US Passport 4x

US Passport 10x

US Passport 40x

US Passport 40x+

These are some of my favorite Small Stuff pictures so far. Passports are one of the few instances of really quality print today. While much of bureaucracy is trending towards the electronic, and thankfully so, passports remain an application of delicate print, where the delicacy is used as a security measure. This is my old passport, pre-RFID, so the design has changed. But you can see the important of the grain of the paper, as well as an overlay of litho inks done in precise colors. A color copy of a passport, done on even the best quality digital equipment, would be instantly recognizable on simple magnification. To create a decent forgery, one would have to have the exact plates, ink, and paper used in the official version, and even then I am sure there are other techniques and indicators in the print process I don’t know that would let an expert tell the different.

Smith-Corona Typewriter 4x

Black and White Toner 4x

The imprint of a typewriter compared to a black and white copier shot from Monday. A typewriter is similar to a letterpress, in which every character is created by a pre-molded piece of type. This creates sharp lines and the characteristic imprint in the piece of paper, but also necessitates setting each page of text before hand. A “laser” style toner machine uses an image loop charged with ions to create a one-off “plate” for adhering toner to paper. The lines are much less precise, but can be reset hundreds of times a minute during printing.

4 color process toner 10x

Digital color printers also use the 4 color process method, but with toner rather than ink. Compared to litho printing, the toners can melt and achieve a smoother color gradient, depending on the size of the toner. Also, because the toner is more translucent than ink, overprinting achieves a color gradient as well.

4 Color Process 10x

4 Color Process 40x

“Full color” print is typically achieved by mixing different dot densities of four main colors, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, in what is known as the four color process. While this is standard full color print in your magazine or postcard, different effects can be achieved by mixing more particular colors in a similar process. Check out the color bars on the flap of your cereal box or other packaging to see the different inks that went into creating the image as you eye perceives it.

These dot patterns are the detail of a image of a grassy field from a magazine.

Black & White Toner Print 4x

Black & White Toner Print 10x

Black & White Toner Print (Half-tone) 10x

This week, Small Stuff looks at print technology! Tune in all week to see the difference between print tech on the level of the infinitesimal!

Dandelion Pollen 4x

Dandelion Pollen 10x

Dandelion Pollen 10x+

Magnetic Strip 4x

Magnetic Strip 10x

Magnetic Strip 10x+

Magnetic Strip 40x

Drosophila 4x

Drosophila 10x

Drosophila 40x

Drosophila 40x+

A needle at 4x.

A new campaign here on POSZU. Microscope attached to digital camera. Looking at small stuff.

I have at least enough for 15 posts so far, so you’ll probably see this fairly often for a while.

If you’d like the RSS for only the Small Stuff (kind of like a Small Stuff Tumblr, if you will), try this link.

If you hate small things and you’d only like the POSZU BIG PICTURE (regular POSZU minus this theme, obviously) you can use this RSS until the series is over.