Digital VS Offset Printing - What You Need to Know

Clayton Menyweather • September 2, 2021

If you’re in the market for printed material for your business such as business cards, brochures, business cards, banners, flyers or other marketing materials, there are more considerations to take than just an effective design, colour scheme and layout.

One of the decisions that needs to be made prior to designing any of this is whether your material is going to be printed digitally or offset. Let’s explore the basics about these two printing methods.

A good designer will discuss these options with you in your initial meeting and have reputable industry contacts to refer you to in order to fulfil the project brief. The reality is that both types of printing have differing technical requirements that need to be incorporated into the design, different capabilities and limitations as well as differing levels of quality in their output.

Let’s delve in now...

Offset Printing

Offset printing (lithography) is the most common type of printing used for high volume commercial printing. This method uses plates (usually aluminum) that are created from the original digital artwork. These plates then transfer the image from the plate on to a rubber “blanket” and then on to paper.

In full colour printing, there are 4 plates; cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). Spot printing is done via the same method as full colour printing but instead uses Pantone inks and can use as little as one plate - this would be called, one colour print. The term offset is used because the ink is not transferred directly onto the paper but instead offset to the blanket first.

Once set up, offset presses run very efficiently and as such are the best choice when larger high quality print is required, providing accurate color reproduction, and crisp, clean professional looking printing. Offset printing also produces more consistent colour reproduction than digital printing.

Here are the benefits of offset printing:

Large quantities are cost effective
Better economy of scale
Highest possible printing quality, with optimal reproduction and colour fidelity
Larger variety of paper and finishing available
Custom inks such as metallic and Pantone colors are available

Digital Printing

Digital printing has made large strides in capability, quality and scope of production available over the last decade and has a defined place in the printing industry. Due to the low set up costs involved in digital print production, short runs are where it holds its power.

However, there is no economy of scale in digital printing as each print is significantly more expensive than a singular piece printed on an offset press (excluding setup costs). Due to this, digital printing has a maximum upper threshold of economical runs that tops at around 250-500 (generally).

This threshold is determined by the size of the print job and the maximum sheet size of the digital printer.

Here are the benefits of digital printing:

Low set up costs
Fast turnaround times
Variable data capability (name, address, numbering etc can vary with each print)
Print only what you need.
Lower minimum quantities available

Because of the significantly shorter setup time involved in digital printing, it has short turn around times for projects and can usually offer same-day and next-day printing.

In Summary

Both methods of printing have their place in modern business, as most businesses have variations in their printing requirements.

The best course of action is to ask your designer to advise you on the most appropriate method of printing for your project in your initial meeting.

If you or your business is in need of a print professional to assist you with your business marketing, design and print requirements, can call our team directly on 4613 0742 to organise a free consultation.

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