Offset Printing - Digital Printing and Copiers

The strengths of offset printing are image resolution, reproduction speed, paper selection and the declining cost per image as the print run lengthens. In general, we will recommend offset printing when your project is 5000 pieces or more; when the image contains fine lines, photographs, screens or tints; and when you want to use a thick or coated stock.

The strengths of digital printing are that once the image is at the printer, nothing more is required to produce the first print; the sheets can be handled, folded, cut or padded immediately after being printed; and an RGB color image can be printed. In general, we will recommend digital printing when you need your project quickly, especially if bindery operations (such as folding, cutting or padding) are required immediately; and if you need only a few copies.

The effect of document file preparation
Depending on how you prepare the document for your printing project, you may unintentionally prevent us from being able to use the best technology for the specific job. Remember that the image carrier for offset printing is a printing plate. Each color in the job requires a different plate. Therefore, the program used to create the file must support color separation.

Page layout programs that support color separation include Adobe PageMaker and InDesign; Quark XPress; and Microsoft Publisher. Programs that do not support color separations include Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel. If you create a document in any of these programs and want it to print in more than one color, or if you include Microsoft Metafiles as graphics, we will not be able to make press plates from the file. In addition, since these programs are not for page layout, we are likely to encounter other problems even if the job is printing in only one color.