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Digital Vs Offset Printing
Jeff Lehman - 10-27-09
New developments in digital printing technologies have put it on par with offset quality. It is often difficult discern which method was used to produce a job simply by examining it – even for someone in the printing industry. Three factors determine which of the two methods is best for a particular job.
Quick Tips on how to decide which method is best.
- Run length of the printed piece –
For short-run jobs (less than 1000 to 2000 pieces) digital printing is more economical than traditional offset printing. Offset printing requires several steps to take your file and produce a finished printed piece. The cost of the setup is the same amount regardless of the run length. The only variable cost is for the paper – longer runs require more paper. If you subtract the set up costs, the cost per sheet is quite low compared to per-sheet cost of digital. If you add setup and paper costs then divide by the number of copies, the price per copy decreases as the run length increases. Digital printing only requires preparing your submitted file for printing and sending the file to the digital press. The digital press requires no setup and can print the file immediately so the price per copy stays the same regardless of the run length. Some printers will offer discounts for longer digital print runs. - Turnaround time –
Traditional Offset Printing requires considerable time to prepare the file to make plates for the press, set the press up for the job and adjust the press to ensure correct color matching. Additional time is needed to allow the ink of the printed material to dry. The type of stock and the ink coverage on the sheet will affect the time required to dry. Digital printing presses require none of these steps and almost all digital presses use a dry ink or toner, eliminating the need for a drying time. However, offset presses run at a much greater speed than digital presses do. Offset presses can run over 15,000 sheets per hour compared to 4,000 per hour on the higher end digital presses. As the run length increases the time-saving benefits of digital printing are diminished. - Multiple originals –
Because each page of a printed piece requires a set of plates, time to set up the press and adjust the press for color, multiple originals can dramatically increase the cost of a job. For long runs, these costs are averaged out to a reasonable cost per sheet. Digital presses can produce a collated book or stacks of multiple originals as easily as it can print one side of a sheet multiple times. This eliminates the extra set up costs and the cost and need for separate collating of sheets into a packet or book after printing.