Digital printing technology is relatively new, but it is developing very quickly. It is used in the production of many promotional materials and advertising gadgets. The digital printing method allows you to transfer the pattern coming from the data carrier. This is an extremely simple solution. For this reason, this technique is gaining more and more popularity. When is it worth giving up other methods and choosing digital printing? Check out the biggest advantages of this method of marking and learn how to use digital technology.
Digital printing — what is it?
Digital color printing requires the use of appropriate equipment and special computer programs. The project must be submitted to the digital printing house in the form of a formatted file. Then it is sent to a digital printing machine, which starts transferring to paper or other material. The advantage of using digital printing is the ability to scale graphics. Most other techniques do not offer such a solution. The definition of digital printing includes four types of marking:
- laser,
- thermotransfer,
- spray,
- sublimation.
They differ primarily in the type of device used, the quality and the price of printing. Depending on the order, digital printers adapt the technique to the needs.
Advantages of digital printing
The biggest advantage of digital printing is definitely readiness. This technique does not require complex preparations, which are necessary for other methods. The speed of digital printing carried out in professional printing houses means that even high volumes can be realized in a few hours. Still, digital printing allows you to keep quality graphics and low production costs. This makes both high and low volume orders profitable. These are certainly the biggest advantages of digital printing.
Disadvantages of digital printing
It might seem that digital technology provides the highest quality printing without any flaws. Contrary to appearances, there are a few shortcomings worth mentioning. The minuses of digital printing primarily include slightly worse quality than offset printing. The limitation is often the size of the paper. The digital printing technique makes it possible to mark materials of relatively small format.
Use of digital printing — what are the possibilities?
Digital printing is primarily used in projects that require high quality with low input. In such cases, offset printing works a little worse. Therefore, materials such as business cards, invitations, posters, as well as more complex patterns made by digital printing significantly surpass other gadgets in aesthetics. The digital type of printing therefore gives huge opportunities. It is enough to prepare the project and choose the right contractor.
How is digital printing different from other techniques?
Digital printing is characterized by incredible efficiency in the execution of low-volume orders. Machines that enable digital printing provide high quality, so that even photos can be applied to advertising materials. Other methods work better for less complicated projects. A characteristic feature of digital printing is the ability to edit the pattern on each marked element. The other techniques are better used for identical, serial orders.
Digital printing vs offset printing — which one to choose?
When choosing a printing technique, you need to consider several factors. They can be of great importance print run, paper quality, type of printing device, but also price. Only after taking into account all these points can a good decision be made. Typically, for small print runs, the digital method works better because of the lower printing costs. The specificity of the offset technique makes small orders completely unprofitable. Therefore, it is mainly used for large volumes. With digital printing, you can personalize each element you make. Unfortunately, the offset printing technique does not provide such opportunities. This is often the main factor that influences the final decision. If you plan to use digital printing, however, you need to remember to choose an experienced company. Thanks to this, the patterns will be really high quality. A digital printing company should have the right technology for both low and high volumes.