Digital Printing

From the file to the sheet

Digital printing puts the image on the sheet from the file. There is no plate. That is the whole distinction from offset printing. Offset is built so a long run of identical pieces can match. Digital is built so the sheet can follow the file, including a file that changes from one piece to the next.

Choose digital when a business card carries a different name, a postcard carries a different offer, or a menu has a lunch version and a dinner version. Choose offset when every piece is the same and the point is color that holds for the entire run. You do not have to make that call alone. A quote request that says what the product is, how many you need, and whether the pieces match is enough. We name the process in the quote. We are not stating a quantity cutoff or a production clock here. Both of those come back with the pricing.

What you decide

You set the product, the size, the quantity, and the stock and finish you want. Matte, gloss, or another surface you name — put it on the quote. We confirm it. We do not keep a public list of weights.

The decision that actually changes the job is whether the pieces match. One design, repeated, is simple. A version per offer, per shop, or per person needs the art built with room for that change, plus the data. Say which it is before we proof anything. A proof of a blank box where a name should be is not a proof of the piece you will hand to someone.

Sides, folds, and cuts are still yours. A digital flyer can be one side or two. A digital brochure still has a fold. A door hanger still needs its hole. The process does not erase the product. It only changes how the image gets onto the sheet.

The file, including the data

Send a PDF at the finished size plus bleed, with type off the trim and fonts embedded. Images have to stay sharp at print size. If the pieces change, send the list with the template: the column for the name, the offer, or the shop, and a few sample rows so the proof is a real piece.

A slide deck, a low-resolution export, or a logo floating on white is not press-ready. Graphic design and prepress can build the template, place the variable fields, and fix bleed and type. You approve a proof. Then we print and ship anywhere in the United States.

Products set up for this process

Business cards when each card can differ, or when the job should not start with a plate. Postcards and mailers when the card can change. Stickers and labels when the shape, the dieline, or the artwork changes from design to design. Flyers, brochures, door hangers, and menus when you have versions rather than one identical stack. Envelopes and letterhead when the stationery is full color and the pieces do not call for an offset run of one mark.

Folders and bound books are described on the offset page, because those products are set up as a matched run of one piece. If your order is really a set of versions, say so on the quote and we will name the process.