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Digital Printing vs. Offset Printing:
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The growth of digital printing technology has brought technical advancements, more options, and exciting new features to today’s commercial printing. It has also meant that there is some confusion when choosing the right option for your next printed project. This article endeavours to shed some light on the advantages and disadvantages of digital printing and how those compare to traditional offset lithography. It also includes a handy check list to make the decision between offset print and digital print even easier!
Most Common
Mechanical Steps Eliminated in Digital Printing So … Which to choose? That all depends......
Advantages of Digital
Advantages of Offset Below is a check list to help you decide on the best option for you:
• Quantity. Offset printing has a front-end cost load. Short runs may have a high unit cost. But as quantities increase, the unit cost goes down with offset printing. Very short runs can be much more cost effective with digital printing; while larger quantities are likely to have a lower unit cost with offset printing.
Summary |
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The Principles of Offset Printing |
Offset lithography works on a very simple principle: ink and water don't mix. In the pre press stage, digital artwork is put onto plates which are dampened first by water, then ink. The ink adheres to the image area, the water to the non-image area. Then the image is transferred to a rubber blanket and from the rubber blanket to paper. That's why the process is called "offset" -- the image does not go directly to the paper from the plates. |
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Types of Paper |
The two main types of paper are coated and uncoated. As the name suggests coated paper has a coating applied that makes it appear smooth. Uncoated stock has no coating and can appear slightly textured to the touch. |
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CMYK versus Pantone Colour |
Colour can sway thinking, change actions, and cause reactions. In a world of endless colour there are a few things to think about. There are two main ways to print colour, Process - CMYK and PMS - Spot. In four-colour process (CMYK) digital or offset printing, primary colours (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black or the 'Key' colour) are mixed together to produce any and all of the colours that are seen in magazines and colour books. This is often referred to as a ‘full’ colour print. Spot colours, also known as PMS colours, and officially as the Pantone Matching System colours, are specific colour formula's used in offset printing that will reproduce accurately in print. Instead of simulating colours by combining the CMYK primary colours, spot (PMS) colours are pre-mixed with existing and published colour formula's. Because of this, you can rest assured that the PMS colour that you have chosen from your pantone booklet will be matched accurately every time. |