Litho Press
Let’s start with Litho press, as it was used years before Digital presses became the ‘new kid on the block’ from a printing perspective.
Litho is the process of using premade, usually plastic or metal, plates to transfer 4 different ink colours known as CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) onto the paper. We tend to use our metal plates as more environmentally friendly. The Ink is pressed onto a rubber blanket by the necessary plates, which is then pressed onto paper given you your finished product.
Litho print is a more cost effective option than Digital when printing long runs. This is usually when printing in the region of 500-1000 items. Most of the cost to print on a litho press is through the development of the plates. So when there is a larger amount of pages involved, digital may also take over in the most effective print solution. After that cost is out the way, Litho printing has a cheaper cost per sheet compared to Digital press as most of the cost is in the setup.
The other side of litho is that you have the capability to print in spot colours. For campaigns or clients that have the strictest of brand guidelines this is a life saver as the print will always be closer to your desired colour outcomes.
Digital press
Moving onto the more modern form of print, Digital has its own ways of being used effectively.
Through communication of created files as a reference to print form, digital print uses the process of pressing small dots onto a page using different inks to replicate the imagery displayed in the file sent down. Due to the printer reading off a file rather than a physical plate, pages printed on the digital press can be personalised during the print run, for example changing names, adding page numbers, or even printing page 1, then 2, 3 and so on so all is printed in collated order.
Digital printing mainly prioritises small runs of print, focusing on adding high quality and full detail to your prints, guaranteeing excellent results, and leaving your prints standing out above the rest. However, long runs can be more expensive. The main reason for this is because our HP indigo has a ‘click rate’ for every sheet printed which also differentiates per colours and layers used. Great as there Is no real set up cost but is a fixed cost which Litho does not have for longer print runs.
So which one is the best?
The answer to that is they’re just as good as each other, depenidng on your needs and wants. Deciding what method of print to use between Digital and Litho can be a big factor of your print job as it can alter prices, performance, and turn-around times. At Chroma our experts can support and advise you on what avenue may be best for your print projects. Contact today by calling 0118 321 2200 or emailing hello@chromagroup.co.uk to discuss what’s best for your project.
