Off-Set

For years all your letter heads, statements, invoices and general printing was produced on an off-set litho machine using traditional printing plates such as paper plates, polyplates or for quite long runs aluminium printing plates prepared from a bromide (pmt) and then transferred to film.

A set of aluminium printing plates is an expensive proposition and this has made offset litho printing uncompetitive in certain instances especially for short-run full colour jobs. 

With new enhancements in the digital world appearing almost weekly many small quantiy jobs such as invoices, letterheads and the like traditionally printed offset are now digitally printed in house or by a local printer using a fast digital machine.

Notwithstanding this there is still a place for off-set litho in printing a variety of desktop business, promotional and advertising gifts where the volume is outside the scope of a digital printer.

A4 or A5 size desk pads printed full colour on every page and desk blotter pads are outside the scope of an inhouse digital colour printer..   

If you are buying business gifts it will be helpful if you know about digital printing, die stamping, embroidery, engraving, etching, off-set ltho, tampo (pad printing), screen printing, sublimation printing, transfer printing and weaving.