The Collaborative International Dictionary
offset printing \off"set print"ing\, n. (Printing) A printing technique in which a lithographic image on an inked metal or stone plate is transferred first to a rubber sheet (usually on a cylinder) before transfer to the paper. Called also offset lithography.
WordNet
n. a plate makes an inked impression on a rubber-blanketed cylinder, which in turn transfers it to the paper [syn: offset]
Wikipedia
Offset printing is a commonly used printing technique in which the inked image is transferred (or “offset”) 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. The modern “web” process feeds a large reel of paper through a large press machine in several parts, typically for several metres, which then prints continuously as the paper is fed through.
Development of the offset press came in two versions: in 1875 by Robert Barclay of England for printing on tin, and in 1904 by Ira Washington Rubel of the United States for printing on paper.
Usage examples of "offset printing".
Advances in offset printing and xerography have radically lowered the costs of short-run publishing, to the point at which high school students can (and do) finance publication of their underground press with pocket money.
A photo plate made for an offset printing press could sometimes achieved this sort of lines, but could not print them on the slick high rag content paper he was holding.
But the center of the factory contained what they had come for: three huge web-offset printing presses.
You know, the gigantic machines that used to set lead type for newspaper copy before offset printing?