As one of the oldest industries, you may be confused by the large number of printing printing options, but with a professional printing printing service, you can easily meet all your needs that are suitable for your project. There are three key factors that will help you determine the type of printing service that suits you and your budget:
- Quantity
- Quality and
- Production speed.
Standard Commercial Printing Services and Methods
There are many different types of standard printing services and methods available. These are:
1. Desktop Printing
Do you only need to run a few dozen copies of a brochure, a few manuals or one invoice at a time? A desktop printer is sufficient for this. Whether laser or inkjet (using toner instead of ink), the printers in your home or office produce instant copies of acceptable quality while using good paper. However, when your quantity requirements increase, your actual cost of ink and paper can become expensive as a do-it-yourselfer. To minimize your per-piece cost or if you want higher quality, special printing effects or promotional printing on substrates other than paper, you need to find a printing service for your project.
2. Digital Printing Services
A digital file is sent from the computer directly to a toner-based digital printing press or copier. As there are minimal set-up costs, digital printing services are most cost-effective for creating low-circulation prints such as 100 flyers or postcards, a few posters, or complex document compilations such as training manuals.
Short turnaround times or when speed is critical is another reason to use digital printing. Digital print quality doesn’t quite offer the ‘professional’ look you get with traditional commercial offset lithography printing, but it gets better as equipment improves. Specialized, high-end digital printers are used for large format printing, such as large posters and vinyl banners.
3. Offset Lithography
It is the most widely used printing service. Offset printing is where ink is transferred or offset from metal plates to a rubber roller or “blanket” and then onto paper. This printing method meets the vast majority of commercial printing needs. Printing projects such as glossy brochures, postcards, business cards, stationery and catalogs are common offset projects. The advantages are rich, accurate, high-quality color and details and lower unit cost for volume quantities (250-500 pieces or more). Offset printing can take slightly longer than digital printing due to the time needed to create the plate and for the ink to dry before cutting and finishing. Offset is not usually offered in smaller quantities due to initial set-up costs.
Offset presses can be “paper-fed” with individual sheets or paper or “web-fed” with paper rolls. Page-fed presses are generally used for short to medium-sized standard commercial marketing printing, while web presses are most cost-effective for high-circulation commercial printing, usually of magazines, catalogs and books (around 20,000 copies or more) and for newspaper.
Other Printing Services
1. Gravure Printing
Rotogravure presses are the fastest and largest presses in operation and are mostly used for large industrial magazines and direct mail catalogs.
2. Engraving, Thermography, Flexography and Screen Printing
While engraving is used on fine stationery, thermography is a lower-end process that creates an engraved or raised print effect. Flexography is often used in packaging such as food labels and can be used to print on non-paper media such as plastic, metallic films and cellophane. Screen printing services are used for T-shirts and billboards.
Does Experience Matter in Printing Services?
Many new and growing companies make the mistake of thinking that experience is not crucial when choosing the right printing services. However, it is worth noting that professional printing is not the same as pressing a button on your home computer. You need expert support to make sure your images print correctly every time. After all, a blurry or misaligned image can damage your reputation and your chances of conversion.
When looking for the ultimate printing services, it is crucial that you choose a team that can guide you through the process thanks to their years of knowledge and experience. With our professional printing printing team, you can easily access the following services:
- You can find answers to all your questions about print design immediately,
- We can help you choose the right print strategy for your needs,
- The chance to check measurements and requirements repeatedly to avoid expensive mistakes,
- The opportunity to thoroughly review your printed materials to ensure they meet the highest standards,
Having an expert on the team for your printing services will help you achieve the best result for your project, which will save you time and money in the long run. You can have all your printing and printing works done by Arla Media team with peace of mind.
You can reach us at [email protected] or 0850 241 84 09.
