designated places and dried in order to bond the ink to the paper. The end result is printed pictures that look like photographs.

Laser printers are another type of printing and allied machinery and equipment. These printers, though they are called “laser” printers, actually use static electricity to print the images; the information is sent from a computer to the electrically charged drum of the paper. The drum essentially transfers an electrostatic picture onto the paper; as the toner is applied, the colour sticks to the electrically charged portions, resulting in a printed picture.