Printing is often seen as an ancient invention, and relative to some things, e.g human flight, space travel, the internet, then it is. Print as we know it has been around for approximately 1,800 years, that’s around 100 years after the first ‘steam engine’ (The Aeolipile) had been described and most likely invented by the Hero of Alexandria. Print is also a relative newcomer in comparison to strung musical instruments and the first pyramids by over 2,600 years.

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Credit – www.uprinting.com for original info graphic

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Digital vs Litho print

General notes:

Digital is more suitable for shorter runs and Litho for longer runs. We have already established that digital is more cost and time effective on shorter run jobs, and that the quality of print is pretty much equal to that of litho. So, what else differentiates the two then?

Digital tends to produce a single copy of a file, so if you have a 28pp self cover document of which you want 100 copies, a digital press will produce 100 collated copies of a 28pp document, which will then need binding, and any other finishing (trimming etc.).

A litho press would produce 100 copies of the first sheet (so OFC, IFC, OBC and IBC) then 100 copies of the next sheet, and so on, which would then need collating, followed by whatever finishing was specified by the client.

Litho printing requires plates being made to transfer the image to the paper, a digital press simply uses a file to print from much like you home desktop printer, though obviously on a totally different scale.

Downtime between jobs and set-up times are much less on a digital press.

Different stocks

Most litho presses can run down to around 90gsm stocks if you wanted them to, and up to 450gsm, the digital presses tend to run around 115gsm lowest and up to around 350gsm.

There are specific stocks designed for digital and litho printing, though increasingly more stocks are compatible across both methods.

DPI

This is where digital has an advantage, a digital press can produce decent quality images from a 150dpi file, a traditional litho press would need 300dpi minimum to create the same results. Whislt this doesn’t mean you can print web graphics at an acceptable level of quality, it is a little more forgiving.

Overprinting

It is worth considering that if you plan to overprint the job (i.e. it will be going through another printing process such as a desktop printer) then some digital press processes are not compatible as the image will be melted in the process.

Variable Data

This makes each print a unique print and as such is most suited to Digital printing. The use of this service will considerably increase the return on investment and response rate for mailing campaigns compared with the shotgun approach.

To learn more Wikipedia has this to say about digital printing.

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If you want to know a bit  more detail about the kit we use to produce your jobs, such as our Heidelberg presses, then have a look at our plant list here, or if you want to learn a bit more about the differences between digital, and litho printing, check out this info graphic. You can find more out about our company history by clicking here, and you can find out information about our team members here. Got any more print related questions you’d like to ask us, then get in touch with us, we love talking about print. You can find all the different methods of getting in touch with us here. Is there anything relating to print that you would like to see an info graphic on, then please let us know. For more information regarding the world of print, you can check out our glossary of print terms which should give you all the terminology that you need.

Click on the image below to view our  Newman Thomson Info Graphic.

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