It certainly did take a while, but there’s no doubt that digital printing is finally able to deliver a comparative level of quality to litho. Now, if you happen to be a design aficionado, you’d probably be completely against that claim – but the truth is that most people won’t be able to tell the difference.
So, why should someone who’s looking for the right print method for their business care, then? Well, if you want value for your marketing money – then here’s what you need to know.
The perceived problem with digital
This sub-header could have also been something like ‘the unquestionable quality of litho’ (maybe even with a ‘question mark on the end for dramatic effect!), but this blog is about digital printing, primarily. And that’s because, up until recently, digital printers lacked so many of the advantages of lithographic printing.
Although the setting up of a digital printer has always been faster, its’ print runs remained relatively inflexible in what they could produce, slow to print large volumes, and lacked quality and authenticity overall in the end product. And that has remained a stigma, ever since (which we can hopefully break a little, here).
The gosh, darn troublesome home printer
And that’s putting it lightly. If you’ve never owned a home printer… you’re so lucky. It means you’ve not had to stare into its feckless face as it blinks relentlessly back at you – and doesn’t print! So, over the years, this frustration with home printers hasn’t served the reputation of larger, commercial models so well.
However, commercial digital printers and home printers have always been very different beasts. And, while you may not have seen much more evolution in your home printer, commercial models have certainly been making progress. If you take a look at the range of printing options available from a specialist company like Duplo International , you’ll see that quality commercial printing machines are even available for smaller businesses to print in-house.
The choices continue
Essentially, what’s happened – and what’s had to happen – is that the creative minds behind the world’s best digital printers have taken a good look at what litho has to offer – and adapted their products to be far more competitive. This means being capable of larger print runs, able to work with a wide range of materials and finishes, and even improving the colour matching of inks.
Up until recently, only lithographic printing could claim that its output matched genuine Pantone colours – but digital technology has now caught up. Plus, with the added benefit that with digital, you can see a draft print run before any ink is committed to paper, it could be argued that digital now offers more overall choice than litho.
But that’s not what this blog is about. It’s simply giving a little shout out to the hard work that’s been put into making digital printing a genuine alternative to litho, for the next time you need to send your artwork off to print.
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Founder Dinis Guarda
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