Pros and Cons – Digital Printing & Litho Printing
Digital Printing or Litho Printing? What are the pros and cons? Do we even need printing?
Although marketing is clearly shifting to being completely digital, printing is still now a thing of the past. Nowadays, as most businesses reach out to customers via email or over social media channels, there is an opportunity to stand out through printed marketing.
Do not get us wrong, digital marketing is definitely the major channel, that you should be focusing on. Nevertheless, business cards, letterheads, and banners are not gone yet.
If you need some essentials for your business, you should know that there are different methods of printing. The two leading methods are digital printing and litho printing.
What is Digital Printing?
Digital printing uses a digitised image, made up of pixels, to lay down toner onto paper or other materials, to reproduce high-quality images. The technology has gone through rapid development and can now offer high quality, fast turnaround, and cost-effective solutions for low print runs. There is very little time or initial setup costs for digital printing, so it has given consumers the freedom to experiment and be creative. Results are instant, and a fast turnaround means you can print materials as you need them, rather than wait days or weeks.
Advantages of Digital Printing
It is very cost-effective as you can print smaller quantities instead of printing thousands, which also saves you a lot of space. Since it is, digital the output is fast and it makes it easier to meet deadlines. You can change your company information or marketing leaflets as often as you like by printing smaller quantities, helping to reduce waste and easily update changes. Each individual printed item can have different information on it, such as printing tickets with unique numbers or names, giving you access to variable printing.
Disadvantages of Digital Printing
After a certain quantity, litho printing becomes more cost-effective so the longer the print run, the more cost-effective it will be. In addition, some special types of paper cannot be printed digitally, for example highly textured paper or 400gsm thick business cards.
What is Litho Printing?
Litho printing, also known as offset litho, is the traditional way of printing and has dominated the print industry for very many years. It is a process whereby an image is created on a plate, and transferred onto a blanket before being transferred onto the paper. However, as digital printing, which is relatively new, continues to develop, litho printing is being seen as an outdated time-consuming method of production. To the average person, the differences between litho and digital print are often impossible to spot.
Advantages of Litho Printing
Litho printing is the most cost-effective method to produce a long print run. It is also possible to print on a wider range of material weights and textures than with digital printing. Litho printing can accurately reproduce the entire range of Pantone spot colours. Quality can be brilliant, the material range is vast and speed (apart from the initial setup) is exceptionally fast.
Disadvantages of Litho Printing
The only real drawback of litho printing is the setup cost to create the plates and get the job ready for press. For smaller print runs, there will be a point at which digital printing is more effective in terms of time and cost.
There is no wrong or right method of printing. It completely depends on your specific requirements. Both methods come with their advantages and disadvantages.
Did you know that Snob Monkey offers Graphic Design Services as well as Printing Services? Let’s discuss your project!
How Snob Monkey can help you…
Snob Monkey specialises in all things digital. Not only can we optimise your online social presence, but we can create high-class websites using WordPress and incorporate our SEO services to boost your site in Google’s ranking.
As a London digital marketing agency, Snob Monkey is at the centre of innovation, creativity and technology. From social media management to accelerating your social growth and web development to improving your organic site traffic, we can provide a wide range of services to suit your marketing desires and budget.
Written by Sandra Dominguez (Digital Marketing Intern)
