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Printing services are not that simple anymore. These days, you have various options for materials and procedures, depending on your requirements. The quality of products is becoming more and more impressive, too. High-quality printing is not just reserved for documents and items with flat surfaces today, but also mugs, toys, golf balls and other merchandise in unique shapes and surfaces. To help you know which printing procedure would be best for your needs, here are the widely-used types in professional printing companies. Digital printing is probably the most popular printing method since it was introduced recently. Innovative computer applications and printers have made it possible for you to have this option that produces fine print materials faster than traditional printing methods using a select range of paper products. Without the use of films and plates that are used in older printing services, this procedure is a direct transfer of a digital file from your PC to a compatible printer. This is, however, limited to the function of reproducing images on flat paper surfaces like common papers and boards and photographic papers. But there are some printers that allow reproduction on film, cloth and plastic too. Compared to offset lithography and other older processes which can create multiple volumes of work, digital printing is advisable only for short-run requirements, which means approximately 500 copies or less. Before digital printing, offset lithography was the favorite among all procedures for printing. To many, it still remains their choice over digital, since it is more cost-effective, especially for color printing. In a nutshell, the process involves the transferring, or "offsetting," of an inked image from a metal plate to a rubber blanket, and then to the paper stock. Using the basics of lithography, what happens in the process is the image carrier attracts ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts only a water-based film and remains ink-free. Unless specified in their list of printing services, printing companies usually offer offset lithography. It is used for almost all bulk printing requirements on paper. Most common are newspapers, magazines, brochures, CD covers and many others. Aside from these two procedures, traditional screen printing is where the ink is forced through a silk screen on to the material on which the image is intended to be placed. This is why it is sometimes called silk screening. In the recent years, many improvements have been made to this procedure, but the basic principle remains the same - the ink is still pressed onto a printing surface through a flimsy material like a framed wire mesh or stencil-covered fabric. It usually costs reasonably, but the technique is naturally tedious and could not be performed any faster even with the availability of automated screen printing. But even if it is slower than other printing processes, the method cannot be substituted when reproducing images on certain materials and surfaces. Silk screening is the recommended procedure to have quality images placed on mugs, clothing, stickers, bottles and other objects with unique shapes and details. There are other printing services that you can choose from, but these are the most common and easily available in many countries. To have the best output from your printing company, you should check out for yourself which process would be most suitable for your printing needs.
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