When talking about types of printing, it is important to be aware of the different alternatives that the market offers because, regardless of the type of market or sector of activity your company operates on, at some point you will probably need to print a graphic project be it a label, a package, a catalogue, a leaflet or even your company´s stationery, namely business cards, letterhead, envelopes, etc.
So, understanding the most appropriate type of printing for each type of material, as well as the finishes that the graphic industry offers, will play a very important role so that the desired result is effectively achieved.
This article aims to help you understand a little about the most suitable types of printing for different types of materials. So let's get started.
Digital Printing
Digital printing is clearly the most suitable solution when there is a need to produce a graphic product with great urgency, namely, with same day delivery.
With regard to the visual impact and production speed of short runs, compared to other types of printing, digital printing is, clearly, the best solution.
While offset printing uses aluminum foil dies and only then the image to be printed is transferred to paper (or other material), digital printing is done directly on the material electronically.
Digital printing is used for the same materials as offset, but with the advantage of having a substantially shorter lead time, being a cheaper print, having a shorter drying time and not needing to “tune” colors as it is a digital process.
Offset Printing
This type of printing is the one that guarantees a great final quality of the graphic print job.
This type of printing is prepared for large runs and, for this reason, it normally reduces the budget of the printing job due to the economy of scale that it enables.
In addition, it also allows the use of special colors (pantones), finishes and differentiating effects with inks, which is only possible in offset printing.
It is also worth mentioning that offset printing also has the advantage of printing speed (very important when there is urgency) and easy adaptability to different paper weights.
Offset printing can be used on a wide variety of materials, such as magazines, newspapers, books, brochures, catalogues, business cards, posters, among many others.
Hibrid Printing
This type of printing is nothing more than a combination of digital and offset printing.
In hybrid printing, a part of the material is printed in offset and the other part is made through digital printing. This innovative process, in addition to guaranteeing high quality standards, also allows for customized applications.
Serigraphy
This century-old printing technique is the most commonly used to make stampings. In this method, the ink is poured onto a canvas prepared for this purpose through the pressure of a squeegee or a spatula. It is thus an essentially manual process.
Despite being a very old technique, it is a printing method still widely used due to its versatility since it allows printing on the most diverse materials such as fabrics, pens, glass, stickers, wallpaper, PVC, among many other types of materials.
In fact, serigraphy is a method very similar to photographic development as it uses light and darkness to create the print matrix.
Rotogravure
Rotogravure is also known as the bas-relief process because it has the image in bas-relief on the cylinder.
The printing itself is done through an electromechanical process in which the engraving of the cells is done by means of industrial diamond touches.
Rotogravure printing is the most used in the printing of materials in large quantities, which result in high quality prints on low grammage materials.
Photographic Printing
Photographic printing is a process very similar to other graphic printing methods discussed in this article. It is a simple process in which a printer prints photographs normally on photographic paper or other types of paper such as couché.
The print quality allowed by this method is usually very good, which is why photographic printing ranks among the top on the market.
Of all types of printing processes which is the best?
In fact, anyone who tells you that there is a single answer to this question will certainly not be telling the truth as it will largely depend on several variables that will have a decisive weight when choosing the most appropriate type of print.
These variables are, for example, the type of material you want to print, the graphic concept you want for your project, the quantity you want to print (here offset printing is more affordable) and, last but not least, the urgency you have at the completion of your project's printing as, in these cases, digital printing is substantially faster.
That said, ultimately, what will really determine the best type of printing will be the specific needs of your graphic project.
