Digital Brochure Printing - Digital vs. Offset

Printing brochures used to be much simpler since the best option available back then was an offset printing process. The advances in computer technology, software design, and digital printing, have led to a boom in printing digitally. The competition between offset printing and digital printing is fierce and has led to a lot of people getting confused on which one to pick.

Each type of printing process has its own advantages and disadvantages. Before making a decision, people should arm themselves with the right kind and amount of knowledge to make the best decision possible. After all, everyone wants to avoid the costs of a mistake simple born out of simple ignorance.

Below is a list of the advantages and disadvantages of both offset printing and digital printing.

Offset Printing Advantages

Offset printing is a common printing procedure. In a nutshell, offset works by transferring inked images from a plate onto a rubber blanket. The rubber blanket is then used to lay the image on the printing surface.

One of the main benefits of the offset printing process is that it produces high quality images, at least when compared to letterpress. This high quality images are a result of the rubber blanket which conforms to the material of the printing surface.

Offset printing is also very cost efficient. The cost of making a printing plate is cheap and easy to produce for large scale projects. The plates used in offset printing have a longer lifespan as the plate itself does not come into direct contact with the Brochures Printing surface.

The developments in offset printing have also made it much easier to adjust color density for printing brochures. Modern offset machines are controlled by electronic printers. The electronic printers make it easier to adjust the color density via screw keys. Old machines had to be adjusted manually making it a bit more difficult.

Offset Printing Disadvantages

Despite their many benefits, offset printing solutions still have disadvantages that people should keep in mind. First of all, the problem with the aluminum printing plates used in offset printing is fragile. These plates must be taken care of properly less they suffer from chemical oxidization and become unusable.

The plates used in the offset printing process are cheap in large scale printing. However, the plates aren't cheap enough to be useful in a small scale project.

Digital Printing Advantages

Digital printing presents advantages that the offset process does not. For one thing, digital printing means that the layout can be done on a computer. This has the added benefit of making the work easier and faster resulting in quicker turnovers. It also means that final touches or revisions can be done more quickly since it does not use a printing plate. Digital files are also easier to transfer from one office to another.

Digital printing is very cheap. Whether the project is small or big, digital printing is always a good option. In fact, the success of digital prints can be largely attributed to micro projects. The small cost also means that several small projects will cost less through digital printing.

Digital Printing Disadvantages

One of the main disadvantages of digital printing is in its color. If the printed material works with a RGB color scheme washouts are likely to occur. However, the cheap cost of printing often offsets this issue.

Another disadvantage, though not a very big one, is that the prints that they produce are less sharp than offset prints. However, this issue is only noticeable upon close inspection and usually goes unnoticed.

Conclusion

For large volume brochure printing in offset might present a better choice. In most situations, printing brochures digitally is often the best way to go.

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