Digital vs Offset

greeting card printing

Digital and offset printing are the two most common commercial printing technologies. We’ve outlined below the need-to-know information that will help you determine which process is best for your project.

Digital = Low Min + Fast

Digital printing usually requires a much less units starting from 1 copy to thousands. It also has an extremely fast turn around because minimal setup is required and our shop has one of the fastest digital printer on the market. It is also considered a lot more cost effective when you print below a certain quantity (5000x).

Digital does have its disadvantage.

Colours are hard to match. It is almost impossible to match colours on digital printer without extensive preparation work and is generally not recommended if you need to match 100% certain colour.

The kind of media (paper) that you can print on is also limited. Usually it only goes up to a certain thickness until you need to hit offset.

Offset = Large Quantity + Cost Effective

Generally, one could consider offset if your print quantity is over 3,000 units. It requires a much longer setup time, hence a higher minimum is required to offset the initial fixed cost.

Another advantage is wide range of colour and media selection.

When it comes to offset printing, the possibility of colour and media is limitless. You can print foil, metallic, neon, and all sort of finishes.

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