short order flyers

[AbiJ]

I need to get some postcard sized flyers printed out (they're actually tasting notes for a whisky tasting so the participants can take them away); and my client only needs 100. I'm working on the basis that digital printing would be the only option and I was wondering if anyone can tell me how these would compare quality-wise to normal Litho printed cards.

I'm want to use a fairly heavy stock 300-400gsm but I cant find out if these are like normal injet prints - i.e. will the ink run on contact with water etc.

Another option I was considering was printing myself on normal paper stock and mounting by hand onto card. Any advice would be appreciated!

[Logo-Mechanix]

Digital printing should work fine, I recent got some samples froma few places and the digital printing was very nice and although I didn't put it through the ringer it looked like it would hold up under normal circumstances.

[AbiJ]

I'm just worried that when someone spills whisky on them that the ink will start to run badly!

What are the common quality issues with digital printing then (apart from the colour matching problems)?

[Broacher]

Save your whiskey. In digital printing (assuming you mean laser xerography) there is no ink, and the toner is fused, much like a plastic coating to the paper under heat and pressure. But that difference also is the clue to what might be the biggest printing problem to watch out for: cracking.

Anything other than the lightest toner coverage will crack along fold lines, accentuated by the drying out of the paper as it passes through the fuser assembly in the printer unit. If it's simply cut out flat cards, your worries are minimal-- only, I have seen digitally produced business cards separate under extreme longterm heat and humidity conditions-- more commonly known as 'the fatman's wallet'.

Also: front to back registration. It's gotten a lot better over the last couple of years, but the paper handling of a copier is still a far cry from the sophisticated control and hardware of a good press.

Finally: surprinting. Since the toner is fused by heat to the paper, you can't go back there. Translation: you cannot put a laser printed sheet through a laser again. I've seen some nice certificate disasters where people assumed that would work for adding names. Uh-uh.

I suppose I should mention: cost.

A lot of people might be surprised at how competitive low run offset has become with copies. And of course, a lot depends on how well you design to the maximum sheet size (as in imposition, n-ups, etc.). And that's another area where copiers bow out-- poster work.

Still, quality of colour and overall options has improved so much in the last five years that short-run colour work is now a major part of the cash flow of small and even mid-sized print shops.

Unfortunately, this has a counter effect on our client's reaction to design prices: it still takes almost as much time to do good colour design for short run as it does for large run work, only in large run, the design cost is a much smaller fraction of the overall bill. You have to anticipate some client (and/or boss) 'discussion' about the truth that design time is design time no matter what the production method.

Client education on design realities. [sigh] If only that could be made into a short run process.

[Kool]

"I have seen digitally produced business cards separate under extreme longterm heat and humidity conditions-- more commonly known as 'the fatman's wallet'."

http://home.comcast.net/~rnick9/icon_rofl.gif

[morea]

lmao - you crack me up Broacher. ;)

[AbiJ]

thanks for all the help, as for short order offset printing...the reason I thought digital would be more suitable was that cant find a printer who will do a run of less than 1000 using offset (in based in the UK); however any company that has quoted a short run (whether offsetor digital) has given me a price very similar to a 1K run so I may end up just doing that anyway, it just seems such a waste in these environmentally sensitive days!