I went to Team-impression's printing facility in leeds. It was a real eye opener to see all the machines working to produce really high quality prints. Iv sent work to print before but never really seen what goes on from that point.
A very nice man from Team showed us around, we saw the digital printers which they had just bought they looked very expensive, basically the plus with digital is the speed and cost, so i can see it all going digital soon like most things.
He took us up to the office where they receive the files you send either by email or CD. We saw the machine that prints the proof versions, quite low quality, but you see what it kind of looks like.
He then showed us large format printers for billboards, large posters and livery. We saw the Lithograph machines where all the work was racing through the many spot colours that they ready mixed, obviously the plus with using digital. This process is best used for large amounts of prints as they have to make up all the plates for your artwork separately and obviously cost goes up.
As we left he gave us a book giving examples of paper thickness and texture which was very useful for future printing. Team are renowned for being able to try out experimental printing which is a huge factor for graphic design as its all about new ideas and thinking in different ways. I will definitely use Team as a printer for my work.