Frithpark Blog

Digital and Colour Offset Printing Comparison

Digital printing and colour offset printing have both become the direct inheritors of screen printing's previous popularity and dominance in the printing industry. Yes, screen printing supplies are still in circulation, and screen printing is hardly an obsolete printing process, but it has clearly been overtaken by both the colour offset printing and digital printing methods.

A standard office's printing supplies usually refer to that of the inkjet variety, while colour offset printing technology has become the approach of choice when it comes to publishing bulk order output. In any case, here's a brief yet comprehensive comparison between the two most popular printing technologies that companies can avail of at present.

Digital printing technology has several unique options that separate it from offset printers. For example, companies can rely on them to get on-demand printing services whenever or wherever it's needed. Do you need a hundred copies of application forms or test papers for your human resource department's use? Then digital printing technology is here to serve you. So long as your printing supplies are fully stocked, the digital printer will deliver everything that you need.

With digital printing, you can request any number of materials that you require while stipulating the exact date you need these prints done. What's more, your orders can be fully customised to your specifications as well. Whether you want your printout on long bond paper or short bond paper-or even other substrates like an artist canvas, glass, vinyl, and textile-a digital printer will accommodate your requests.

On the other hand, offset printing remains the king for instances where you need bulk orders or volume outputs regardless of whether they're for local newspapers or book publishing. The publishing industry still finds offset printing the best and most cost-effective solution out there for their everyday publishing needs.

Even though this traditional type of printing method doesn't offer the on-demand services that the digital printing process is famous for, once a production plate needed for your printing process has been created, volume orders can be easily finished and distributed without much hassle.

When it comes to a small number of prints, stick to the limited yet sufficient capabilities of the digital printer; in turn, when it comes to publication-level requests, nothing short of offset printing (and, to a lesser degree, screen printing) can be relied upon.