Commercial Printing Types
From heavy-duty machines to refined solutions, commercial printing comes in a range of styles and approaches. With so many options to choose from, it’s no surprise that customers find it hard to know which commercial printer to choose for their needs.
Commercial printing encompasses a range of technologies and techniques to produce high volumes of printed materials for a range of clients. The type of printer you choose depends on a variety of factors, such as quantity, quality and your turnaround needs. Lithographic, digital, large-format and eco-friendly printers are all commonly used to achieve efficient, customisable high-volume work.
While each method has its strengths, printing innovations now blend technologies and environmental-responsibility for optimal results – knowing the differences will ensure you choose the ideal form of printing for your needs.
At Treetop Design & Print, we have extensive experience in a wide range of professional commercial printing services. Our team has the expertise to work with all types of printers, so no matter what you’re looking for, we can deliver exceptional results. In this blog, we’ll reveal some of the main types of printers we use and provide insight and information into the kind of printing services you can benefit from.
Litho printers
Litho printers – also known as lithographic printers or offset printers – utilise wet ink and printing plates. While initially requiring major investment, litho printing now offers affordability for larger quantities, and delivers crisp, high-quality results.
Offset printing involves transferring an image from a metal plate onto a rubber blanket, which is then inked and pressed against paper to create the final print. This indirect method ensures greater precision and image clarity compared to direct printing. Offset presses come in two main types: sheet-fed, ideal for moderate print jobs, and web-fed, designed for high-volume production.
While sheet-fed systems require more setup time, they generate less waste on smaller runs. In contrast, web-fed presses use continuous rolls of paper, making them perfect for producing newspapers, catalogues, and other large-scale materials.
The major benefits of this style are that results are highly consistent, and it’s ideal for colour matching or alignment needs. These printers use diverse paper stocks which enables a very full range of finished products.
Digital printers
A digital printer is well-suited to short or medium-run jobs, as well as personalisation and print-on demand work. While the cost per unit is higher compared to litho printing when printing high volumes of work, digital provides benefits in the form of variable data use, no minimum order quantities, and a quicker set-up.
Digital printing uses toner-based or inkjet printers which transmit the design files directly to the printer without the need for plates. They make hard copies by depositing microscopic ink droplets or toner particles onto the paper or other substrate to recreate the file image.
Toner-based digital printers, such as laser printers, make use of fine polymer powder and heat to fuse the print to the paper, resulting in a crisp and durable finish on a wide range of papers. However, they do require a specific type of toner and imaging drum, which increases the cost of this option.
Inkjet printers move the ink through tiny nozzles onto the paper, depositing various sizes of droplets which are measured in picolitres to create the text and images. Inkjet inks need to be precisely matched to the printer model to avoid bleeding or blurred edges.
Products which are well-suited to digital printing include customised stationery, small signs, flyers, t-shirts, labels and packaging. This type of printing excels when it comes to personalisation and customisation, so it’s perfect for businesses and customers who want a tailored product. What’s more, in projects where the turnaround time is tight, the print-on-demand element is ideal.
Large-format printers
Large-format printers are capable of producing prints and signs on a vast scale, using specialised equipment and inks to print on oversized and often weather-resistant materials for attention-grabbing results where size and impact matter most. This might be for promotional purposes, navigational signage, window graphics or billboards when you want your message to stand out.
There are two types of large-format printers: roll-to-roll and flatbed. Roll-to-roll printers feed and print onto flexible, rolled materials like vinyl banners, while flatbed printers have a flat print bed for rigid signage boards. Both printers are capable of printing on materials measuring several metres wide and long.
There are several inks that can be used with large-format printing, including UV-curable, latex and eco-solvent inks. UV-curable inks dry using UV light, latex inks are flexible, water-based and weather-resistant, and eco-solvent inks have lower environmental impact.
While higher in cost, large-format printing generates high visibility for advertising campaigns where you want to target a specific niche or market. While expenses for this approach are often built into marketing budgets, quality and affordability of large-scale prints are continuing to improve.
Commercial printing technologies are always advancing to enable not just efficiency and scale but sustainability as more and more businesses consider their environmental impact. While lithographic, digital and large-format printing all remain staples for high-volume work, innovations around inks, materials and integrated processes now minimise waste and energy usage.
Selecting a commercial printer involves balancing priorities like turnaround time, quantity, and customisation needs with quality and budget. Treetop Design & Print has many years of experience in printing and we can help you with any questions or queries you have about the right printing choice for you – contact us today for more details.
