Portus’s Team has therefore created a summary of the main types of printing currently available, suggesting how you can choose the one that best suits your business.
1. Offset Printing
Its name means "off site" and it is the best known type of printing in the graphic market.
With this type of printing the image is not printed directly on the material and aluminum plate matrices are used, that is, the material is passed to the matrix and only then transferred to the paper or other material.
Colors are printed separately, by the CMYK system, and form images through color pigmentation. The basis of this reproduction is the contact between grease and water, components of offset ink, which guarantee the quality of the work.
Being easy to reproduce, it is not necessary to provide a professional to keep an eye on production, as the machine works alone and quickly.
Offset is widely used in business cards, posters, folders and books, as it works with loose sheets. It's also ideal for magazines and newspapers, materials that tend to require high print runs.
Some of the main advantages:
● perfect for large quantities;
● fast printing;
● high quality results;
● can be used for various types of paper and plastic weights.
2. Large Format Digital Printing
Unlike offset, l
arge format digital printing is done directly on the material, using a digital file as a matrix, for example, a PDF, TIF, JPEG., etc.
Withouttheintermediationofplates, itisfasterbecausetheengravingprocessontheplateis not necessary.
Digital printing can be used on the most diverse types of flexible material up to 5 meters wide, ideal for outdoor prints as well as indoor prints, signage and vehicle decoration, being able to print small, medium and large quantities with an excellent print quality.
Some of the advantages of this type of printing:
● no minimum print quantities;
● cheaper print proofs;
● no color limit;
● unbeatable price for small and medium quantities.
On the other hand, this illustration model tends to lose out to offset in the cost-effectiveness of large print runs.
3. Digital UV Printing
Dgital UV Printing enables direct printing onto a wide range of rigid and flexible materials up to 200mm thick - producing stunning colors, lifelike textures and stylish embossing effects.
The ink is cured on the material with ultra violet led lamps that allow instant drying and can be used on acrylics, woods, metals, tiles, skins, pvc, etc.
UV printing technology has very low ink consumption and is the ideal solution for personalization jobs or for direct printing on boards without the need for vinyl back-gluing.
3. Direct Textile Printing
This system allows to
print directly on textils such as polyester, cotton and silk without the need for the sublimation process where we have to print on paper and then be able to sublimate the fabrics.
Dispersed, reactive, acidic or pigmented inks can be used depending on the materials that are printed.
This solution allows greater productivity and lower production costs, thus being able to compete with the traditional method of printing, offering greater versatility without limitations in small quantities or in the number of colors, it is the ideal solution for printing flags, sports equipment, fashion and home textiles
So how do you choose the ideal print type?
Now that you know the main differences between the various printing systems, as well as their possibilities and limitations, find out what you should consider to achieve optimal printing:
Cost vs benefit
The first point to be analyzed must be the cost-benefit ratio in all projects, that is, the one that best fits your needs at the time.
Think about values by quantity, final quality, if you are going to have medium, small or long term profits, for example. In some cases, such as digital printing, prices may be higher, but so will the quality, speed and return.
Material type
Aiming at the quality of your service, think about the appropriate materials for each one. Not all types of material work for all purposes, so you'll need to figure out which ones fit and then decide which impression to make.
Drawing
Some types of printing are only worthwhile in large quantities. Be sure to assess the cost vs benefit of this process.
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