Digital Printing and Offset Printing - Differences

For the past fifteen years the printing industry has been evolving in the technique of transferring images of printed text & color graphic design onto paper. The popularity of offset printing presses in the late 1950's was the latest & greatest industry technique to bring excellent quality print at high speeds. Thirty years would pass before the offset world of printing would start a forced morphing in to a new period.

The difference between the technologies; with offset printing, the picture is burned onto a plate and then is transferred (offset) onto a rubber blanket and an impression of that picture is squeezed onto paper. With digital printing, images are designed using computer generated graphics that are programmed in to the digital printer, usually an inkjet printer where small spray nozzles are used to distribute the ink onto paper. With digital printers you can reproduce quality images or change the format and graphics on each page.

With the arrival of the desktop computer and the modification of information in programs, a trend would take over the printing industry and slowly but surely change the face of the printing industry. New digital technologies would present an overwhelming argument that the elderly forms of composition would become a process of new.

Along with changing technologies and the conversion to digital printing, came the sharp rise in popularity of the small fast print companies such as Sir Fast, offering advances in desktop publishing, fast computerized information transfers to and from the business customer and print facility with high speed laser and ink-jet printers. Targeting their promotion services chiefly to small businesses, the fast print companies realized increases in the market share of the production of short runs.

This created a shrinking market for the small, medium and large printing houses with their lineup of costly and maintenance hungry offset printing equipment and the giant facilities that house them. Also, the cost to man and the energy used to keep these presses rolling makes it difficult to compete for the small customer. But for the medium to large runs, offset printing is still a viable market.

Today, camera prepared copy can be generated at the customers' location & quickly uploaded to a fast print facility. Documents & files can be shared online & changes made quickly eliminating pricey journeys to the printing facilities. Make prepared time is greatly reduced with digital printing when compared to offset printing presses in all aspects of production runs.

Author Bio - I am a copywriter. I love to write on various topics. I am writing on Printing Equipment.