Digital Printing is the reproduction of digital images onto a wide variety of surfaces. Digital color printing is a technology that has been in commercial use since 1993. It came into use with the advent of the Hewlett Packard indigo series of printers that was developed in an effort to replace the traditional ink technology. It is suitable for high quality
color printing onto a wide variety of substrates including photographic paper, paperboard
cover stock, film, cloth, plastic, vinyl etc. It offers a very economic solution for a wide range of designers looking for high quality or customized prints.
Digital printing differs from traditional ink printing in various ways. With digital printing every impression made to the substrate can be different as opposed to making a large number of prints from one set of printing plates. The ink or toner does not absorb into the paper but sits on top of it and is fused to the paper using a fluid heat process with toner or a UV curing process with ink. Digital printing also offers a much more economical method of printing than traditional methods as it requires less wasted chemicals and also reduces wasted paper. Digital printing is an excellent choice for companies or designers wanting to create express prototypes or a small run of a printed product, as it is more economical than other forms of printing for this type of product.
Digital printing is the popular choice for companies who wish to create a large variety of custom printed pieces. It is widely used when a company wished to produce a
brochure from a template where prices and calendars differ for different clients or seasons. Digital printing is normally the choice for these types of print runs as it allows every copy in the run to have different details or a particular part of the print customized. It is also well suited to companies wishing to print envelopes for clients as it allows a high quality finish of the envelope along with the address being printed. A company could order a thousand envelopes with different addresses on each one with no significant increase in the cost of the printing.
