Bindery Printing
Bindery Printing Benefits of Online Printing Services Printing is defined in the dictionary as the art and process of producing printed material using inked type and a printer press. However in the 2...
Bindery Printing
Benefits of Online Printing Services
Printing is defined in the dictionary as the art and process of producing printed material using inked type and a printer press. However in the 21st century most of our business needs are taken care of by the computer. With a computer and a credit card, you can have the latest gadgets delivered to your home in your pajamas. So its now wonder that the traditional printing press was replaced by sophisticated printers and the ink by laser. We got online printing.
Online printing kicked off in the later half of the last century and brought the printing business to our homes. The Internet coupled with direct-to-plate technology and desktop publishing software revolutionized the way people looked at printing.
Definition:
Online printing provides high quality color prints to the end user using the medium of Internet for all business transactions. It essentially provides the print buyer with printing from their desktops.
Broadly it can be used to print any of the following:
• Business cards
• Greetings cards
• Company Brochures
• Calendars
• Notepads
• Labels
• Personalized plastic products
• Photographs
How online printing works:
Generally an online printing establishment has a pre-press department that takes care of the design and layout needs, a processing section that uses direct-to-plate technology to produce the print plate directly from the computer and a color system to electronically send color to the press and a state of the art press. It may also have a bindery department.
As a user, you have the following steps:
Step I: Place the order for a job.
Step II: Upload the artwork to that job.
Step III: Review the online proof and incorporate any custom trimming if required.
Step IV: Send the job to press through Internet.
Step V: Receive the delivery within the promised turnaround.
Benefits:
It is time saving and cost effective. You also eliminate a lot of your worries by placing your order with a competent concern that takes care of your printing needs end-to-end. They help you choose the right template for your print, customize your layout, the paper that suits your budget and all of this from the comfort of your home.
Tips:
Cyberspace is a faceless risky place for business dealings. Following tips will help you ensure that you get your money’s worth:
• Invest time to find the most trustworthy establishments.
• Consult your friends and business partners.
• Refer to samples and customer testimonials.
• Speak to the customer service providers. That will give you an idea how knowledgeable and co-operative their team is.
• Ensure a strong guarantee of color.
• With direct-to-plate technology used in online printing the print image cannot be accurately judged. So ensure that the service provider has a good proof reading stage in place.
• Double-check their delivery record.
Major Companies and Cost:
Printplace.com, Printingforless.com, Printrunner.com are some of the leading service providers in this industry. Their websites are extremely user-friendly with latest tools to give you instant quotes.
For example, a bundle of 250 business cards with simple features and a 10 day turnaround time may cost approximately $30.
As you can see custom printing with online printers is not complicated at all and if you are a first timer you may get a fair discount on your first order! So get going!
About the Author
Tuan Hoang is the owner and founder of Sky Templates, which offers more than 15,000 high quality templates in dozens of categories, custom design, printing, and mailing services. Article may be reprinted provided it remains intact and a link to www.skytemplates.com is included. To contact Tuan, please email Sales@skytemplates.com or call 858-505-0321.
Digital Printing vs. Offset Printing
Digital printing is best for on-demand printing, small quantities, short-run book printing and variable data printing. Digital printing outputs each page with the ink or toner cured and ready for finishing. Offset printing uses wet inks and the printed sheets typically have to dry for a certain time period or the ink will smudge or "offset" when cutting, folding, booklet making, etc. So for your on-demand printing needs of rush orders, the best choice would be to use a digital printing company.
Offset printing is used primarily for larger quantities on printing jobs with more of a flexible timeline. This is generally a less expensive printing option because the larger the quantity, the cheaper the price. The majority of the cost involved with offset printing is the setup of the press. Once the press is set, the job can print away at 10,000 to 30,000 pages per hour.
Smaller quantities are best printed on a digital press because large printing orders typically cost less when printed offset with traditional lithographic printing equipment. A digital printing company pays the press manufacturer per click, impression or per sheet for supplies and service regardless if the press is on a lease or paid in full. So the cost for one sheet or a million is the same per piece. But on an offset press, the majority of the cost is setup time and then paper cost. Since offset printing is 5 to 10 times faster than digital printing, once the press is set for a particular job, the actual printing is completed quickly. For example, a 100,000 quantity flyer order may take 1 hour on a printing press (setup and printing) that fits 16 pages on a single large press sheet. On the other hand, it may take two days to complete such a large job on a digital press that only fits 2 pages on it’s much smaller press sheet. But for small orders, there is no paper waste for setup of digital printing equipment, and within seconds quality printed sheets are ready for finishing.
Short-run book printing is good for digital printing equipment because your files can print collated and be ready for finishing; where in the offset printing process only the front and back of a single sheet can be output per setup. Also, much more bindery and finishing is involved when printing multi-page publications on offset equipment. But there is a cross-over point in quantity when it is more cost effective to go offset vs. digital. This cross-over point involves both page count and quantity of finished books. Typically digital printing is more cost effective for quantities up to 1500. Then from 1500 to 5000 books is a limbo quantity where only specialized equipment can produce books at a decent price. Then from 5000 to millions, large web-presses (offset printing, but uses rolls of paper instead of converted sheets of paper) are best. And the higher the page count, the more setup and finishing is involved for offset printing, but stays the same for digital printing.
Finally, Variable Data Printing (VDP) is possible only on digital printing equipment. VDP takes your direct mail to a one-to-one approach and individualizes each marketing piece such as direct mail postcards, newsletters flyers, etc. Now you can personalize your digital printing with variable data images and text tailored to your customer’s needs, preferences or lifestyle. With VDP you will increase direct mail response rates, average order size, revenue and ROI. Response rates may soar to 36% from traditionally static printing response rates of 1-3%.
In summary, digital printing is the way of the future for the printing industry, but it has its limitations and uses. So now, with a bit more information of when to use a digital printing company and when to go offset, you can produce your marketing or business printing efficiently and on schedule while optimizing your return on investment (ROI).
About the Author
Vladimir Medvinsky is the founder and CEO of Angel Printing, Inc. Mr. Medvinsky has over 20 years experience in the Graphics and Printing Industries. For more information about Vladimir Medvinsky or Angel Printing, visit AngelPrint.com.