Digital vs. Offset Printing

Digital vs. Offset
Paper manufacturers address the growing need for cross-platform media

Over the years, offset paper makers have developed a dizzying array of substrate options, from super-thin translucent papers to board-like heavyweight covers. Miraculously, these diverse substrates work on almost any offset press, giving communicators and printers a range of choices, depending on whether they want a unique look-and-feel, or high-performance print characteristics.

Digital printing, by contrast, has been characterized by a much more limited range of paper options—determined largely by equipment capabilities. Toner-based presses typically require smoother paper for optimum performance. Paper must be precision sheeted to feed correctly. Most devices can run coated paper, but with varying degrees of success, while some equipment requires special surface treatment for reliable performance. All the while, caliper and sheet size capabilities continue to expand. Some paper mills have reacted by offering sheets designed for specific types of equipment, all in an effort to satisfy customer demand, and address paper performance and quality issues equally.

Converging Needs
Today, the offset and digital worlds are rapidly converging. Many commercial print shops are running a variety of digital presses alongside conventional equipment. In an effort to sell digital and offset interchangeably, they want to take advantage of the unique capabilities each has to offer as a means of profitable growth and diversified services.

At the same time, their clients want the flexibility of printing the same document in long or short runs, with static or variable data. Printers need the option of running the same papers across platforms: offset and digital. Equipment manufacturers have responded by expanding the range of substrates digital presses can run. A few paper makers have responded by developing papers that will run cross-platform, and perform whether ink or toner is the imaging vehicle.
It is now evident that the move to digital color is a permanent industry shift, and the market demand for digital will steadily increase. In fact, industry experts are predicting that the digital color market will double by 2009. Now that digital printing has come into its own, the need for true cross-platform papers is more important than ever. Luckily, paper manufacturers are realizing that today's printer craves the ability to source one brand of paper that can easily and reliably be deployed to a shop's entire portfolio of equipment, offering ultimate flexibility and efficiency.

Reference Chris Harrold