Offset Printing

Offset Printing Advantages

The printing market is saturated with options and sometimes it becomes difficult to wade through the advantages of each type of printing. To make your choice easier, here is a simple list of the top five advantages associated with offset printing.

1. Affordable large quantity orders: It is the cheapest way to print high quantity orders. The initial cost to produce the printing plate make the unit cost for low quantities a little high. However, when large quantities are in order the cost of the printing plate is still the same. This means the cost per piece becomes exceedingly lower the more you order.

2. High Image Quality: This type of printing uses ink while its main competitor, digital printing, uses toner. Ink is able to create finer lines, smaller dots and richer color than toner can, making the image sharper and closer in exact appearance to the original. Offset uses printing plates, which produce a very clean image and dismiss the possibility of streaking and spotting.

3. Special Inks and Coatings: Digital printing is limited to a CMYK printing scheme and can’t offer any special inks. There is a large variety of specialty inks available with offset printing including spot UV, fluorescent and metallic inks. There are also special coatings that can be put on offset printing pieces, including high gloss UV and flat satin matte finishes, which can dramatically change the mood of the piece.

4. Large variety of products: The different stocks and paper available for printing makes it suitable for a large variety of products. Heavy card stock is great for business cards, postcards, flyers and a variety of folded products. Glossy paper is suitable for brochures, booklets and takeout menus.

5. Fast Turnaround: One of the fastest ways to produce large quantity orders fast is offset printing. The plates take considerably less time to produce than the plates for letterpress printing, which can have a turnaround of several weeks. High quality offset presses, such as the Heidelberg Speedmaster or Komori presses, can print high volume orders faster than any other type of press.