Custom Printing Methods: Letterpress, Offset, and Digital Printing
When you first begin investigating all the different modern custom printing methods available, the number of technical details can feel overwhelming.
In this article, we aim to explain some of the jargon surrounding printing and go into more detail about three of the most popular custom printing methods.
Below you’ll find a summary of each method, how they work, and recommendations on when to choose each one.
Click the headings below to go to each section:
If you already know how you want to proceed, contact JH French today for suggestions, advice, and help in planning your next printing project.
Letterpress Printing
Letterpress printing is still considering a craft due to the physical skill required.
Summary
Letterpress Printing is when blocks of type are locked into a frame, coated in ink, and then pressed against the paper you wish to print on. The ink sticks to the paper, and you’ve printed a page.
More Detail
Letterpress printing is one of the oldest semi-automatic forms of printing that we still use today. Invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid 15th-century, the printing press and the letterpress method it used are credited with skyrocketing literacy in Europe and acting as the catalyst of the English Renaissance.
The printing press replaced traditional scribes and led to the rise of the printing industry that we know today.
Later models of the printing press were foot-operated and used rollers to press the paper against the type blocks. Some even automatically removed the paper and inserted a fresh one to expedite the process.
While labour-intensive compared to the computer techniques of today, letterpress printing has stuck around because of the unique sharpness of the printed result, and the genuine craftsmanship required to perform it.
Recommendations
Commemorative gifts - Still classified as a “craft,” letterpress printing adds an artistic touch to a personalized gift.
Personal projects - If you’re working on a book or project and don’t plan on mass marketing it, you can choose letterpress printing for a top-quality version to cherish.
Premium short runs - The longer time and labour means letterpress printing is costly, but if you’re trying to sell premium printed products, it may still be appropriate.
Moreso than other styles, letterpress printing is a specialty craft.
Offset Printing
An incredibly common method, especially with the rise of smaller, self-contained office-style printers.
Summary
Sometimes called Lithographic Printing, Offset Printing is when “your image is transferred from an aluminium roller, onto a rubber roller with paint, and then onto the final paper.”
More Detail
Invented in 1875 by Robert Barclay, offset printing uses a trio of rollers to transfer paint in the design specified onto a piece of paper that gets rolled through.
Initially, the rollers used for offset printing were quite large, and the method could only transfer one colour at a time.
Modern office printers actually contain four sets of rollers. Each roller set handles its own colour: either Cyan (C), Magenta (M), Yellow (Y), or Key/Black (K). These four sets mean a full-colour image can be printed in one go, as the paper can simply move between roller sets to receive each colour in turn.
Recommendations
Large print runs (500+ copies) - Because high-quality offset printing requires a roller setup, it takes longer to start, but offers a cheap unit price if you’re printing high volumes of the same thing.
Posters - Single-sheet projects like posters are well suited for offset printing.
Brochures or pamphlets - These can be printed out flat and then folded by hand.
Offset printing is one of the most common custom printing methods used by office printers.
Digital Printing
Very precise, and a good choice for small to medium print runs.
Summary
Digital Printing digitizes an image which gets sent to a printer that recreates the image by using thousands of tiny dots from the CMYK palette.
More Detail
Inkjet printers, commonly used in the home, are examples of digital printers.
The computer processes the image and breaks it down into thousands of dots that are either cyan, magenta, etc., and then overlays these dots in just the right way so that when viewed at a normal distance, all the colour of the original image is recreated.
Offset printing has historically been seen as more accurate than digital printing, but with modern printing technology, the difference is not great between the two.
Recommendations
Short to medium print runs - Digital printing is faster to set up than offset, and with a quicker production time, but often more expensive.
Multiple projects - If you want a variety of different projects printed at the same time, digital printing makes it easier to do that.
Digital printing is also the way to go if you want a smaller printer to use at home.
JH FRENCH
Interested in more details about any of the custom printing methods above, or looking to plan a printing project?
Visit us in Central Hamilton or contact us directly to learn more.
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