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From Traditional to Digital: Printing Options that Won’t Break Your Budget

Printed material — brochures, sell sheets, direct mailers — are a valuable component of any organization’s marketing toolkit. With some of the more recent advances in printing technology, you can now produce these projects much more quickly and cost-effectively than ever before.

Newest Technology — Direct to Plate

Traditional ink-based or offset printing has become more cost-effective because printers are now taking the computer graphic files and going "direct to plate."

Formerly, printers would have had to produce films from your supplied computer files using an imagesetter and then use the films to expose and process the printing plates for the presses.

The direct-to-plate process, also known as computer to plate or CTP, has practically eliminated the film output step of plate-making. The printing plates are now made directly from supplied computer files with the use of lasers. Eliminating this film step means less cost to you as well as a reduction in turnaround time.

In this process, the file used to make the digital dylux or hi-resolution color proofs for your job is the same file used to produce the offset plates for the press. This minimizes problems such as copy re-flow and images disappearing after proof approval.

Another more important benefit of the direct-to-plate process is the quality of the "dot" that is achieved on the new plate system. The direct-to-plate dots are now sharper and have less "dot-gain" than the traditional film-to-plate process. This allows the printer to produce a much sharper looking image on press.

Getting the Best Fit

When considering offset printing, it is important to find the right size printing press for your project. Most printing plants configure their equipment in a unique way. Printing press sheet sizes can range from 10 inches by 13 inches up to 28 inches by 40 inches, and even larger in a few cases.

The size, quantity, type of paper, number of colors as well as delivery and quality requirements should all be considered when determining what press size will be most suitable for your printing project. It is always best to consult with your designer and printer as you begin to develop your project.

Print What You Need, When You Need It

Is your marketing collateral evolving and changing over a period of time? Is it time-sensitive? Are you looking to generate a small quantity of materials tailored for a specific audience? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then digital (toner-based) printing may be your best option. Digital printing is a time-and cost-saving alternative to offset printing and a higher quality alternative to "desktop" laser printing or photocopying.

In digital printing, the printed pieces are made directly from a computer file without use of film or press plates. This process requires minimal set-up time, meaning that you can get faster turnarounds than with offset printing.

Know the Limitations

While digital printing produces a quality image output that looks almost as good as output from traditional offset printing, the digital process does have some limitations.

Quality can be an issue, especially with heavier coverage image areas where banding or image starvation can take place. There is also a much smaller range of paper stocks available to choose from for your projects.

Black-and-white digital printing (or Docutech) is generally used for producing a small quantity of manuals, books, flyers and brochures. The equipment produces collated sets "in-line" so that when you want to run ten copies you are able to pull up the files and almost instantly produce the ten complete sets.

Color digital printing (or Docucolor) uses the four process colors: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). Any spot PMS (Pantone Matching System) color can be matched to some degree using the process color matches supplied by PMS. Your designer can show you color chips of the process color match closest to your PMS color.

In offset printing, a high print quantity offsets the costs of the press plates and set-up time, and will result in your paying less per piece as the quantity rises. With digital printing, the per-piece cost is typically the same for any quantity, so it is usually more cost effective when printing smaller runs.

Personalize Targeted Mailings

Digital printing gives you the flexibility to personalize your materials at a minimal additional cost. This is a great advantage for increasing the effectiveness of your direct marketing materials, since personalization can help increase response rates.

The types of projects that are best suited for digital printing include:

• Small quantity materials

• Time-sensitive materials (such as training materials)

• Short run newsletters and sales brochures

• New business presentation materials

• Point-of-purchase displays

• Single page, four-color sell sheets

• Bound documents (saddlewired, Wire-o or spiral-bound) that mix both color and black-and-white pages.

The bottom line is that there are many printing options available to help you produce your marketing collateral materials and meet your budget. Your graphic designer and printer can always assist you in finding the right choice for you.

Thanks to Rick Jennett of RPJ Associates and Jim Giammarinaro of Freedom Digital Printing for contributing to this article.

© 2002 Sullivan Creative

What you see is what you get…or is it?

You are happy with the design of your marketing piece. The files have been sent to the printer, and you are ready to give the project a final printing proof before committing ink or toner to paper. This is a critical stage in the development of the project. During the design phase, you may have approved a color laser output mock-up of your piece and your expectation is that what you see is what the final printed piece will look like. The truth is that the color from a color laser printer will not exactly match the color from an offset or even a digital printer. The printing processes used to produce each of these proofs is totally different technology. So how do you know what you are finally going to get?

Proof from Digital Printing

With a digitally printed proof it is pretty straightforward, the proof is the actual printed copy. So what you see IS what you will get.

Proof from Offset Printing

Color proofing in the offset, direct-to-plate printing world is changing almost every day. The printer must maintain color consistency from the file to the proof to the plate, and finally to the printing press where the ink is put on the paper to closely match your desired color. Offset printing is not an exact science; not surprising considering that the process is mixing oil and water.

In offset printing, the direct-to-plate process provides a digital dylux proof, which is typically made using a low-resolution digital process. Although these proofs are low resolution, they have come a long way since the days of "bluelines," especially in showing distinct color breaks.

A high-resolution color proof is called a matchprint, Fugi, Iris, Pola-Proof, among other "brand" names. All are generally the same product, a high-resolution proof that is digitally produced at 2400 dots per inch.

Since these proofs are made using the digital process, the final piece produced on the printing press using CMYK or PMS color inks will not always match exactly. These proofs are meant to help you determine if the printer should start the presses.

See it on Press

If color accuracy is a high priority for you, then consider going to the printing plant for a "press proof" to see the actual printed sheet as it is being set up before the actual print run is processed. That is the best way to see what you are getting.

For information on how Sullivan Creative can help you with your next marketing program, email us at team @ sullivancr.com.

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