Difference among digital, offset and screen printing

Before discussing the difference among digital, offset and screen printing, we would like to give some basic ideas of these printing methods, which will give you basic fundamental concepts about how do they work.

1. 1.     Digital printing.

In simple words, digital printing refers to the printing of documents or graphics from digital device (such as computer) to the Digital Printing friendly devices (such as laser and inkjet printers).

1. 2.     Offset printing.

Offset printing often called as ‘offset lithography’ is a method of mass production of printing materials. This printing process passes through several stages which help in enhanced printing quality and size.

1. 3.     Screen printing.

Screen Printing also referred as ‘serigraphy’ is a method of creating an image on different types of surface such as glass, cloth, paper or any 3D objects.

We have tried to discover their differences in a simple way, so everyone can understand, compare and use them upon their need. There are few main distinctions:

• Purpose

Every type of printing has its own purpose. The digital printing is especially useful for printing official documents, direct mail variable data printing, colour brochures, etc. Offset printing is useful for printing the material on larger paper sizes. The offset printer is capable of printing certain types of surfaces with limited options. For example, it is difficult to use offset printing on 3 dimensional objects, therefore most of the time it can print flat surface. In case of Screen Printing, it is useful for printing the inked images on various surfaces with large amount of shapes such as coffee mug, designer’s T-shirts and any other types of shapes which needs to be printed at various angles.

• Budget

Budget is also necessary to recognize the importance of each types of printing. If you need to print short run documents, brochures and have limited amount to spend, then digital printing is a great solution. Offset printing mainly helps in producing large amount of the same image. Screen printing is mainly useful to print on objects (such as 3D) with various shapes, plastics or large format posters.

• Process:

The digital printing follows a direct process of printing the documents which are prompted by digital device and printing is made in digital friendly printers such as laser and inkjet printers.  The offset printing generally passes through two types of processes to produce better quality material in large amount. In this process inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket then to the printing surface. The screen printing follows totally different process printing because of the surface and the procedure of printing multiple designs. In this type of printing, a woven fabric is used to print on the defined frame which is called stencil.

At last, it is useful to remember that every printing type has its own importance and the user needs to analyse their printing requirements for the best quality and budget.