THE OFFSET ADVANTAGE

COMPARING OFFSET PRINTING TO DIGITAL PRINTING

The Oset Advantage

Oset printing, sometimes called lithography, is the gold standard of printing and is based on techniques that have been around for thousands of years. Originally carved stone and wood were used to transfer inks made from plants or other pigments to surfaces. Today, thats been replaced with metal and plastic printing plates, but the concept is the same. Just like the carved stones, modern oset printing relies on raised surfaces etched in a printing plate that pick up ink and then transfer it to paper. In four color process, or CMYK printing, this is repeated four times, once with cyan ink, once with magenta, once with yellow and nally once with black (black is abbreative as K, which is short for key). Oset printing oers, without a doubt, the best quality printing and the most options on paper stocks, coatings, nishes and other speciality add ons such as foil stamping, embossing or debossing. The major downside of oset printing, however, is that the startup costs are relatively high since plates have to be generated for each project and each time an oset printing press is run, there are both labor and material costs as the pressmen ensure the press is properly congured. However, once the press is started, the per unit price is low and becomes even lower as quantity increases. In theory, you could print just one copy of a project on an oset press, but since all the startup costs have to be absorbed by that one copy, that one unit could easily end up costing practically as much as 500 or more copies. In contrast, digital printing uses large, commercial grade versions of laser printers. They typically use toner, are designed for fast production and do not use plates and therefore have very little, if any, startup costs. Digital printing is often available at copy shops or oce supply stores or can be ordered from larger commercial printers. In most cases, larger operations will have higher caliber equipment.

Good Projects for Oset Printing

Multipage products with higher page counts (over 12) and larger quantities (over 500) such as books, novels, childrens books, picture books, catalogs and magazines Multipage projects that need speciality paper stocks, coatings or nishes Multipage projects that need special features such as foil stamping, embossing, debossing and diecutting Single page products in larger quantities (at least 500 to 1,000), such as brochures, business cards or iers. PrintNinja doesnt print these items, but they are available via a partner website, Chicago Pressmen. This site oers faster turnaround on oset printing for single page products such as brochures and business cards and digital printing for low quantities on a variety of products. For details and pricing, visit www. chicagopressmen.com. Projects that dont have an urgent deadline. PrintNinjas normal turnaround is 6-8 weeks. Visit www.chicagopressmen.com for faster turnaround on oset printing. Projects that you either go through quickly or can store easily over the long term

Good Projects for Digital Printing

Multipage projects with low page counts (under 12) and smaller quantities (under 500) such as presentation printouts, booklets or books Single page products in lower quantities (under 500) such as brochures, posters and iers. Any projects you need in hours or a few days Any printed materials that are subject to change frequently, such as menus, price lists and real estate iers Print on demand projects For great prices on digital printing, including quantities as low as 5, visit PrintNinjas partner, Chicago Pressmen, at www.chicagopressmen.com. For comic book sizes, we recommend Quartet Digital Printing at www.quartetcopies. com.

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a convenience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.

The Oset Advantage

Per unit cost for a 1,000 copy run* Per unit cost for a 5 copy run* Typical minimum Available from Full color available Black and white printing available Best color quality Best black text clarity Saddle stitch binding (staples) Perfect binding (glued with printed spine) Spiral binding Hardcover binding Super fast turnaround Dust jacket Full bleed Requires printing plates Uses ink as printing medium Uses toner as printing medium High durability of printed images and text (low rub) Paper weight choices Paper coating choices Paper nish choices Oset Printing $1 $200+ 500 PrintNinja.com, ChicagoPressmen.com Digital Printing $5+ $8+ 1 Local copy shops, ChicagoPressmen.com

Numerous Numerous Numerous

Limited

Limited

Limited Limited

Limited Limited Limited

*Estimates based on 24 page saddle stitched project with full color throughout and standard paper selections and typical market pricing. Actual prices may vary.

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a convenience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.