Production Printers: Comparing Digital and Press Printing

November 27, 2018 | Advanced Office

Colors play a crucial role in advertising and branding. Most business owners know that succeeding in business does not mean just having quality products or services, but looking like you have quality products and services. To sustain your company’s sharp look, you need a printer that can provide clear, high-quality documents, brochures, banners, and more.

Here are the pros and cons of both digital and press production printers to help narrow your choices down:

What’s the Difference?

You might not realize it, but every printer has different functions and features, making it more useful for some jobs than others. When we consider digital and press printers, there are some considerable differences between the two.

Press Printing

Press printing is often used by many photographers and artists to ensure sharp colors.

  • Pro: Multiple Finishing Options. Press printers offer the ultimate variety of print finishes, from foil stamping to die cutting to embossing.
  • Pro: Accurate Coloring. Press printer’s color matching systems are second to none, guaranteeing near-perfect matches.
  • Con: Slow. Press printers are traditionally much slower than digital printers.
  • Con: Expensive: A quality press printer can cost nearly twice as much as a digital printer because of the required accessories.

Digital Printing

  • Pro: Affordable. Digital printers offer models affordable for nearly any budget.
  • Pro: Quick. Digital printing is significantly faster than press printing.
  • Pro: Accurate. Proofs are more accurate on a digital printer since you create the job on that device.
  • Con: Less Accurate Coloring. Digital printers have less exact color matching because each color is developed out of the four colors the device can hold.
  • Con: Less Color Range. Since digital printers create colors out of the four tones of ink, they are much more limited in color range.

Still not sure which device is right for you? Contact Advanced Office today and we can help you determine which production printer is right for your company.