Offset Printing
What is Offset Printing?
Offset Printing is also known as lithography or lithographic printing, and is the most common form of commercial printing. Offset presses use plates, usually made from polyester or aluminum, that are attached to cylinders on the press. Before mounting the plate to the press, the artwork is ‘imaged’ on the plate using a laser. A plate is needed for each color being printed. The ink is applied to the plate, which rolls it onto a blanket cylinder and then the image is transferred (offset) from the blanket to the piece of paper.
If your piece uses full color then it would be printed using the ink colors cyan, magenta, yellow and black, also referred to as CMYK. Using those four inks an offset press can reproduce almost any color.
For those colors CMYK can’t match exactly, offset printing utilizes specific ink colors, referred to as ‘spot colors’, generally selected from the Pantone Matching System. Which is why you might hear them called PMS colors. Many of these PMS colors can’t be reproduced exactly using digital printing. So if your branding calls for very specific, consistent color like Coca-Cola red, then offset printing is the way to go.
Benefits of Offset Printing
As you can see, the setup of an offset press can be intensive — create and mount plates, load the inks, run setup sheets until the color is accurate — which is why digital printing is less expensive on low quantity orders. But once the setup is complete, an offset press can run at fast speeds while producing crisp, high quality prints which makes it great for large volume orders.
Superior Image Quality
Wider Range of Materials Available
Pantone Inks (Spot Colors)
Larger Color Range
More Cost Effective on Large Volume
Finishing and Coatings
You’ve worked hard to create the perfect design for your project and it’s time to get it printed. But have you thought about what you could do to take your design to the next level? Maybe simple round corners will do the trick. Or perhaps a soft touch lamination with a spot UV coating to really make it pop. We offer a wide variety of finishing and coating options to take your project to new heights.
