Choosing the Best Type of Offset Printing

If you have opted to use offset printing to create your printed products, you will need to decide if you wish to use a web or sheet-fed offset printing press. While both of these methods of offset printing use the same fundamental technique of utilising metal plates to transfer the ink over to a set of rubber blankets which print it onto the product, you need to consider the following areas carefully.

Paper

A sheet-fed offset press needs to be fed individual pieces of paper. This can be very time-consuming. If you are conducting the printing yourself, you will need to allocate a member of staff to feed the paper into the press which could affect your office's productivity. If you are out scouring the job to a printing service, you should be aware that the additional time taken to print the material will increase the cost and the delivery time of the final product. If this is going to be an issue, you should choose web offset printing. This form of printing is fed by a roll of paper which is continuously fed into the printer from a roll. This increases the speed at which things can be printed and helps to reduce costs.

Quality

There is also a difference in print quality between sheet-fed and web offset printing. When something is printed using a sheet-fed printer, the ink will be applied to each individual page. Each page will be allowed to dry out once printing is complete or will be laminated to fix the ink in place. This process produces a text or image which is clear and high-resolution. However, if you opt for web printing, you may find that the ink on the final product is smudged or smeared. These issues are caused by the paper being cut from the roll and stacked after printing. To combat this problem, the printing service may recommend a quick-drying ink. However, quick-drying ink will not provide you with the same high-definition images and text as standard ink, which is allowed to dry slowly.

If you would like further advice and information that will help you to choose the best type of offset printing for your print project, you should get in touch with your local printing service today. A member of staff will be happy to discuss your project and your needs before producing samples produced using the different methods.