Printing

Printing is a process for reproducing text and images using a master form or
template. The earliest examples include Cylinder seals and other objects such as
the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The earliest known form
of woodblock printingcame from China dating to before 220 A.D.[1] Later
developments in printing include the movable type, first developed by Bi
Shengin China.[2] The printing press, a more efficient printing process for
western languages with their more limited alphabets, was developed
by Johannes Gutenberg in the fifteenth century
Modern printing is done typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is
also frequently done on metals, plastics, cloth and composite materials. On
paper it is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process and is an essential
part of publishing and transaction printing.
The history of printing goes back to
the duplication of images by means of stamps in very early times. The use of
round seals for rolling an impression into clay tablets goes back to early
Mesopotamian civilization before 3000 BCE, where they are the most common
works of art to survive, and feature complex and beautiful images. In both
China and Egypt, the use of small stamps for seals preceded the use of larger
blocks. In China, India and Europe, the printing of cloth certainly preceded the
printing of paper or papyrus. The process is essentially the same - in Europe
special presentation impressions of prints were often printed on silk until the
seventeenth century. The development of printing has made it possible for
books, newspapers, magazines, and other reading materials to be produced in
great numbers, and it plays an important role in promoting literacy among the
masses.
Mans earliest known attempt at a visual record of his life and times dates back
30,000 years. Drawings, which were known as pictographs, were super seded
by the more complex ideographs of later humans. As the years progressed, the
ideographs were replaced by the Persians cuneiforms, and then by
hieroglyphics which were perfected by the Egyptians around the year 2500 BC.
1

Ten centuries later; the Phoenicians used the fi rst formal alphabet. These were
all art forms and not printing, which is the reproduction of art forms in quantity.
The first forms of printing started with the printer carving out characters out of
wood blocks to form printable "plate". The wood block was then inked and the
sub strate pressed against the wood block. The only problem with this type of
process was that the characters within the block could not be changed. After
printing with the block, it had to be discarded. As the writings changed, so did
the block.
Printing with movable type appeared in China and Korea in the 11th Century. In
1041, a Chinese named, Pi-Sheng, developed type characters from hardened
clay but was not totally successful. In the middle 1200s, type characters cast
from metal (bronze) had been developed in Japan and China. The oldest known
text printed from this type of metal type dates to the year 1397 AD.
Half a century later in 1440, probably unaware of the crude type developed in
the Orient, Johannes Gutenberg introduced to the Western world his invention
of print ing with ink on paper, using movable type mounted on a converted wine
press. Until Gutenbergs invention, all books were laboriously handwritten by
scribes. Little wonder that historians credit his invention of printing as
coinciding with the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the
Renaissance and Modem History.
Paper and printing ink were not new when Gutenbergs cast moveable type
appeared. A Chinese named, Tsai Lun, is credited with the invention of paper in
105 AD. By the time Gutenberg was born, paper making was a well-developed
industry throughout the Western world with paper mills existing in Spain,
France, Italy and Germany. The Chinese also led the world in making ink for
printing. We credit the envisionment of commercial and cultural possibilities of
printing as a process of graphic reproduction to Gutenberg.
While Gutenberg was successful in developing cast metal movable type, he is
also known for printing the fi rst Bible and not hand scribing. Herr Gutenberg is
little known, however, as one of the fi rst printers to go bankrupt. Johann
Gutenberg was on the verge of completing his forty-two line bible when he was
sued by Johann Fust for payment of loans to fi nance the project. Fust acquired
all his equipment and the 210+ copies of the bible as Gutenberg could not repay.

Fust began to sell the Bibles promptly. Gutenberg and Fust had tried to keep the
process of print the Bibles (by movable type) a secret. In Paris, where he
attempted to pass them off as hand copied manuscripts, it was noticed that the
volumes had a certain conformity and witchcraft was charged. Fust had to
confess his scheme to avoid prosecution, but in some circles the witchcraft
charge stuck.
Early printing in England is interesting because it was through England that
printing came to the American colonies. Printing was introduced in England
about 1476 by William Caxton, who brought equipment from the Netherlands to
establish a press at Westminster. Books printed by Caxton included Chaucerss
The Canterbury Tales, Fables of Aesop and many other poplar works.
Printing reached the America shores as it was used to promote colonization. The
fi rst printing press made its appearance in Massachusetts in 1638, soon after the
fi rst settlers were established. The fi rst piece printed on the new press was The
Freemans Oath (around 1640). While printing thrived in the Northeastern part
of the Ameri cas, it did not make headway in the southern colonies to the extent
that it did in the Massachusetts colony. Within time, however, printing did forge
its way south. By the year 1763, there was a press in operation in Geor gia, the
last of the 13 colonies to be settled. Printing came to Ken tucky, Tennessee,
Ohio and Michigan in the 1780s and 1790s. By the early 1800s, printing had
moved west of the Mississippi to St. Louis. Thus, as migration continued west,
printing followed.
One of Americas most famous printer, besides myself (sic), was Ben Franklin.
As a boy he learned printing from his brother. In 1723 he quarreled with his
brother and went to New York and then Phila delphia where he worked for a
French printer named Keimer. By 1732, he had his own printing offi ce and
became the publisher of the Pennsylvania Gazette. Among his publications,
Poor Richards Almanac became the most famous.
Throughout his life, Franklin was active in promoting printing. Although he
disposed of his business in Philadelphia in 1748 to devote his time to literary,
journalistic and civic activities, he assisted in the establishment and promotion
of about 40 printing plants in the colonies. The high regard for his craft is
revealed by the words with which he began his will: "I Benjamin Franklin,
Printer..."

Another great patriot printer was Isaiah Thomas, born in Massachusetts in 1744.
By 1770 he was printing publication entitled Massachusetts Spy, a newspaper in
which he supported the cause of the patriots. He served during the
Revolutionary War as a printer for the Massachusetts House of Assembly.
Following the war, he reestablished his business, which had been destroyed. He
became a leading publisher of books in the period following the Revolution. In
1810 he published a two-volume History of Printing in America which, even
today, remains the best source on colonial printing.
For more than 400 years after the invention of printing, all type was set by hand.
By the 19th century, man began to con sider the possibility of creating
typesetting machines. Numerous machines intended to replace hand
composition were invented. Of all the various types of type setting machines
invented only two remained. Machines such as the Linotype, Intertype and
Ludlow which cast metal slugs (one-piece fully spaced lines); and the
Monotype which casts individual pieces of type in justifi ed lines. The invention
of these machines took place in the early 1900". As late as the early 1960", these
machines were still considered "state of the art" The machines used hot lead to
forge and mold type in slug or individual form. After usage, the lead type could
be re-molten to be used again. During the late 1960", com puter technology
began to take form with the development of the com puter/fi lm system. Using
an electric typewriter with a special punch tape unit, the punched tape could be
taken to a computer controlled processor. Once the tape was fed to the pro
cessor, the punched tape would drive individual photo one by one to produce a
page of text in another negative form.
It was only a few short years ago, twenty-fi ve to be exact, that the hot metal
type sys tems were "state of the art". Today, these large hot complex machines
have been re placed by chips, computer monitors and software leaving them for
museums. Then Today!
Crude wooden hand presses allowed the printer to transfer ink to paper. These
old slow presses could only print 300 to 500 printed sheets per day. Over time,
power-driven machines could produce the same number of printed sheets in a
few minutes (in newspaper printing, a few seconds). The old wooded presses
used a torsion screw for making the impression and was provided with a clever
mechanical arrangement devised to provide the proper pressure on the form.
Further changes in press construction came about slowly until the first all-metal
4

press was built by the Earl of Stanhope early in the 19th century. This press still
used a screw device, but less exertion was required to force the impres sion on
the sheet. Application of the principle of the lever to the iron press resulted in
several presses which came into common use.
The idea of the printing press, as conceived by Gutenberg, reached its highest
development by the late 1700's. The job, or platen, press is the direct descendant
of a machine perfected in 1858 by George P. Gordon of New York. In this
machine the platen and form are turned on edge. In other presses, both the
platen and the bed move with a sort of clamshell action.
The cylinder press was first conceived by William Nicholson of London who
secured patents in 1790 but was unable to perfect a working model. Within
time, however; the design for a steam-powered cylinder press was perfected and
was capable of printing 1,100 sheets per hour.
Shortly after the development of the cylinder press, D. Napier, an Englishman,
invented a press using grippers for picking up the sheet from the paper table and
holding it while the sheet received the impression. While numerous other
improvements have been added throughout the years, the flatbed cylinder press,
except for the vertical press, is practically obsolete
In 1847, Richard Hoe perfected the first rotary press with the type actually
carried on the cylinder. An American, William Bullock developed the first web
press, in 1856. These early web presses could deliver 15,000 signatures per hour
and printed both sides. The name Hoe Press is synonymous among the
newspaper industry.
Since that time, newspaper presses have been developed to a high state of
efficiency which, by duplicating plate and units, has allowed newspapers to be
printed and delivered at the rate of 160,000 per hour.

Paper Sizes and Printing Formats

We can do so much more than this list, but heres a guide to the sizes we help
you with most.

A1 - 841mm x 594mm
A2 - 420mm x 594mm
A3 - 420mm x 297mm
A4 - 297mm x 210mm
A5 - 148mm x 210mm
A6 - 148mm x 105mm
A7 - 105mm x 74mm
A8 - 52mm x 74mm
Business Card - 90mm x 54mm
A4 Letterhead - 210mm x 297mm
DL With Comp Slip - 210mm x 99mm
Bookmark - 46mm x 210mm
CD inserts & covers - 120mm x 120mm
2DL Brochure - 198mm x 210mm
4PP A5 Maxi-Mailer - 297mm x 210mm
A4 Booklet - 210mm x 297mm
A5 Booklet - 146.5mm x 210mm
Postcard - 148mm x 105mm
8PP A5 Maxi-Mailer - 594mm x 210mm

Printing: History and Development

Overview
Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press is widely thought of
as the origin of mass communication-- it marked Western culture's first
viable method of disseminating ideas and information from a single source
to a large and far-ranging audience. A closer look at the history of print,
however, shows that the invention of the printing press depended on a
confluence of both cultural and technological forces that had been
unfolding for several centuries. Print culture and technology also needed to
go through centuries of change after Gutenberg's time before the
"massification" of audiences could fully crystallize.
The story of print is a long and complex one. It may be too much to claim that
print was the single cause of the massive social, political and psychological
changes it is associated with. However, print did wield enormous influence on
every aspect of European culture. Some historians suggest that print was
instrumental in bringing about all the major shifts in science, religion, politics
and the modes of thought that are commonly associated with modern Western
culture.
The key technological, cultural and psychological issues associated with the
emergence of the printing press can be organized into the following areas:
China: The Technological Roots
paper
paper's migration to Europe
ideographic alphabet
Gutenberg and the Historical Moment in Western Europe
scribal hand-copying
Church indulgences
movable metal type
Gutenberg Bibles

 the Protestant Reformation

William Caxton and print in England
Print and Modern Thought
scientific thinking
the scientific community
the rise of an intellectual class
transformations: oral, written and print cultures
privacy and individual rights
Print in the U.S.
first colonial press in Cambridge
the penny press: news for all
Advances in Print Technology
innovations since the Linotype
innovations in contemporary print culture

China: The Technological Roots

The invention of the printing press depended on the invention and refinement
of paper in China over several centuries. The Chinese had developed "rag"
paper, a cheap cloth-scrap and plant-fiber substitute for cumbersome bark and
bamboo strips and for precious silk paper, by A.D. 105. Chinese prisoners
passed a mature technology on to their Arab captors in the eighth century. The
secrets of the craft that were revealed to Europeans in the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries were substantially the same techniques the Chinese had passed to the
Arabs several centuries earlier.
Long before the Gutenberg press, Chinese innovations in ink, block printing and
movable clay type all fed the technological push toward expanding the written
8

word's range of influence. Althought the European innovations came much later,
European culture certainly felt the impact of print more dramatically than the
Chinese did. Because their alphabet employs thousands of visually specific
ideograms, the use of movable type was much more labor-intensive for the
Chinese. Consequently, it did not change production efficiency as dramatically
as it did for Europeans. Some historians will also assert that the sequential,
linear and standardized character of the printed word especially suited Western
impulses toward progress and conquest-- a disposition that favors quick and
intense change.
Gutenberg and the Historical Moment in Western Europe
In the early 1450's rapid cultural change in Europe fueled a growing need for
the rapid and cheap production of written documents. Johannes Gutenberg, a
goldsmith and businessman from the mining town of Mainz in southern
Germany, borrowed money to develop a technology that could address this
serious economic bottleneck. From its European debut in the 12th century, paper
gradually proved to be a viable alternative to the animal-skin vellum and
parchment that had been the standard means of carrying written communication.
Rag paper became increasingly cheap and plentiful while literacy expanded; the
two processes accelerated, in part, by stimulating each other. The need for
documentation continued to increase with expansions in trade and in
governmental scope and complexity. Scribal monks sanctioned by the Church
had overseen the maintenance and hand-copying of sacred texts for centuries,
but the secular world began to foster its own version of the scribal copyist
profession. The many new scriptoria, or writing shops, that sprang up employed
virtually every literate cleric who wanted work.
Gutenberg foresaw enormous profit-making potential for a printing press that
used movable metal type. Despite their rapid growth in numbers, secular scribes
simply could not keep up with the commercial demand for books. Gutenberg
also saw strong market potential in selling indulgences, the slips of paper
offering written dispensation from sin that the Church sold to fund crusades,
new buildings and other projects devoted to expanding its dominance. In fact,
press runs of 200,000 indulgences at a time were common soon after the
handwritten versions became obsolete.
Gutenberg developed his press by combining features of existing technologies:
textile, papermaking and wine presses. Perhaps his most significant innovation,
9

however, was the efficient molding and casting of movable metal type. Each
letter was carved into the end of a steel punch which was then hammered into a
copper blank. The copper impression was inserted into a mold and a molten
alloy made of lead, antimony and bismuth was poured in. The alloy cooled
quickly and the resulting reverse image of the letter attached to a lead base
could be handled in minutes. The width of the lead base varied according to the
letter's size (for example, the base of an "i" would not be nearly as wide as the
base of a "w"). This emphasized the visual impact of words and clusters of
words rather than evenly spaced letters. This principle lent an aesthetic elegance
and sophistication to what seemed to many to be the magically perfect
regularity of a printed page. Gutenberg designed a Latin print Bible which
became his signature work. He launched a run of some 300 twovolume Gutenberg Bibles which sold for 30 florins each, or about three years of
a clerk's wage. Despite the dramatic success of his invention, Gutenberg
managed to default on a loan and lost his whole printing establishment. His
techniques were made public and his creditor won the rights to the proceeds
from the Gutenberg Bibles.
The clergy were eager to take advantage of the power of print. Printed
indulgences, theological texts, even how-to manuals for conducting inquisitions
became common tools for the spread of the Church's influence. But the Church
had even more difficulty controlling the activities of printers than they had with
the secular scribes. The production and distribution of an expanding variety of
texts quickly became too widespread to contain. Printed copies of Martin
Luther's theses, for example, were widely and rapidly disseminated. They
prompted far-reaching discussions that became the foundation for mounting
opposition to the Church's role as the sole custodian of spiritual truth. Bibles
printed in vernacular languages rather than Latin fueled the Protestant
Reformation based on the assertion that there was no need for the Church to
interpret scripture--an individual's relationship with God could be, at least in
theory, direct and personal.
In 1476, William Caxton set up England's first printing press. Caxton had been a
prolific translator and found the printing press to be a marvelous way to amplify
his mission of promoting popular literature. Caxton printed and distributed a
variety of widely appealing narrative titles including the first popular edition of
Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Caxton was an enthusiastic editor and he
determined the diction, spelling and usage for all the books he printed. He
10

realized that English suffered from so much regional variation that many people
couldn't communicate with others from their own country. Caxton's
contributions as an editor and printer won him a good portion of the credit for
standardizing the English language.
Print and Modern Thought
The scientific revolution that would later challenge the entrenched "truths"
espoused by the Church was also largely a consequence of print technology. The
scientific principle of repeatability--the impartial verification of experimental
results-- grew out of the rapid and broad dissemination of scientific insights and
discoveries that print allowed. The production of scientific knowledge
accelerated markedly. The easy exchange of ideas gave rise to a scientific
community that functioned without geographical constraints. This made it
possible to systematize methodologies and to add sophistication to the
development of rational thought. As readily available books helped expand the
collective body of knowledge, indexes and cross-referencing emerged as ways
of managing volumes of information and of making creative associations
between seemingly unrelated ideas.
Innovations in the accessibility of knowledge and the structure of human
thought that attended the rise of print in Europe also influenced art, literature,
philosophy and politics. The explosive innovation that characterized
the Renaissance was amplified, if not in part generated by, the printing press.
The rigidly fixed class structure which determined one's status from birth based
on family property ownership began to yield to the rise of an intellectual middle
class. The possibility of changing one's status infused the less priveleged with
ambition and a hunger for education.
Print technology facilitated a communications revolution that reached deep into
human modes of thought and social interaction. Print, along with spoken
language, writing and electronic media, is thought of as one of the markers of
key historical shifts in communication that have attended social and intellectual
transformation. Oral culture is passed from one generation to the next through
the full sensory and emotional atmosphere of interpersonal interaction. Writing
facilitates interpretation and reflection since memorization is no longer required
for the communication and processing of ideas. Recorded history could persist
and be added to through the centuries. Written manuscripts sparked a variation

11

on the oral tradition of communal story-telling--it became common for one

person to read out loud to the group.
Print, on the other hand, encouraged the pursuit of personal privacy. Less
expensive and more portable books lent themselves to solitary and silent
reading. This orientation to privacy was part of an emphasis on individual rights
and freedoms that print helped to develop. Print injected Western culture with
the principles of standardization, verifiability and communication that comes
from one source and is disseminated to many geographically dispersed
receivers. As illustrated by dramatic reform in religious thought and scientific
inquiry, print innovations helped bring about sharp challenges to institutional
control. Print facilitated a focus on fixed, verifiable truth, and on the human
ability and right to choose one's own intellectual and religious path.
Print in the U.S.
Religious, intellectual and political freedom served as rallying cries for the
Europeans who were drawn to the American colonies. Stephen Daye, a
locksmith whose son Matthew was a printer's apprentice, brought the continent's
first press to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1638. The Dayes printed a broadside
and an almanac in their first year. In 1640 they produced 1700 copies of the first
book printed in the colonies, the Bay Psalm Book. The printing press quickly
became central to political and religious expression in the New World. Writers
and printers like Benjamin Franklin were heroes of the time. Print was at the
heart of the dissemination and defense of visionary ideas that shaped the
American Revolution.
Until the 19th century Gutenberg's print technology had not changed
dramatically. In the early 1800's the development of continuous rolls of paper, a
steam-powered press and a way to use iron instead of wood for building presses
all added to the efficiency of printing. These technological advances made it
possible for newspaperman Benjamin Day to drop the price of his New York
Sun to a penny a copy in 1833. Some historians point to this "penny press" as
the first true mass medium--in Day's words, his paper was designed to "lay
before the public, at a price well within the means of everyone, all the news of
the day."

12

Advances in Print Technology

A number of dramatic technological innovations have since added a great deal
of character and dimension to the place of print in culture. Linotype, a method
of creating movable type by machine instead of by hand, was introduced in
1884 and marked a significant leap in production speed. The typewriter made
the production and "look" of standardized print much more widely accessible.
The process of setting type continued to go through radical transformations with
the development of photo-mechanical composition, cathode ray tubes and laser
technologies. The Xerox machine made a means of disseminating print
documents available to everyone. Word processing transformed editing and
contributed dramatic new flexibility to the writing process. Computer printing
has already moved through several stages of innovation, from the first daisywheel and dot matrix "impact" printers to common use of the non-impact
printers: ink-jet, laser and thermal-transfer.
Both the Internet and interactive multimedia are providing ways of employing
the printed word that add new possibilities to print's role in culture. The printed
word is now used for real-time social interaction and for individualized
navigation through interactive documents. It is difficult to gauge the social and
cultural impact of new media without historical distance, but these innovations
will most likely prove to signal another major transformation in the use,
influence and character of human communication.

Related Resources
American Museum of Papermaking
Oral and Scribal Culture History
History of Media
Oxford Early Books Project
Society For The History of Authorship, Reading & Publishing

13

Sources
Carter, T.F., The Invention of Printing in China and Its Spread Westward,
(Ronald Press:1925)
Eisenstein, Elizabeth, The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe
(Cambridge University Press, 1983).
Olmert, Michael, The Smithsonian Book of Books (New York:Wing
Books, 1992).
The Graphion's Online Type Museum
"Printers" in the Jones MultiMedia Encylopedia CD-ROM

THE PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

The 6 fundamental principles of design which are: balance, proximity,
alignment, repetition, contrast and space. Lets look at what each doesThe
elements and principles of design are the building blocks. The elements of
design are the things that make up a design. The Principles of design are what
we do to those elements. How we apply the principles of design determines how
successful the design is.

The elements of design

LINE The linear marks made with a pen or brush or the edge created
when two shapes meet.

SHAPE A shape is a self contained defined area of geometric (squares

and circles), or organic (free formed shapes or natural shapes). A positive shape
automatically creates a negative shape.

DIRECTION All lines have direction Horizontal, Vertical or Oblique.

Horizontal suggests calmness, stability and tranquillity. Vertical gives a feeling
of balance, formality and alertness. Oblique suggests movement and action

SIZE Size is simply the relationship of the area occupied by one shape
to that of another.

14

TEXTURE Texture is the surface quality of a shape rough, smooth,

soft hard glossy etc.

COLOUR Colour is light reflected off objects. Color has three main
characteristics: hue or its name (red, green, blue, etc.), value (how light or dark
it is), and intensity (how bright or dull it is).

The principles of design

1.

2.

3.
4.

5.

6.

BALANCE Balance in design is similar to balance in physics. A large

shape close to the center can be balanced by a small shape close to the edge.
Balance provides stability and structure to a design. Its the weight distributed in
the design by the placement of your elements.
PROXIMITY Proximity creates relationship between elements. It
provides a focal point. Proximity doesnt mean that elements have to be placed
together, it means they should be visually connected in someway.
ALIGNMENT Allows us to create order and organisation. Aligning
elements allows them to create a visual connection with each other.
REPETITION Repetition strengthens a design by tying together
individual elements. It helps to create association and consistency. Repetition
can create rhythm (a feeling of organized movement).
CONTRAST Contrast is the juxtaposition of opposing elements
(opposite colours on the colour wheel, or value light / dark, or direction
horizontal / vertical). Contrast allows us to emphasize or highlight key elements
in your design.
SPACE Space in art refers to the distance or area between, around,
above, below, or within elements. Both positive and negative space are
important factors to be considered in every design.
Typography
Typography (from the Greek words typos "form" and
graphein "to write") is the art and technique ofarranging type to
make written language readable and beautiful. The arrangement of type involves
selecting typefaces, point size, line length, line-spacing (leading), letterspacing (tracking), and adjusting the space within letters pairs (kerning[2]).Type
design is a closely related craft, sometimes considered part of typography; most
15

typographers do not design typefaces, and some type designers do not consider
themselves typographers.[3][4] In modern times, typography has been put in film,
television and online broadcasts to add emotion to communication.[5]
Typography is performed by typesetters, compositors, typographers, graphic
designers, art directors, manga artists, comic book artists, graffiti artists, clerical
workers, and everyone else who arranges type for a product. Until the Digital
Age, typography was a specialized occupation. Digitization opened up
typography to new generations of visual designers and lay users, and David
Jury, Head of Graphic Design at Colchester Institute in England, states that
typography is now something everybody does
Adobe PageMaker
PageMaker was one of the first desktop publishing programs, introduced in
1985 by Aldus,[2] initially for the then-new Apple Macintosh and in 1987
for PCs running Windows 1.0.[3] As an application relying on a graphical user
interface, PageMaker helped to popularize the Macintosh platform and the
Windows environment.[4][5]
PageMaker relies on Adobe Systems' PostScript page description language.
In 1994 Adobe Systems acquired Aldus and PageMaker.
.

Automatic layout adjustment

Automatically reposition,
resize, and reflow text
blocks, frames, and graphics
when you change columns,
orientation, or master pages.

Text and graphics frames

Quickly lay out your

publication by creating
frames to hold text or
graphics.

Publishing options

Create a wide variety of

16

documents up to 999 pages

each.

Professional typographic controls

Set typography to
professional standards with
point-size- dependent
tracking, kerning in 0.001em increments, and
expanded and condensed
type.

Multiple master pages

Specify and apply different

page designs, such as
margins, column guides, and
backgrounds within a single
publication.

Text capabilities

Speed text processing with a

built-in word processor,
spelling checker, and searchand-replace feature.

Link management controls

Reliably track changes to

imported text and graphics
files.

Object masking

Crop text, graphics, and

images easily into polygons,
ovals, and rectangles.

Improved Adobe Table 3.0 software

Easily lay out text and data

in rows and columns - and
now include color in your
tables.

Extensive printing features

Enjoy maximum flexibility

with support for Adobe
PostScript(R), PCL, and
QuickDraw printers. Includes
Print Fit view and printer
styles, plus the ability to

17

print nonconsecutive pages

and reader's spreads and to
designate selected objects as
nonprinting.

Timesaving devices

Streamline workflow with

new template designs,
instantly define grids with an
enhanced Grid Manager
Plug-in, impose pages using
the Build Booklet plug-in,
and generate an automatic
table of contents or index
across multiple publications.

Enhanced polygon tool

Draw free-form polygons

and lines, and edit points on
existing polygons.

Object handling

Automatically align and

distribute objects. Combine
multiple elements into a unit
with a single keystroke, and
move or resize an element
without having to separate it
from the rest of the group.
Easily maintain the
relationships of layout
elements with object locking.

Improved navigation

Quickly move between pages

with new Go Back and Go
Forward commands

Adobe InDesign

Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing software application produced

by Adobe Systems. It can be used to create works such as posters, flyers,
18

brochures, magazines, newspapers and books. InDesign can also publish content
suitable for tablet devices in conjunction with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite.
Graphic designers and production artists are the principal users, creating and
laying out periodical publications, posters, and print media. It also supports
export to EPUB and SWF formats to create e-books and digital publications,
including digital magazines, and content suitable for consumption on tablet
computers. In addition, InDesign supportsXML, style sheets and other coding
markup, making it suitable for exporting tagged text content for use in other
digital and online formats. The Adobe InCopy word processor uses the same
formatting engine as InDesign.
QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress is a computer application for creating and editing complex page
layouts in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) environment. It runs
on Mac OS X and Windows. It was first released by Quark, Inc. in 1987 and is
still owned and published by them.
The most recent version, QuarkXPress 10, allows publishing
in English ("International and U.S."[1]) and 36 other languages, including
Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Korean, Russian, French, and
Spanish.[2]
QuarkXPress is used by individual designers and large publishing houses to
produce a variety of layouts, from single-page flyers to the multi-media projects
required for magazines, newspapers, catalogs, and the like. QuarkXPress once
dominated the market for page layout software with over 95% market share
among professional users. As of 2010, while one publisher estimated that US
market share has fallen to below 25% and Adobe InDesign has become the
market leader, QuarkXPress still had significant marketshare
Features
Easy to use
Pwerful design tools

19

Integration with other applications

Layout automation
Reliable print output
Digital publishing
Precision typography
CorelDRAW
CorelDraw (styled CorelDRAW) is a vector graphics editor developed and
marketed by Corel Corporation of Ottawa, Canada. It is also the name of Corel's
Graphics Suite, which bundles CorelDraw with bitmap-image editor Corel
Photo-Paint as well as other graphics-related programs (see below). The latest
version is designated X7 (equivalent to version 17), and was released in March
2014. Corel Draw is designed to edit two-dimensional images such as logos and
posters.
Features
Color and color management features
Proffessional output features
Performance and Productivity Features
User Interface Enhancements
Precision features
Creation tools
Internet features
Bitmap features
Bitmap effects
20

Whether created by a professional web design company or the individual,

having the right color scheme on your web page is crucial in attaining a
professional, high quality site that is well- received by viewers. If your website
is not appealing to its viewers, they will miss the content of the page or even
leave the site all together and opt for a more desirable alternative.
Color Theory Explained
Making a website starts with understanding the theory behind color schemes.
Color schemes begin by examining the color wheel, where we find three color
groupings: primary colors, secondary colors, and tertiary colors. Using this
wheel, color theory then stratifies the colors. Primary colors are red, yellow, and
blue; they cannot be created by mixing other color combinations. However, the
primary colors themselves can be mixed to form now colors, which are
secondary colors. Tertiary colors are created from mixing secondary colors.
Color theory dictates how colors can be combined for optimal use and allure,
which will vary depending on the format and content of the website itself.
Selecting colors for a website necessitates choosing color combinations which
are sober and harmonious to the eye. The simplest method in selecting color
combinations is by mixing comparable colors to see if they work well together.
Colors can be combined in website design from the same color palette or
different ones, but should not be too bright, too dark, or distract from the
content.
Does color choice really matter?
The importance of color design stems from the significance of color to the
human mind. Color creates ideas, expresses messages, spark interest, and
generate certain emotions. Some colors hold a universal significance- for
example, it is commonly understood that red is a color for warning and green is
means go. But, put together, most people would associate the color combination
21

of red and green as Christmas. Bright colors tend to set a happy and positive
mood, whereas dark colors tend to project the opposite. Within the psychology
of colors, warm colors show excitement, optimism, and creativity; cool colors
symbolize peace, calmness, and harmony.
Choosing colors for a website is not about just choosing colors that you like- the
colors should strengthen the website and branding of the business. Colors that
work well individually may not be as pleasing together as they are individually.
By considering color combination as both a science, seeing how colors work
together literally, and as an art, by seeing what colors symbolize and how they
are evaluated internally and emotionally, the correct color combination for your
website design can be achieved.

To conclude, color is a powerful tool in building a successful website. Color is

used to get your business noticed and positively connect potential clients. For
more information on using color in website design and further help with web
design, contact our graphic and web designers at Design & Promote.
Why is color important?
Color carries emotional resonance with it- in that, when we see a color, we have
an emotional response towards that color. Blue can be sad, calm, and confident
while yellow is happy, light, and cautionary. We naturally associate colors with
emotions because it is hard to put words to what we are feeling.
Colors connect to our feelings in a unique and memorable way, which makes
them a powerful marketing tool to keep in mind for your design projects. The
colors in your design need to be purposeful and have meaning in their use. You
want to discern what message you want to share about your upcoming event,
business, or product and make sure your color choices reflect that. Its also
important to keep in mind the print medium and size and how it will be
perceived by the passing audience and what can draw their attention.
22

Particularly, in large format print projects, color matters because that is what
will draw the eye and be the first line of communication.
Color is helpful in communicating your message because it draws attention, sets
the tone of the message, and guides the eye where it needs to go. It presents a
sense of direction and recognition that people can identify and relate to.
It is easy to fall back on your personal color preferences when creating your
marketing design, but the most important thing to remember is that your design
needs to speak to your prospective audience. What colors will draw their eye?
What colors best represent the message youre trying to share? What colors
consistently represent your business brand?
We are a visual society where people place enormous importance on the visual
presentation of the service or event they are interested in. Color impacts that
decision in subtle ways and grows recognition for your business brand.
Packaging and labeling
Packaging is the technology of enclosing or protecting products for
distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of
design, evaluation, and production of packages. Packaging can be described as a
coordinated system of preparing goods for transport, warehousing, logistics,
sale, and end use. Packaging contains, protects, preserves, transports, informs,
and sells.[1] In many countries it is fully integrated into government, business,
institutional, industrial, and personal use.
Package labeling (American English) or labelling (British English) is any
written, electronic, or graphic communication on the package or on a separate
but associated label.
Types Of Packaging
Primary packaging or sales packaging
This is any packaging that is conceived so as to constitute, for
the end-user or the consumer at the POS, a complete integral

23

package. It concerns, for example a type of packaging that

directly encloses the product, such as a small bottle or a can
for soft and fizzy drinks.
Secondary packaging or grouped packaging
This is any packaging that is conceived so as to constitute, at
the POS, a number of sellable units (primary packaging),
regardless of whether the secondary packaging is sold, as
such, to the end-user or consumer or whether it serves only as
a means to replenish the shelves at the POS; it may be
removed from the product without affecting its characteristics.
It concerns, for example, the plastic packaging around 6
bottles of soft or fizzy drink.
Tertiary packaging or transport packaging
This is any packaging that is conceived so as to facilitate the
safe handling and transport of a number of sellable units or
grouped packaging, in order to prevent physical damage due
to incorrect handling or transport. Transport packaging does
not include road, rail, ship or air containers. It concerns, for
example, pallets or (heavy) wooden crates.
Service packaging
Any kind of primary, secondary or tertiary packaging that is used at the POS
to consumers of goods or services, as well as any kind of packaging which is
of the same type and which is used in the same way.
For example, a bread bag at the bakers, the paper wrapped around fresh and
cooked meats at the butchers, etc.
Plastic

This is the most common packaging material and, at the same time, one of
the most difficult to dispose of. The factors common to all plastics are that

24

they are light, strong cheap to manufacture. It is for these reasons that they
are used so much, as an alternative to cardboard glass packaging materials.
Almost 10% of our rubbish consists of different types of plastic. They are a
problem in landfills as they are bulky, they contaminate degrade slowly.
Separated the rest of the waste, they can must be upgraded for the good of
everyone.

Metal

Appropriate for packaging foods (canned foods). For drinks, such as soft
drinks beers, aluminium is often used.
Tin plate is a solid, heavy steel covered with tin to protect it against rust. It is
used to package canned foods. It can be separated by magnets should be
recycled in all cases.
Aluminium is attractive, light strong at the same time, but requires a lot of
raw materials energy to make it. For this reason it must be recycled. The
majority of cans of soft drinks, lids, aluminium foil, etc. are made
aluminium.
Brick carton

A light, strong air-tight packaging material. Ideal for transporting storage. Its
complex composition makes it difficult to reycle. It is becoming the main
packaging material used for basic foodstuffs.
Complex packaging material, made up of several layers of plastic, paper
aluminium. It is also difficult to recycle. It is used mainly to keep drinks
such as milk, juice, etc.

Cardboard

25

Appropriate for packaging materials wrapping, preferable to "white cork".

Its use may prove to be unnecessary when used for products which are
already packaged sufficiently. In all cases, this packaging material is easy to
recycle reuse. It is used in the form of boxes, sheets corrugated cardboard.

Glass

An ideal material for foods, especially liquids. It is inalterable, strong easy to

recycle.
It is the traditional vessel in the home (jars, glasses, jugs, etc.). Its weight
shape may involve some difficulties for transport storage.
The purposes of packaging and package labels[edit]
Packaging and package labeling have several objectives[20]

Physical protection The objects enclosed in the package may require

protection from, among other things,
mechanical shock, vibration, electrostatic discharge,
compression, temperature,[21] etc.

Barrier protection A barrier from oxygen, water vapor, dust, etc., is

often required. Permeation is a critical factor in design. Some packages
containdesiccants or oxygen absorbers to help extend shelf life. Modified
atmospheres[22] or controlled atmospheres are also maintained in some food
packages. Keeping the contents clean, fresh, sterile[23] and safe for the
intended shelf life is a primary function. A barrier is also implemented in
cases where segregation of two materials, prior to end use is required, as in
case of special paints, glues, medical fluids etc. At consumer end, the
packaging barrier is broken or measured amounts of material removed for
mixing and subsequent end use.

26

Containment or agglomeration Small objects are typically grouped

together in one package for reasons of efficiency. For example, a single box
of 1000 pencils requires less physical handling than 1000 single
pencils. Liquids, powders, and granular materials need containment.

Information transmission Packages and labels communicate how to

use, transport, recycle, or dispose of the package or product.
With pharmaceuticals,food, medical, and chemical products, some types of
information are required by governments. Some packages and labels also are
used for track and tracepurposes. Most items include their serial and lot
numbers on the packaging, and in the case of food products, medicine, and
some chemicals the packaging often contains an expiry/best-before date,
usually in a shorthand form. Packages may indicate their material with a
symbol.

Marketing The packaging and labels can be used by marketers to

encourage potential buyers to purchase the product. Package graphic
design and physical design have been important and constantly evolving
phenomenon for several decades. Marketing communications and graphic
design are applied to the surface of the package and (in many cases)
the point of sale display. Most packaging is designed to reflect the brand's
message and identity.

A single-serving shampoopacket

Security Packaging can play an important role in reducing

the security risks of shipment. Packages can be made with improved tamper
resistance to deter tampering and also can have tamper-evident[24] features to
help indicate tampering. Packages can be engineered to help reduce the risks
of package pilferage or the theft and resale of products: Some package
constructions are more resistant to pilferage and some have pilfer indicating
seals. Counterfeit consumer goods, unauthorized sales (diversion), material
substitution and tampering can all be prevented with these anticounterfeiting technologies. Packages may include authentication seals and
use security printing to help indicate that the package and contents are
27

not counterfeit. Packages also can include anti-theft devices, such as dyepacks, RFID tags, or electronic article surveillance[25] tags that can be
activated or detected by devices at exit points and require specialized tools
to deactivate. Using packaging in this way is a means of loss prevention.

Convenience Packages can have features that add convenience in

distribution, handling, stacking, display, sale, opening, reclosing, use,
dispensing, reuse, recycling, and ease of disposal

Portion control Single serving or single dosage packaging has a

precise amount of contents to control usage. Bulk commodities (such as salt)
can be divided into packages that are a more suitable size for individual
households. It also aids the control of inventory: selling sealed one-literbottles of milk, rather than having people bring their own bottles to fill
themselves.

LAMINATION
Lamination is the technique of manufacturing a material in multiple layers, so
that the composite material achieves improved strength, stability, sound
insulation, appearance or other properties from the use of differing materials. A
laminate is usually permanently assembled by heat, pressure, welding,
or adhesives

Materials
There are different lamination processes, depending on the type of materials to
be laminated. The materials used in laminates can be the same or different,
depending on the processes and the object to be laminated. An example of the
type of laminate using different materials would be the application of a layer
of plastic filmthe "laminate"on either side of a sheet of glass
the laminated subject.
Vehicle windshields are commonly made by laminating a tough plastic film
between two layers of glass. Plywood is a common example of a laminate using
the same material in each layer. Glued and laminated dimensioned timber is
28

used in the construction industry to make wooden beams, Glulam, with sizes
larger and stronger than can be obtained from single pieces of wood. Another
reason to laminate wooden strips into beams is quality control, as with this
method each and every strip can be inspected before it becomes part of a highly
stressed component such as an aircraftundercarriage

Building materials
Examples of laminate materials include melamine adhesive countertop
surfacing and plywood. Decorative laminates are produced with kraft papers
and decorative papers with a layer of overlay on top of the decorative paper, set
before pressing them with thermoprocessing into high-pressure decorative
laminates. A new type of HPDL is produced using real wood
veneer or multilaminar veneer as top surface.[citation needed] High-pressure laminates
consists of laminates "molded and cured at pressures not lower than 1,000 lb per
sq in.(70 kg per sq cm) and more commonly in the range of 1,200 to 2,000 lb
per sq in. (84 to 140 kg per sq cm). Meanwhile, low pressure laminate is defined
as "a plastic laminate molded and cured at pressures in general of 400 pounds
per square inch (approximately 27 atmospheres or 2.8 106 pascals)

Paper
Corrugated fiberboard boxes are examples of laminated structures, where an
inner core provides rigidity and strength, and the outer layers provide a smooth
surface.
Laminating paper products, such as photographs, can prevent them from
becoming creased, faded, water damaged, wrinkled, stained, smudged, abraded,
or marked by grease or fingerprints. Photo identification cards and credit
cards are almost always laminated with plastic film. Boxes and other containers
are also laminated using a UV coating. Lamination is also used in sculpture
using wood or resin. An example of an artist who used lamination in his work is
the AmericanFloyd Shaman.
Further, laminates can be used to add properties to a surface, usually printed
paper, that would not have them otherwise. Sheets of vinyl impregnated
29

with ferro-magnetic material can allow portable printed images to bond to

magnets, such as for a custom bulletin board or a visual presentation. Specially
surfaced plastic sheets can be laminated over a printed image to allow them to
be safely written upon, such as with dry erase markers or chalk. Multiple
translucent printed images may be laminated in layers to achieve certain visual
effects or to hold holographic images. Many printing businesses that do
commercial lamination keep a variety of laminates on hand, as the process for
bonding many types is generally similar when working with arbitrarily thin
material.

Photo laminators
Three types of laminators are used most often in digital imaging:

Pouch laminators

Heated roll laminators

Cold roll laminators

Film types
Laminating film is composed of polyester and adhesives to produce a smooth
and clear lamination. Binding.com carries two main types of laminating film.
Browse our selection of laminating films to choose the best film for your
laminating needs.Laminate film is generally categorized into these five
categories:

Standard thermal laminating films

Low-temperature thermal laminating films

Heat set (or heat-assisted) laminating films

Pressure-sensitive films

Liquid laminate
30

RFID
Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a form of
wireless communication that uses radio waves to
identify and track objects. RFID takes the barcoding
concept and digitizes it for the modern world providing
the ability to:
Uniquely identify an individual item beyond just its
product type
Identify items without direct line-of-sight

Identify many items (up to 1,000s) simultaneously

Identify items within a vicinity of between a few
centimeters to several meters

An RFID system has readers and tags that communicate with each other by
radio. RFID tags are so small and require so little power that they dont even
need a battery to store information and exchange data with readers. This makes
it easy and cheap to apply tags to all kinds of things that people would like to
identify or
track.

Why Use
RFID?
RFID
technology
has the
capability to
both greatly
enhance and
protect the lives of consumers, and also revolutionize the way companies do
business. As the most flexible auto-identification technology, RFID can be used
to track and monitor the physical world automatically and with accuracy.

31

RFID can tell you what an object is, where it is, and even its condition, which is
why it is integral to the development of the Internet of Thingsa globally
interconnected web of objects allowing the physical world itself to become an
information system, automatically sensing what is happening, sharing related
data, and responding.
RFID use is increasing rapidly with the capability to tag any item with an
inexpensive communications chip and then read that tag with a reader. Endless
applications range from supply chain management to asset tracking to
authentication of frequently counterfeited pharmaceuticals. Applications are
limited, in fact, only by the imagination of the user.

RFID Applications

RFID can help:

Automate inventory and asset-tracking in healthcare, manufacturing,

retail, and business sectors
Identify the source of products, enabling intelligent recall of defective or
dangerous items, such as tainted foods, defective toys, and expired or
compromised medication
Prevent use of counterfeit products in the supply chain

Improve shopping experience for consumers, with fewer out-of-stock

items and easier returns
Provide visibility into the supply chain, yielding a more efficient
distribution channel and reduced business costs
Decrease business revenue lost to theft or inaccurate accounting of goods

Improve civilian security through better cargo monitoring at ports

Wirelessly lock, unlock and configure electronic devices

32

Enable access control of certain areas or devices

Whatever the application, RFID has the potential to increase efficiency of

operations, improve asset visibility and traceability, decrease reliance on manual
processes, reduce operations costs, and provide useful data for business
analytics.
RFID systems can be broken down by the frequency band within which they
operate: low frequency, high frequency, and ultra-high frequency. There are also
two broad categories of RFID systems-passive and active. In the sections below
we will explore the frequencies and types of RFID systems.

RFID Frequencies

Frequency refers to the size of the radio waves used to communicate between
RFID system components. RFID systems throughout the world operate in low
33

frequency (LF), high frequency (HF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF)

bands. Radio waves behave differently at each of these frequencies with
advantages and disadvantages associated with using each frequency band.

If an RFID system operates at a lower frequency, it has a shorter read range and
slower data read rate, but increased capabilities for reading near or on metal or
liquid surfaces. If a system operates at a higher frequency, it generally has faster
data transfer rates and longer read ranges than lower frequency systems, but
more sensitivity to radio wave interference caused by liquids and metals in the
environment.

LF RFID
The LF band covers frequencies from 30 KHz to 300 KHz. Typically LF RFID
systems operate at 125 KHz, although there are some that operate at 134 KHz.
This frequency band provides a short read range of 10 cm, and has slower read
speed than the higher frequencies, but is not very sensitive to radio wave
interference.
LF RFID applications include access control and livestock tracking.
Standards for LF animal-tracking systems are defined in ISO 14223, and
ISO/IEC 18000-2. The LF spectrum is not considered a truly global application
because of slight differences in frequency and power levels throughout the
world.

34

HF RFID

The HF band ranges from 3 to 30 MHz. Most HF RFID systems operate at

13.56 MHz with read ranges between 10 cm and 1 m. HF systems experience
moderate sensitivity to interference.
HF RFID is commonly used for ticketing, payment, and data transfer
applications.
There are several HF RFID standards in place, such as the ISO 15693 standard
for tracking items, and the ECMA-340 and ISO/IEC 18092 standards for Near
Field Communication (NFC), a shortrange technology that is commonly used
for data exchange between devices. Other HF standards include the ISO/IEC
14443 A and ISO/IEC 14443 standards for MIFARE technology, which used in
smart cards and proximity cards, and the JIS X 6319-4 for FeliCa, which is a
smart card system commonly used in electronic money cards.

UHF RFID
The UHF frequency band covers the range from 300 MHz to 3 GHz. Systems
complying with the UHF Gen2 standard for RFID use the 860 to 960 MHz
band. While there is some variance in frequency from region to region, UHF
Gen2 RFID systems in most countries operate between 900 and 915 MHz.
The read range of passive UHF systems can be as long as 12 m, and UHF RFID
has a faster data transfer rate than LF or HF. UHF RFID is the most sensitive to
interference, but many UHF product manufacturers have found ways of
designing tags, antennas, and readers to keep performance high even in difficult
environments. Passive UHF tags are easier and cheaper to manufacture than LF
and HF tags.

35

UHF RFID is used in a wide variety of applications, ranging from retail

inventory management, to pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting, to wireless device
configuration. The bulk of new RFID projects are using UHF opposed to LF or
HF, making UHF the fastest growing segment of the RFID market.
The UHF frequency band is regulated by a single global standard called the
ECPglobal Gen2 (ISO 18000-6C) UHF standard.

UHF

Single worldwide Gen2

standard
20x the range and speed of
HF
Labels cost 515 in 2012

The technology for item

tagging

HF and LF

Multiple competing standards

HF-based NFC for secure payment

Labels, cards, inlays cost 50$2

Used in immobilizers, ticketing,

payment

Passive, Active, and BAP RFID Systems

Active RFID Systems

In active RFID systems, tags have their own transmitter and power source.
Usually, the power source is a battery. Active tags broadcast their own signal to
transmit the information stored on their microchips.

36

Active RFID systems typically operate in the ultra-high frequency (UHF)

band and offer a range of up to 100 m. In general, active tags are used on large
objects, such as rail cars, big reusable containers, and other assets that need to
be tracked over long distances.
There are two main types of active tags: transponders and
beacons. Transponders are woken up when they receive a radio signal from a
reader, and then power on and respond by transmitting a signal back. Because
transponders do not actively radiate radio waves until they receive a reader
signal, they conserve battery life.
Beacons are used in most real-time locating systems (RTLS), in order to track
the precise location of an asset continuously. Unlike transponders, beacons are
not powered on by the readers signal. Instead, they emit signals at pre-set
intervals. Depending on the level of locating accuracy required, beacons can be
set to emit signals every few seconds, or once a day. Each beacons signal is
received by reader antennas that are positioned around the perimeter of the area
being monitored, and communicates the tags ID information and position.

Passive RFID Systems

In passive RFID systems, the reader and reader antenna send a radio signal to
the tag. The RFID tag then uses the transmitted signal to power on, and reflect
energy back to the reader.
Passive RFID systems can operate in the low frequency (LF), high frequency
(HF) or ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio bands. As passive system ranges
are limited by the power of the tags backscatter (the radio signal reflected
from the tag back to the reader), they are typically less than 10 m. Because
passive tags do not require a power source or transmitter, and only require a tag
chip and antenna, they are cheaper, smaller, and easier to manufacture than
active tags.
Passive tags can be packaged in many different ways, depending on the specific
RFID application requirements. For instance, they may be mounted on a
substrate, or sandwiched between an adhesive layer and a paper label to create
smart RFID labels. Passive tags may also be embedded in a variety of devices
or packages to make the tag resistant to extreme temperatures or harsh
chemicals.
37

Passive RFID solutions are useful for many applications, and are commonly
deployed to track goods in the supply chain, to inventory assets in the retail
industry, to authenticate products such as pharmaceuticals, and to embed RFID
capability in a variety of devices. Passive RFID can even be used in warehouses
and distribution centers, in spite of its shorter range, by setting up readers at
choke points to monitor asset movement.

Battery-Assisted Passive (BAP) Systems

A Battery-Assisted Passive RFID tag is a type of passive tag which incorporates
a crucial active tag feature. While most passive RFID tags use the energy from
the RFID readers signal to power on the tags chip and backscatter to the
reader, BAP tags use an integrated power source (usually a battery) to power on
the chip, so all of the captured energy from the reader can be used for
backscatter. Unlike transponders, BAP tags do not have their own transmitters.

Passive
RFID

Active RFID

Battery-Assisted
Passive (BAP)

Tag Power Source

Internal to tag

Tag uses internal

power source to
Energy transfer
power on, and energy
from the reader
transferred from the
via RF
reader via RF to
backscatter

Tag Battery

Yes

No

Availability of Tag
Power

Continuous

Only within
Only within field of
field of reader reader

Required Signal StrengthVery Low

from Reader to Tag

Yes

Very high (must Moderate (does not

power the tag) need to power tag,
but must power

38

backscatter)

Available Signal
Strength from Tag to
Reader

High

Communication Range

Long Range
Short range (up Moderate range (up
(100m or more) to 10m)
to 100m)

Sensor Capability

Ability to
continuously
monitor and
record sensor
input

Very Low

Ability to read
and transfer
sensor values
only when tag
is powered by
reader

39

Moderate

Ability to read and

transfer sensor values
only when tag
receives RF signal
from reader