Digital or Offset: What is your preference?

[WadeVC]

I was just wondering what your personal preference is when it comes to getting your work(s) and/or projects printed: Digital, Offset or no preference.

Although digital printing has come a long way, I still prefer traditional offset printing myself.

[tZ]

Offset if you can afford it.

Are talking about your portfolio presentation or projects in general?

Unless you have a lot of copies of your portfolio/work you would like to send out digital is almost always going to be cheaper.

[budafist]

I work at a printing company (and I believe you do too?) and the preference all depends on quanitity.

Stock comes into the equation for sure. Our digital printers only take up to 280gsm (but we've been known to stuff 300gsm in there for short runs, not good for the printer, but hey, if it works, it works). Linen stock and thicker than 300gsm will definately go offset. As will specified Pantone colours and especially specials like metallics and neons.

...what else?
Short run we will always recommend digital. Our company has a copy centre as well as offset so we can quote for both. It's then up to the client to decide if they want to print their short run offset (and pay for all the plates) or print their large run digital (I don't actually know why anyone would do that, it's retarded).

I prefer the look of offset myself. The ink is "in" the paper and not sitting on top of it. Our digital always looks gloss so if you are doing full coverage on matt, well, it doesn't look matt at all. Also, you can get banding on full coverage pieces. Not a cool look and our digital techs (the ones we pay) say that it's "within spec" so they don't do anything about a little banding. Even if our clients reject a job. :rolleyes:

[Ned]

I don't think I would ever want to print digital unless time or budget require it. Off-set print quality is always far better, in my opinion.

The advantages in digital are in non-visual areas: no jump in unit price for small runs (but on the flipside, no big discount for large runs), no excess cost for full-color print (not limiting you to fewer colors or spot colors to save money), often no minimum order, and generally a quicker turnover time.

[PrintDriver]

For our own marketing collateral, it depends on the end usage and the quantity.

But in terms of product we offer, all wide format is digital with the exception of Porcelain prints (and even that is changing).

Buda, banding in gradients or printhead banding? Sometimes the first is unavoidable but the second can usually be cured with tuning and slowing down the machine speed. Of course that impacts production. It's a fine line. My printers know we don't accept banding and we know we have to pay slightly more for the longer run time. Not all clients get that though. :D

[Evelyn_H]

No such luxury in terms of preference where I work unfortunately. It is mostly down to either time or cost contraint...

[budafist]

Buda, banding in gradients or printhead banding? Sometimes the first is unavoidable but the second can usually be cured with tuning and slowing down the machine speed. Of course that impacts production. It's a fine line. My printers know we don't accept banding and we know we have to pay slightly more for the longer run time. Not all clients get that though. :D

I'm meaning colour copiers trying to do a page of one solid colour. We find one side of the page might be "perfect" but the other half or just a section has a tint of another colour. Say we are printing grey, but one strip has a magenta tone through it. It's not the file because the file is all 1 colour for the background.

Grey and blue backgrounds in particular are bad on our machines.

[garricks]

Actually, I prefer letterpress. :p

Seriously, it depends on the project. I'm all for using as many tools as I'm allowed.

[longboy]

For the pieces that I do at my work, where our imagery has to look absolutely stunning...offset all the way. The printer we use for most jobs also prints with stochastic screening, which I also prefer to halftones.

[Broacher]

Gravure-- anyone ever prepared for that? You know, like National Geographic and all that. Amazingly deep colour range. I always wanted to work with that some day.

[Ned]

Actually, I prefer letterpress. :p

Letterpress gives me really bad banding issues, when I try to make a gradient by placing a row of rectangular sorts next to each other. xD

[vxhorusxv]

I asked for one copy of an 8.5x11 creative to be run on a web-press.

Wait, was I not supposed to?

;)

[vxhorusxv]

Oh, and I wanted to see a proof first!

[garricks]

Letterpress gives me really bad banding issues, when I try to make a gradient by placing a row of rectangular sorts next to each other. xD

LMAO. That issue always puts me out of sorts.

We're actually weaning our clients off of 2-color by going digital 4/c for smaller runs. When they see their newsletters with color photos instead of grey, they never go back. Then we step them up to offset.

Actually, I like iGen output.

[emucru]

I asked for one copy of an 8.5x11 creative to be run on a web-press.

Wait, was I not supposed to?

;)

LOL!! Ok but its really gonna cost ya! Would you like that on newsprint or premium 80??

[vxhorusxv]

Chorus Art #100 cover, bright white please =)

[I like the recycled content!]