We will let student discover the history of typography. Children will understand the contrast between the work of ancient and modern printing houses; they will understand the fascinating process of the birth of printed products.
The children will also learn that in printing houses, in addition to books, printed products, they also produce souvenir and advertising materials.
Contrary to the expectations and associations of students and adults, the printing house is light, comfortable and even cozy under the rhythmic noise of printing machines. The spacious rooms are flooded with sunlight pouring from the ceiling windows, you are allowed to look into almost any crevice, and you can touch almost everything (under the supervision of accompanying people).
Students learn that the printing house is always equally humid and warm; humidifiers and air conditioners operate here year-round and around the clock. Children will understand that the indoor climate is important for the well-being of the paper: too humid and the paper “warps”, too dry and the sheets stick together.
Students will learn that in order to print products, they need to make impressions. Blue aluminium plates are used to create prints. The image is etched onto them with a laser, the blue polymer is destroyed and removed during development. For printing, the plates are treated with water. The blue layer is hydrophobic or water-repellent; oil paint remains on it. From the plates, the paint is transferred to the offset canvas, and from it to the paper.
Students will see with their own eyes that after the first (technical) sheet leaves the press, printing house employees carry out initial measurements, color corrections, eliminate defects and measure the thickness of the paint. As they themselves say, they “combine the crosses” and remove the “marks”. Preparation takes up a huge part of the time.
Everyone will see that the machines in the printing housework “in the air” - sheets are fed using suction cups and blowers.
The school class will see how the huge, heavy stacks of sheets with which the carver works are also shifted from place to place with the help of air, as if they were sliding. The working surface here is somewhat reminiscent of an air hockey table. It is dotted with buttons that, when pressed, release a strong stream of air and lift the paper.
Children will understand that modern printing houses are not at all the harmful production they used to be. Heavy metals are not used in paints, and European printing machines comply with European sanitary standards. Paper waste from the printing house is disposed of as wastepaper, used aluminium plates are stored, weighed, and sent to scrap metal. Chemical waste is stored in barrels, which are regularly transported to thermal power plants for disposal.
