Dallas Printing and Promotional Items Blog

Most discussions you see on offset printing vs digital printing comes from the viewpoint of someone that has an interest in one or the other technology. They are selling their side of the story. We have both offset and digital printing presses in our plant so we provide a neutral perspective on both sides. We like both and both have a place in present day printing. It depends on a number of factors as to which should be used and many times either one can be used.

Offset is usually looked at as the higher quality choice, although, digital printing has vastly improved to where the difference is very small now. Offset printing prints PMS or spot colors easier and reproduces solid screen tints better. Offset prints higher quantities at much less per unit cost than digital printing. The cutoff is usually anywhere from 500 to 2000 sheets. Quantity and timeframe are usually the biggest deciding factors of whether to use offset printing or digital printing. Offset printing gives you  better options of printing larger sheets as long as you are doing a high enough quantity that gets your cost to a reasonable per unit price. Most digital presses only print up to a 14×20 sheet although 12 x18 is the most common sheet size. There also is inkjet digital printers that will do larger sizes but in very limited quantities before it becomes cheaper to go offset.

Digital printing is used primarily when you need something very quickly or in very small quantities. Digital printing also gives you the opportunity to print variable text or images where each sheet off the press is unique in some personalized way. Once a sheet is off a digital press it can be cut, folded or finished very quickly where offset printing must dry or be coated before handling. There are very few digital presses that print true PMS colors or Spot Colors. The HP Indigo family of presses can print true spot colors as long as you have the additional units on the press.

When used right the two processes should be complimentary and not necessarily in competition with each other. If they do compete it is in a very narrow range of small quantities. Here is an example of a digital and offset printing company.

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Written by Buzz Tatom

buzz@odeecompany.com
The Odee Company, Dallas, Texas