Is Offset Printing Better Than Digital Printing?

By Author: Elegant Printers
Total Articles: 23
Comment this article

When you are looking to get something printed on a surface, there are mainly two different options that you have before you: offset printing and digital printing. Offset printing is something that has been around for a very long time, and for most requirements, offset printing was the standard means of getting the desired printing results.

Whether it is magazines, booklets, advertisements, newspapers, postcards, or brochures, offset printing can help create the specific effect required in these cases. The offset printing technology works with aluminium plates that can be used for transferring an image over a rubber sheet so that the image can be rolled onto the piece of paper.

The reason this method of printing is named offset printing is that the ink used for the process is not directly transferred to the piece of paper. Offset printing is often preferred for larger projects with extensive printing requirements, as it is highly efficient. It can also produce perfect colour reproduction, and the printed papers look crisp and clean.

On the other hand, digital printing is a technique of printing that has ...
... evolved fairly recently due to the advancement of digital technology. Instead of using plates like offset printing, digital printing technology works with toners or liquid inks. The larger printer devices use different types of liquid inks, whereas the laser printers work with toners. Ideally, digital printing can deliver awesome results when lower numbers of printed documents are needed. So, if you want to get 100 flyers or 30 greeting cards printed within a short time span, you can work with digital printers for the best effect. Digital printing also has the added advantage of variable data capability. If you are working on a project wherein every document requires a unique name, code, and address, you can then consider relying on digital printing to do a flawless job. The problem with offset printing is that it cannot accommodate such variable requirements.

Both offset printing and digital printing have their fair share of benefits and advantages. Apart from the fact that offset printing allows users to print large numbers of documents easily and at a lower cost, the process allows users to work on many types of papers with custom finishes. With offset printing, the cheaper the price for every piece with more numbers of prints is. You can even work with special custom inks like Pantone and metallic colours to get the results that you are looking for. Since offset printing provides the best possible printing quality, you can expect to have excellent colour fidelity and finer detailing. Another advantage of the offset printing technique is that it can allow users to work on larger sheets of paper.

When you opt for digital printing, you will find that the setup costs for this technique are lower in the short run. You also have the flexibility to control your printing process and print only a specific number of copies as you need to do so. The process also allows you to print lower minimum quantities that can suit your needs for the project. Digital printing is practically inexpensive when it comes to black and white prints. You can modify the prints with variable data capability for each of the copies you produce. Moreover, improved technology has increased the popularity of digital quality for varied projects. That being said, the results you can have with these two types of printing are remarkably identical to one another. The main difference between the two lies in the budget and the initial investment you need to make.