Professional digital printing is a form of commercial printing and generally used for short runs (ie qtys of 1+). Digital print has no set up costs as the design goes straight from the computer to the printer, without the need of plates etc as used in Lithographic print – the paper, ink and running of the printer are the only costs in this case, which means whether you order 10 or 100 copies, you will generally be paying the same unit cost.
Our NEW digital printer, the Canon Imagepress 6011
Digital print is cost effective until quantities of 500+ are required, at this point it becomes more cost effective to opt for Lithographic print despite the fact that there are set up costs involved – your print supplier will automatically offer you the most cost effective option when quoting, but if ever you are unsure just ask, they will be more than happy to help.
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Although high quality images are produced when using Digital print, Lithographic print still has the edge. Great strides have been made recently in the manufacturing side to continue development in the quality produced by Digital print (not least with our NEW Canon imagepress 6011 – the only one in Devon), and until you put a digitally printed image next to a lithographically printed image, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference.
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Once printing commences on our new Canon Imagepress 6011 digital printer, we can print for example, up to 61.7 x A4 posters per minute! The finished item would have a smooth finish and you wouldn’t see any indentation or edging on the print as with older styles of print.
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Once printing is complete, the items are taken to the ‘finishing area’ to be trimmed; folded in the case of items such as leaflets, or bound in the case of items such as brochures or magazines. The printed and finished items are then packed, labelled and despatched for delivery to the client. Delivery can be made in various ways, depending on the client’s needs – our own delivery van for local businesses, Royal Mail or courier.
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We can also deliver under ‘plain cover’ if required – the benefit of this being that we can deliver direct to your customer / customer database rather than to you, for you to just have to send on, which saves both time and money.
Our beautiful delivery van for all local deliveries!
The benefits of digital print are:
· Digital print is cost effective on smaller print runs
· The minimum order is from as little as 1 copy
· Digital print has a high output speed so turnaround time is quick
· Digital print offers an accurate colour reproduction
A few examples of items which are well suited to being printed digitally are:
- Business cards
- A5 leaflets (double and single sided)
- Flyers (double and single sided)
- A4 or A3 posters
- Letterheads
- Compliments slips
- Customer loyalty cards
Your printer will automatically quote on the type of print best suited to your meet your requirements, but if you are ever unsure, they will always be happy to help and discuss different options, or talk you through the printing process. Sometimes it really helps, if you can, to visit your printer and see the machines in action. This can really put into perspective why different machines are used for different items, and the benefits of each machine. It will also give you a whole new appreciation for the technical set up, workflow and management skills required by your printer to bring you the finished product, on time!