Lithographic Printing North East England Archives - Millfield Media Print & Web Design

Lithographic Printing or Digital Printing – What’s the difference ?

Lithographic Printing explained

Lithographic Printing is a process using wet ink and printing plates.

It is more cost effective and suitable for larger print runs.

Why ? Because there is a lot of cost and time involved in making the printing plates and preparing the ‘spare’ material that is required for all the plate images to be processed and registered before the job can be run.

However, once this is done the cost per copy will be cheaper for bigger printing runs.

The turnaround time is longer with lithographic printing (usually at least 5 working days on average).

This is because time has to be allowed for the ink to completely dry before finishing. Longer run jobs have to be scheduled to run on the bigger presses.

Benefits of Lithographic Printing

Suitable for a wide range of surfaces including paper, card and plastics

The larger the order the cheaper it gets as the cost decreases as the quantity increases

Ability to cope with long runs with out losing quality

Special inks allow you to keep your brand consistency with your Pantone colours

Digital printing explained

Digital Printing is a process that uses toners on a press and is more suitable and cost effective for shorter runs.

This is because there is less initial set up involved making it a cheaper option for small businesses.

Digital printing is what we call a four colour process reproduction method that uses electronic files (PDF artwork).

Dots of colour are used to produce an image using toner or ink.

(Unlike litho printing no printing plates are required)

This means there is less waste of the chemicals involved and paper because there is no need to make-ready.

Benefits of Digital Printing

It is great for a quick turnaround as the job is produced in its finished format.

No additional drying time required.Its quick to set up so fast turn around of orders

Colours are bright, ideal for vibrant images on a vast range of materials

A much cheaper option for small volumes which makes it ideal for Small Business owners.

Personalisation is much easier as text and graphics can be changed on each item without stopping or slowing down the press

Although there are benefits for both options, it is also depending on the size of your business, your budget and your specific requirements.

Particularly if your brand colours are vibrant, and you want to keep the consistency of your Pantone colours.

Using a graphic designer will help you decide the best cost effective printing option for your business.

It will ensure that all your brand colours are consistent especially if you use business stationery so they should match specifically.

If you would like some further advice on brochures and leaflets, read our blog

If you would like any advice and guidance or a quote please contact us

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Brochure Printing and Design Tips

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Brochure and Leaflet Design and Printing tips

Remember, your brochure could be one of your bestselling marketing tools so it must grab your customer’s attention, so this is fundamental to your brand

There are so many options available. The first step is choosing what sort of leaflet or brochure your business needs and what you want it to say about your products or brand.

We suggest you concentrate on key messages or services , decide what you are wanting to say or sell. Keep it simple but try to be different from all the others that are posted though your customers door.

Then it is about getting your leaflet design right. You could use the skill and flair from a graphic designer who will be able to advise and guide you.

We will sit down with you to understand your brand, what your key messages are and the tone of voice you use as a business.

It would be sensible to see their work for other brands they have worked with.

Our suggestion would be to throw some ideas round together perhaps using mood boards, brainstorming with other team members of your team to discuss what your business needs are.

That said, you don’t want to go to the trouble of spending a lot of time and money in designing your brochure only to get it wrong at the printing stage, which is why we suggest you follow our step by step guide. Brochure printers may not have a designer attached to them, choosing a Print and Design business is a win win situation, they can advise on paper quality and what will work. Therefore keeping your cost down, but the quality wont be compromised.

BROCHURE DESIGN TIPS

Decide who your target audience is

Decide what your objectives are and what you are trying to achieve

Who is your target audience and what are you selling?

The above will help you determine whether you need a brochure, booklet, flyer or tri-fold leaflet?

Decide what size you think it should be A4 A5, choose either portrait or landscape and how many pages? (remember printers need it to be a multiple of 4)

Choosing the right paper weight, quality and finish is just as important as the design itself. It will add value to the service or goods that you are selling.
Have you got your brand pantone colours and codes ?

WHY CHOOSE PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS FOR YOUR BROCHURE

Invest in beautiful images and photographs and go for gloss to showcase them

Your images in our opinion should be professional done to enhance your brochure as they need to be a high resolution. This way they are your own and therefore not governed by copyright.

One thing to stress is you cannot compromise when it comes to good quality images. Don’t make the mistake of using low-res images as these will print look unprofessional.

If you are you selling a product that needs the colours to be really accurate and true to life then take professional photographs to ensure these transfer well to your printed product.

Professional Photographs will be high resolution and will bring your brand to life.

The photos will be exclusive to you and your business and you will have the edge over your competitors.

Alternatively you could use a FREE STOCK IMAGE site such as Pixabay or Freepik.

Decide on the quantity, this will affect the cost. Larger amounts will be done lithographically, smaller amounts will be done digitally. See our article on the difference between Lithographic and Digital printing options,

When do you need them by as this may well affect the cost? Allow plenty to time for changes to text and to copy read for mistakes.

BROCHURE PRINTING TIPS

Remember print is tangible and customers like the feel of things, so if you get the quality right you may get a better return on your investment and therefore sell more products or services.

Will your brochure be folded, collated, stapled or bound and is the cost of this included in the quote ?

The cover of your booklet can make the difference between it being picked up or discarded.

Speak to a print specialist, ask their advice. Then get a quote for a couple of different amounts and finishing options as a price comparison.

Choosing a more contemporary look for your brochure, then we would recommend a matt lamination.

Now you have a fantastic design we suggest you use a heavier paper which will ensure durability. Choose a really nice coated finish, this could be gloss or silk which could be matt laminated.

Allow time for it to be checked for clarity and for errors by other people in your group.

Pay attention to spelling, numbers etc. Your printer will not be able to do this so this is imperative that it is done by a couple of people as it will be a waste of money if not right.

Make sure the artwork is in the agreed format. This may be JPEG, PDG of PNG.

Finally allow enough time to get it to your printer on time and save yourself and your printer unnecessary stress

Contact us if you would like some advice, guidance or quotes regarding your Brochures or Leaflets, although we are based in Northumberland we do offer our services UK wide with FREE delivery too

Please get in touch Nicola-millfieldmedia@outlook.com