When is Digital Printing the Right Choice?

We have prepared this document to help you decide if your project is best suited for digital printing. Because there is no definite answer to any project please use this document as a guideline only. If you should have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call one of our customer service professionals.

SIZE

Size is the first criteria for your project, because all printing technologies have limitations you must determine if your job can be run on the technology before you start the project. Here are a few generic rules for printing technology, these rules do not always apply to all printers but they are safe guidelines.

Offset Printing - Most offset printing companies are limited to 28"x40" print size. Material thickness for offset printed material is an issue. Offset presses are only capable of printing on light weight, thin stock.

Silk Screen - In most cases the largest press for silk screen is 48"x120". Printing on thicker materials directly is a benefit of silk screen processes.

Digital Printing - Most digital printers can print 48" wide in a single pass. Tiling prints using digital processes is a process that is standard and done on a daily basis. This capability takes the size limitations completely out of the picture.

DURABILITY

When we speak of durability, we define this as resistance to ultraviolet light, weather resistance, and physical toughness and durability.

Offset - Most offset jobs are not meant for outdoor use because of the size limitation as well as the amount of ink that is deposited during the printing process; ink deposits are very thin in offset printing. It is general rule that all Offset prints are designed for indoor use or short term outdoor use.

Silk Screen - Silk Screen is generally accepted as the best and most durable printing available. Adcolor uses UV curable inks that will last for years outside. Plus the silk screen process can clear coat the images for more UV resistance and durability.

Digital printing can range from a very short expectancy to many years outdoors. It is important that you be very clear as to the life expectance of the product when you are talking about durability. Most digital prints are over laminated to enhance the quality and durability of the graphic. All vehicle graphics are printed on premium vinyls with premium laminations to insure many years of use in exterior, harsh environments.

QUALITY OF PRINT

Quality of print can sometimes be confused with distance of viewing. Typically, billboards are printed from 8 pixels per inch to 12 pixels per inch. When viewing these billboards at 100 yards, the images will look excellent. To print a billboard at 300 ppi would be an overkill and in many ways non desirable. Projects like banners, signs, etc. that are viewed from 10 to 20 feet can easily be printed at resolutions from 100 ppi to 150 ppi with very desirable results. These application questions will be asked of you when you work with our sales staff at Adcolor. It is always our attempt to provide you with the best quality for how the item will be displayed and used.

Color is another issue that should be addressed. If your project specifies the use of pantone colors, it is important that we know those color specifications. Certain pantone colors will require the silk screen process because digital print devices can only attempt to match the pantone color using combinations of 6 different ink colors. If you have a 1 or 2 color job that requires pantone color specifications, your cost will probably be less for a silk screen. Digital printers are unconcerned about the numbers of colors because we use the 4/6/8 colors that are being controlled by computers to provide the best possible color match. If you are trying to coordinate all your marketing materials, business cards, backlit displays, brochures, banners, posters, etc. You would be well advised to use the same company for all your work. Adcolor has assembled a unique mix of equipment that allows us to handle all of your printing needs under one roof. It would be lucky at best if you ran different parts of your marketing campaign at different printing companies and expected them to match. It probably will not happen and will cause a tremendous hardship and resource committment on the person coordinating the printing of the items. Finally you should invest in the Pantone Process 1000 swatch book, this book will tell you exactly what color you will get from the digital printer.

Offset - Most offset printers print at 150 or higher line screen, this is approximately 300 dpi or higher and do to the very tight registration on the offset press, the quality of this technology is very sharp. All offset prints have a fixed dot pattern and pre-determined linescreen.

Silk Screen - Silk Screen has generally the same rules as offset but in the silk screen process can not always produce as tight of linescreen as offset. As with offset, silk screen has a fixed screen pattern. Silk screen can deposit a heavier deposit of ink that will affect the durability of the product.

Digital - The digital quality is the most controllable of all technologies because you can control the output resolution and most high quality inkjet printer these days print at 600 dpi. Digital presses are run by Raster Image Processor (RIP) software. This software gives the digital print device the ability to print in a stocastic dot pattern. This pattern has no fixed linescreen or dot pattern so your eye cannot see a pattern. Most digital prints look like much more like continuous tone prints because of this stochastic technology.

QUANTITY

This is a very straight forward decision, if you need less than 50, in most cases you can get it from a digital printer for less than the others, but if you need thousands, then in most cases you need to consider silk screen because it can be produced at a lesser cost to you in some cases. In some cases, the type of substrate, size of substrate and the turnaround time can change the conditions for deciding the proper process. For example if you need 300 8.5"x11" prints, then Adcolor’s small format digital color printer would be a great choice, but if you need photo 300,000 we would recommend another process. If the size is larger than 48"x48" and you need it quickly, then you might have to choose digital. Call us an we will be happy to direct you and help you to make the right decision.

TURN AROUND TIME

In the digital world we now live in, Adcolor has invested in the front end technology for all printing processes to minimize your lead time and get your job to you on time and within your time requirements.

I hope this has helped you decide on the right printing solution for your project, if we can be of assistance to you, please call, fax or email us and we would be happy to help you.