North Face Catalog

A commonly used printing technique in which the inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on the repulsion of oil and water, the offset technique employs a flat (planographic) image carrier on which the image to be printed obtains ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a water-based film (called "fountain solution"), keeping the non-printing areas ink-free.

A form of offset printing using a continuous roll of paper which is then fed through the printing press. Pages then cut to size after printing. Web offset printing traditionally is used for high-volume publications such as magazines, newspapers, catalogs and brochures.

Folded signatures are nested, placed over a "saddle" and stapled together through the center fold with wire staples.

CMYK printing uses the four process color inks—cyan, magenta, yellow and black—to reproduce a broad spectrum of colors and tones and is made possible by repeating the halftone process for each color.