Digital vs. Offset Printing
By Christiana Trenum
Watching the trends shift over the years is one of the things that continues to make direct mail so fascinating to follow. The nuts and bolts can be the same, and even the end product, but marketers more than ever are having to watch their expenses and strategies to ensure that every dollar is allocated and working for the campaigns they are managing. Digital printing is one way to increase the impact, potentially reduce costs, and reduce the production timeline on complex versioning within a robust campaign. With the printing and direct mail technology ever changing, it is important to see how to grow with the changes and take advantage of the benefits to produce effective mail that will push the envelope.
Digital printing is not new by any stretch, but it is a format that can be a great fit for your project. It is also rapidly taking over the printing space due to its flexibility and range. Offset printing, while still the standard when it comes to quality, has become a more costly option in projects that require substantial form versioning. Most noteworthy, digital printing allows for the background art and personalized content to image in one pass. Increased personalization and variable content have been proven time and time again to increase response rates. Digital printing allows for the variables to also output in CMYK to help increase visibility and impact. With the duplex capability, you can carry the personalization and content customization to the next level.
Planet Direct continues to add more digital printing equipment to provide our clients and partners with a full suite of printing and imaging options. The newest and most exciting addition to our plant is our Screen Truepress Jet520 NX Full Color Digital Inkjet Web (Duplex System). The web format allows us to produce high volume forms at fast speeds at the industry standard for digital quality.
While digital printing is becoming the common tool in direct mail, offset printing still has its place as the high-quality option for mailings that need the extra care with color matching and stock. Digital printing is close, but still worth mentioning the pros and cons between the two formats. Planet Direct will continue to offer the full-service suite of options for your printing and imaging needs. We understand the value in both and strive to provide the full-service solutions that our clients and partners have come to expect.
We pride ourselves in our ability to help you pull all the pieces together in a successful mailing campaign. As a one stop shop for offset and digital formats, we look forward to continuing to serve you. If you have not given digital printing a shot or if you want to learn more about our solutions, give us a call today.