Is it true that the more you print, the less you pay? With traditional offset printing the answer is typically YES. The offset printing process can include more than 25 steps involving many individuals. While direct-to-film and direct-to-plate have streamlined make-ready, the process of setting up a job for press can be time consuming and expensive. As a result it usually takes a print run of several thousand pieces to achieve a cost effective price-per-piece.

How does digital technology change the paradigm? In much the same way that email, CD and DVD have changed their respective mediums, digital printing (AKA electronic printing or print on demand) allows us to eliminate many of the make-ready steps involved in the traditional process. Information from your electronic files is sent directly to our high-volume digital presses where it is printed, collated, and often finished inline. Because so many of production steps are automated or eliminated, the cost per unit becomes more consistent.

Does that mean that the fewer you print the less you pay? With digital printing the answer is a resounding YES! Because the cost per unit is consistently low, you can affordably print in small quantities. And, because it is often cheaper to store data than printed products you can also reduce or eliminate the costs of storage and obsolescence. If you print 30,000 pieces and store them, but only use 5,000 before they are obsolete, you lose all economics of scale. Digital printing allows you to print only what you want, when you want it.

Among many others, the following types of documents are great candidates for digital printing:

• Versioned newsletters
• Segmented product brochures
• Customized catalogs
• Customer membership programs
• Sales collateral