What are The Advantages of Offset Printing?
Offset printing uses aluminum plates to transfer an image onto a rubber surface to ultimately roll onto paper. The name offset comes from utilizing the rubber stamper, known as a blanket, as an intermedial process, meaning the ink doesn’t transfer directly to the paper. Offset printing is the preferred method of printing, as you can quickly create large quantities of high-quality content. The benefits of cost-effective offset printing increase exponentially as well. The more pieces you print, the cheaper the overall cost. You can print on many different types of paper as well, using custom finishes and inks.
How Does It Work?
As you may have heard before, offset printing uses cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) ink rollers. We combine these four colors together to create printed images. Our printers measure each level of ink required for the individual printing plate, that then offsets onto the paper using a rubber blanket, or stamp. Because of the amount of setup, we recommend using offset printing only for large projects that require many prints. You will receive a better product on a more affordable budget, the bigger the project. Offset printing is somewhat costly to begin as we have to create plates and drafts to align everything perfectly. However, once we get started, the process is far more cost-affordable for large printing jobs. If you only require a few prints, offset printing is not advisable. For this, we recommend our digital color printing process.
If It’s Not Broke, Don’t Fix It
As the industry standard, offset printing has come a long way since its original roots. One usually imagines an old-timey mechanical machine taking hours to set by a team of operators. The current machine is still impressively large, but technology has modernized it considerably over the years. No other style of printing matches the speed and reliability of offset printing. It may take a bit longer to set the printer during initial setup, but the product is worth the wait.
High-Quality Printing at Large Volumes
Modern printers use offset printing to create high-quality newspapers, brochures, books, business cards, stationery, and magazines at large volumes. Because the machine requires very little maintenance, we can produce an abundance of prints economically and efficiently. It works by creating consistently perfect prints with low maintenance and interference due to the rubber press that adapts to whatever surface we’re printing on. This also allows us to print high-quality images and text on textured paper without sacrificing anything. Finally, the printing plates we use to transfer ink are easy and affordable to create, making the entire offset printing process the most cost-effective way to print a large number of products.
The B & L Printing Difference
Technology only gets you so far. Offset printing requires a team of printers with years of experience to get you the perfect print you ordered. Located in Hillsborough, NJ, our facility will help you with all your printing needs. Whether you need a few projects printed or thousands of envelopes, we’ll work together to find a cost-effective solution for you. We serve all of New Jersey with commercial and high-volume offset printing. Contact us today for a free quote on your next printing project by filling the online form or give us a call at 908-455-8997.