Print techniques and trends

Commercial printing is a competitive and frequently overcrowded industry, and it’s not surprising that since the recession casualties were made. The survivors are mainly companies that have chosen to embrace digital printing in order to diversify their market and increase the offering. Though digital printing can benefit both the customer and the professional printer due to the fact that prices are lower and quality in recent years has increased, I am currently rediscovering the beauty of the traditional letterpress.

 

The Letterpress

Letterpress is the oldest form of printing. The print quality can be sharp and clear but can vary depending on the quality and texture of the paper. Typically only spot colours are used with this method.

Letterpress printing, also known as relief printing, is not that common these days due to offset printing dominating the commercial printing domain from 1950 onwards. But some letterpress printing machines can still be found in old style print shops. This process is also used as an art form to produce limited edition books and prints.

Is digital printing for you?

Digital printing is pulling demand away from offset printing. Print on demand, which uses digital technology to eliminate the traditional plates used in offset, offers a highly customisable product in smaller quantities that can be easily updated – a perfect combination for many of today’s advertisers and publishers. It is the fastest growing segment in the printing industry.

In case you ever wondered what the difference between digital printing and offset printing is, let me try and explain… Digital printing is closer to colour photocopying than to printing. In digital printing, the prints are made directly from a computer file without film or plates. This method is ideal for lower-quantity and customized needs. Like photocopying however, the price-per-piece tends to be the same. You'll probably pay the same price per piece for 50 or 500. For larger print runs Offset printing most likely will be more economical.

Offset printing for larger print runs

Need to print longer print runs? Then offset printing is probably your best option. Offset printing jobs have a high initial set up cost so it is not a good choice for small runs. On the plus side though, it will offer better quality colour prints at lower costs. You might have to wait a little longer than you would for digital prints before you can hold the finished product in your hand, but then again, you are printing larger quantities.

It was mainly due to the improvement in the quality of paper and ink in the 1950s that offset started to gain its popularity. It allowed a greater speed and durability of the plates used in offset printing. At this moment offset printing still dominates the large print runs, but digital presses have taken over a lot of the smaller jobs. Also, offset printing produces a better final printed effect of the solid areas of colour, compared with digital printing.

Estimates show that offset volume may increase slightly as the total print market continues to expand, but its share of the market has currently dropped to about 40%.