Digital printing technology has advanced greater over the past couple of decades. In its infancy, it was used for only lower quality, small run jobs but today has matured to be able to produce documents that can rival some low-end offset presses and truly amaze the end consumer or reader. Today’s world of offset and digital printing in Northern Virginia has found clear places and advantages for each method of printing.
Certainly one of the advantages of digital printing is the incredibly quick turnaround. Many businesses require the need for shorter turnaround times for their print jobs and this ability in digital printing has afforded them the option to print more frequently than they could before.
Digital printing also boasts the unprecedented ability to ensure that every print truly is exactly the same. When accuracy counts, you can be sure that digital printing in Northern Virginia can deliver. Printers and printing customers alike also enjoy the reduced waste associated with print jobs as a result of the increased accuracy as they have to scrap less in the end. Because there is no ink and water to balance during the printing process, the end quality is able to be controlled and precision in accuracy is ensured.
Obviously one of the big factors in today’s business climate that has increased the popularity of digital printing in Northern Virginia is cost. Digital printing offers much less expensive printing options for lower quantity jobs. On an offset press, the setup process requires larger print runs to make the costs viable and therefore many companies would not print some jobs because they had smaller quantities and could not justify the costs if being produced via an offset press. As the scrutiny over business costs increases, this factor grows and grows.
Another huge benefit and niche market for digital printing in Northern Virginia is direct mail or any other project that requires some form of customization on different pieces. During the digital printing process, information from an external file such as a database or a text or graphic file can be changed at different times without needing to stop the press for a plate or ink change. This is a huge advance in process technology and allows this customization to still keep work going and move jobs through the print shop faster and with less downtime. Printers have enjoyed the ability to keep their presses and their teams working more continually and customers enjoy the ability to have their jobs produced with less lead time because press availability is greater. Overall, digital printing in Northern Virginia has created many opportunities for businesses today.
