Traditional printing for high-volume jobs
Traditional printing, known as offset printing, it is a trusted technology which accounts for most of the commercially printed work you see. In offset printing, the desired print image is burned onto a plate and then is transferred (offset) from the plate to a rubber blanket, and then to the printing surface. The lithographic process is based on the repulsion of oil and water. The image to be printed gets ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a film of water, keeping the non-printing areas ink-free.
Offset printing provides:
- Decreased unit cost as order quantity increases.
- Quality and cost-effectiveness in high volume jobs: while today's digital presses are close to the cost/benefit ratio of offset for high quality work, they are not yet able to compete with the volume an offset press can produce.
- High image-quality.
- Printing capabilities on a wide range of surfaces including paper, wood, cloth, metal, leather, rough paper, and plastic.