Orange County Digital Printing and screen printing are two different method offered by many printers. It can be confusing understanding the differences between the two. Here is an overview of what separates the two printing methods to help you understand the differences.
Offset Printing
Offset printing provides the highest quality printing as it uses etched plates and high quality inks that are transferred using a rubber blanket to transfer ink to paper. It is the rubber blanket that has the final defining effect and that gives offset printing jobs the perfect look and depth of color. The reasons you would choose offset printing over Orange County digital printing include:
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High image quality from job to job and piece to piece per run
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Run in one, two, three or four color jobs
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Inexpensive per piece for high quantity runs over 1,000 pieces
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Larger sheet sizes available for large format printing
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More stock choices of paper
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Suitable for stationary, business cards, notepads, postcards, business NCR forms, door hangers, newsletters, catalogs and large format printing jobs
Offset printing jobs cost more to set up and therefore it makes more sense to use it for jobs with higher quantities over 1,000 pieces. Anything below that is best left to Orange County digital printing methods.
Digital Printing
Orange County Digital Printing does not require plates or set up as it prints directly from a digital file to the printer. Digital Printing uses toner that is applied directly onto the paper and it remains as a thin layer on the paper as opposed to being absorbed like ink. Digital printing does not provide the same quality of offset printing but is far superior to any other methods when you compare price as well as when you are running jobs under 1,000. The consumer will rarely be able to determine any difference in the quality of the work. The reasons you would choose digital printing include:
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Job requires less than 1,000 pieces (No minimum amount required for print jobs)
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Perfect for short runs required on a regular basis as there is not se up time or costs
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Perfect for personalized jobs with many different versions
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Less waste
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Rush jobs available
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Suitable for stationary, business cards, newsletters, catalogs, booklets, business forms, manuals and books and custom direct mail jobs.
Digital printing is the economical choice for short run, rush jobs.
As you can see the main differences are in the amount of pieces required as well as set up costs and timing. Either choice will provide the quality you need based on the quantities and size of the job required.
