Is your business gearing up for summer by preparing new printed materials? Maybe you need a fresh supply of summer menus or brochures about summer classes or activities. Or perhaps you need a large number of flyers to promote some summer specials. Whatever it is, one of the major decisions you will need to make is to choose between offset printing and digital printing. Both have pros and cons, so the right choice depends on your goals for the finished product and your budget.
To make the best decision, you need to understand a little about how offset printing digital printing work. Offset printing uses a plate to print each piece of paper. Digital uses ink or toner sprayed onto the page to replicate a digital image.
Let’s look at the factors you need to consider when choosing between offset printing and digital printing for a large print run of fliers, brochures, menus or other promotional materials.
What Matters for Offset Printing vs Digital Printing?
Every job is unique, and businesses use a mix of offset printing and digital depending on the demands of the specific job.
- Cost: Because a unique plate must be created for each offset printing job, the set up costs are higher than digital. But the larger the printer run, the lower the cost per unit. While digital is less expensive for small runs, offset can compete on price for big jobs.
- Volume: The quality can fade as more and more pieces are printed with digital, but one of offset printing’s main selling points is that the quality of the last piece is as good as the first no matter how large the job is.
- Colour: This one is close. Modern digital printing does an excellent job with colour fidelity, but offset printing does edge it out. If your project depends on very precise and unusual colours or different shades or gradations of the same colour, offset is generally a better choice.
- Typography: If your logo or other content uses a very ornate or detailed font, it will look better with offset printing. If the type is small, it will be easier to read with offset.
- Paper Choices: Digital printing is great for large batches of flyers on regular paper, but if you are printing brochures or invitations on an unusual paper, digital can’t handle it. You’ll need to go with offset printing to have the widest choice of papers for your project.
With so many variables, it isn’t always easy to decide if digital or offset printing is best for your job. We’re happy to discuss the details of your specific project and help you make the right choice based on what you need. Call 01-5390088 to talk to our printing experts or alternatively, contact us our team here.
