Now is the golden age of digital printing, having miraculously revolutionised photo printing with its efficacy and perfection. Digital printing adds value to your company by personalising promotional products and providing an elegant appearance to attract customers.
It is a one-of-a-kind method that produces effective results by improving overall communication. With its most recent sophisticated software, you can print directly from a digital image on various media such as fabric, paper, plastic, acrylic, and so on. You can also print the sources professionally.
Digital printing may appear to be more expensive than traditional methods. However, it eliminates the cost of producing printing plates, lowering the overall cost.
With digital printing, you can now print thousands of sheets at a low cost. Furthermore, digital printing is quick and easy to change the images for each impression.
High-quality images and precise printing increase the value of your company. Let’s take a look at the digital printing process step by step.
Table of Contents
What is Digital Printing?
As the name implies, digital printing is a sophisticated technology for printing the required image over the desired surface using computer software programming. In this type of printing, a specific image is given to the printer, and by decoding the message, the printer creates a precise image on the paper similar to the one given to the computer system.
Clients frequently ask us for advice on the best way to start printing artwork for print and also the best way to save artwork files in. For many clients, the design process of a flyer, pamphlet, brochure, or even a business card is something new to them, and it can be quite exciting on occasion.
As an entrepreneur, you want everything you do to look good and truly improve the reputation of your brand and how it represents your business.
This is not the case for some organisations when it comes to designing printed advertising materials, and we have all seen examples in the past where we may have received a brochure that resembled a surge work.
For the vast majority of people, this is not the case, and the reason is a lack of knowledge and understanding of how to create works of art for print.
Guide to The Digital Printing
The digital printing process involves printing directly from a digital image on various media such as paper, fabric, acrylic, and plastic. It refers to professionally done print work as well as small jobs from desktop publishing and other digital sources that are printed on wide print or high-volume inkjet printers.
Although digital printing is more expensive per page than traditional methods, the cost of making printing plates is eliminated, lowering the overall cost.
Digital printing can also be done on demand and in a short amount of time; images can also be easily changed for each impression. With its significant labour savings and rapidly improving capabilities, digital printing has gradually begun to match the capability of offset printing.
With digital printing, it is now possible to print thousands of sheets at a low cost. Learn about the differences between digital and offset printing.
Inkjet and laser printers are the most commonly used digital printing processes, which drop pigments or toners on a variety of substrates such as paper, glass, canvas, metal, fabric, marble, and plastic.
Typically, ink or toner only forms a thin layer on the surface, rather than permeating the substrate as in traditional methods. Toner is adhered to the substrate using a fuser fluid with a heat process, and ink is adhered to using a UV curing process.
Now that we’ve grasped the concept of digital printing, let’s look at the steps involved in printing it. Obviously, the first step is to prepare your design; some customers may outsource the design to the printing company, while others may prefer to create it themselves. Here’s what you need to do if you want to create the design yourself.
How does Digital Printing work?
Because digital printing does not use printing plates like all other printing methods, the initial investment is very low. The digital printing process can be applied to a wide range of materials, including paper, foam, plastic, and so on. There are two kinds of digital printers and how they print.
There are two types of printers: inkjet printers, which are commonly used for large format printing and are used by printing companies, and laser printers.
The inkjet printer prints by sprinkling tiny ink droplets onto the material to be printed. To ensure that the correct amount of ink is always added, the droplets of ink are often smaller than a piece of hair.
Inkjet printers typically use CMYK colours and CMYK ink, allowing the colours to be mixed directly on the printed object. When it comes to larger quantities, the inkjet process for digital printing is frequently slower than other printing methods.
Laser printers create prints by combining a laser mechanism with electromagnetism. As a result, the laser copies your graphics or image onto an electromagnetic canvas to which toner is attached via electrically charged particles. Toner is unique to laser printers and is only used in this printing method.
The primary issue with toner is that it cannot reproduce images and colours as precisely as ink. This is why printing companies do not use it as frequently. Laser printers, on the other hand, are faster when printing in large quantities, making them ideal for documents.
Rollers transport the material through the printing and colouring processes, after which the print is directly heated and cooled. It will then be ready to use, just like when you take the papers from your printer.
The Digital Printing Method
The following steps are involved in this method:
Step 1:
The digital printing process starts with preparing the design for printing. Some customers create their own designs, while others outsource the task. The design is created based on the customer’s instructions and specifications. To incorporate changes and alter designs, detailed meetings are held. The process’s outcome is then communicated to the customer.
Step 2:
After the customer has approved the final version of the image, it is converted to the appropriate format. The correctness of the format is required because it makes it easier for the printer to identify and print the correct product.
Step 3:
This step entails cleaning. While working, cleanliness is critical. It keeps the printer heads from drying out and thus protects them from damage. This step must be repeated after the 100th iteration, if not sooner. It all depends on how much colour is used in the print.
Step 4:
Prior to the printing process, the following quality checks must be performed:
- To avoid ink spillage, the waste ink drum must be emptied on time after each iteration.
- The printer uses a certain amount of cleaner with each restart, which is stored in a container inside the printer. The amount of cleaner in the container must be kept under control. It should never be empty.
- The temperature of the ink should be monitored to avoid damage to the print heads. A temperature of 20 to 25 degrees Celsius is considered ideal. If the temperature rises too high, the print heads are damaged.
Step 5:
After all quality checks have been completed, this step entails a thorough review of all previous work. The customer’s artwork is not yet ready for printing.
Step 6:
Pallets are needed to transport the product. They are available in two sizes and are applied in accordance with the item’s instructions. The product is ready for printing after being laid out on the pallet.
Step 7:
This step ensures that the product is laid flat on the board with no creases. Even a single crease would cause the printing process to be distorted.
Step 8:
The printing process has begun. Moving from side to side, the printer head sprays the coloured design onto the product.
Step 9:
To ensure secure adhesion, the product is removed from the pallet and dried at a specific temperature in a large dryer. This step adheres the design to the product in a smooth and strong manner.
Step 10:
The final but not least step is to inspect the product to ensure high quality and a high-end finish. Following quality assurance, the product is carefully packed and shipped.
Guide to Designing for print
To be able to design your next printed piece of advertising material, keep these five simple steps in mind.
Idea generation:
The idea phase is the most important part of any design procedure. This is the situation in which you sit down and discuss what you need to accomplish and how you intend to accomplish it. You will undoubtedly recognise the medium you are utilising for advancement at this point, whether it is a billboard, flyer, poster, or even a type of sticker.
It is critical to understand what you want to achieve with your printed advertising material before beginning the design process. This will then have an impact on your idea generation session, so sit down, conceptualise, and discuss ideas.
Insert content:
When you’ve finished your first brainstorming to generate new ideas and have decided on your key message or ‘thoughts,’ it’s time to start creating your work of art. This will be the content collection for your design. This could be product graphics or images, your monogram and brand colours, or a series of content or headings used to advance your advertising.
Being organised in selecting what will be used in your design and obtaining the necessary graphics and information will save you time over time.
Professional design:
The next step we recommend is to ensure you have a professional design. A flawless, professional appearance and completion of your work of art will say a lot about your brand or organisation. This will not be an issue for some large organisations because they may have an in-house designer or work with a graphic design firm.
This can be more of a problem for SMEs because they may be lacking in master labourers within the organisation. If you are planning a large advertising campaign or a standard print activity, it may be worthwhile to consider hiring a graphic designer to help give your artwork that extra boost.
Consider hiring a designer to create various formats and templates that you can reuse and change later on for small businesses that rely heavily on flyers and direct mail as part of their marketing strategy. An expert completion can reflect your organisation and your advertising, and we strongly recommend it.
Proofread:
After you have completed the design procedure and sought the assistance of a graphic designer to include that professional completion, it is critical that you provide any artwork and proofread it.
Examine the artwork carefully for any grammar and spelling errors, as well as any issues with dates, costs, names, and so on. Allow more than one person to edit it, and perhaps offer it to trusted friends or family members to ensure it makes sense and the main point is clear.
Again, if you wish, you can enlist the assistance of expert marketing specialists to ensure that your final piece is reasonable. If you are designing large flyers or records with a lot of basic data, we would advise you to seek professional help.
Print-ready format:
Keep going up on our list to make sure to save your artwork in a print-ready format to make it simple for your printer to open it as well as print. If you are working with a graphic designer, they will be able to do this for you, but if not, here are four important things to remember.
- Ensure that your artwork is saved in CMYK format and is ready for printing.
- Ensure that all images are saved at 300dpi. DPI stands for dots per inch and reveals the nature of images in your artwork. Low-resolution images may cause pixelation, which degrades the image’s quality and has an impact on your final artwork.
- Make sure to include a border and bleed area in your final design, as this will represent any changes that occur during the printing process. A 3mm bleed with a 5mm border area is recommended.
- Save your artwork as a PDF in print-ready format. For multi-page flyers, make certain that your pages are saved in PDF format, as this is how they will be printed.
What is Digital Printing used for?
Digital print is primarily used for printing on paper, particularly for paper promotional items such as flyers, letters, and so on. It is not used for printing on plastic or other materials because it uses CMYK colours, which must be mixed together to produce the desired colour. When not done on the proper materials, this can cause the print to lose quality.
Because digital printing does not have a high start-up cost, there is frequently no minimum order quantity for making the product, which is why many industries are attempting to use this printing method with their products. We are collaborating with paper cup manufacturers who print paper cups digitally.
What is Digital Fabric Printing?
Digital fabric printing is a newly developed method of printing on fabric. It’s the same as printing a photo on your home inkjet printer.
To put it simply, digital printing is an inkjet printer for fabric. A roll of fabric is fed through a large-format inkjet printer, and the design is printed directly onto the fabric.
A very exciting development in the fabric industry is digital fabric printing. This printing method allows for customization, small-run printing, and experimentation.
It employs inkjet printing technology, which is commonly used in paper printing applications. As technology advanced, wide-format printers became available to handle everything from paper to vinyl, and, of course, fabric!
The fabric is fed through the printer by rollers during the printing process. The ink is applied in layers as it passes through the printer on multiple passes. When the design is finished, it is cured with heat and/or steam. When you’re finished, you’ll have your printed fabric!
Digital print vs offset printing
The two primary printing methods for printing on paper are digital print and offset print. Because digital printing does not require printing plates, it is ideal for small quantities and quick production. However, offset printing uses printing plates, so the set-up cost is higher, and it is used for larger quantities of prints.
Offset printing is a versatile printing method that can be used with CMYK and Pantone colours as well as on non-paper surfaces. The digital printing process is more limited because it can only be used with CMYK colours and is only used for printing on paper to ensure printing quality. Are you interested in offset printing? Learn more about the procedure by clicking here.
Offset printing is much more difficult than digital printing. Why? Because it excludes indirect printing of the image over the required printing material by turning the print over a second surface such as an elastic cover and then printing it over the required surface. This is how to offset printing works, but digital printing is entirely different.
