Offset printing and it's advantages:

A printing technique whereby ink is spread on a metal plate with etched images, then transferred to an intermediary surface such as a rubber blanket, and finally applied to paper by pressing the paper against the intermediary surface. Most print shops use offset printing to produce large volumes of high-quality documents. Although the equipment and set-up costs are relatively high, the actual printing process is relatively inexpensive.

Desktop publishing generally involves producing documents on the computer, printing out drafts on a laser printer, and then offset printing the final version. To produce the plates used in offset printing, a print shop requires either film or high-resolution paper output, which the printer can then photograph. You can obtain either by taking a PostScript file to a service bureau

Offset printing advantages:

Advantages of offset printing compared to other printing methods include:

• Consistent high image quality. Offset printing produces sharper and cleaner images and type than letterpress printing because the rubber blanket conforms to the texture of the printing surface

• Quick and easy production of printing plates

• Longer printing plate life than on direct litho presses because there is no direct contact between the plate and the printing surface

Photo offset:

The most common kind of offset printing is derived from the photo offset process, which involves using light-sensitive chemicals and photographic techniques to transfer images and type from original materials to printing plates.

In current use, original materials may be an actual photographic print and typeset text. However, it's more common -- with the prevalence of computers and digital images -- that the source material exists only as data in a digital publishing system.

Offset litho printing on to a web (reel) of paper. Commonly used for printing of newspapers and magazines for high speed production.Sheet-fed lithoOffset litho printing on to single sheets of paper or board. Commonly used for printing of short run magazines, brochures, letter headings, general commercial (jobbing) printing

Present day:
Offset printing is the most common form of high-volume commercial printing, due to advantages in quality and efficiency in high-volume jobs. While modern digital presses (Indigo Digital Press, for example) are getting closer to the cost/benefit of offset for high-quality work, they have not yet been able to compete with the sheer volume of product that an offset press can produce. Furthermore, many modern offset presses are using computer to plate systems as opposed to the older computer to film workflows, which further increases their quality.

In the last two decades, flexography has become the dominant form of printing in packaging due to lower quality expectations and the significantly lower costs in comparison to other forms of printing

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