Digital printing  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Revision as of 10:15, 26 March 2023

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Digital printing is the reproduction of digital images on a physical surface, such as common or photographic paper or paperboard-cover stock, film, cloth, plastic, vinyl, magnets, labels etc.

It can be differentiated from litho, flexography, gravure or letterpress printing in many ways, some of which are;

• Every impression made onto the paper can be different, as opposed to making several hundred or thousand impressions of the same image from one set of printing plates, as in traditional methods.
• The Ink or Toner does not absorb into the substrate, as does conventional ink, but forms a layer on the surface and may be fused to the substrate by using an inline fuser fluid with heat process(toner) or UV curing process(ink).
• It generally requires less waste in terms of chemicals used and paper wasted in set up or makeready(bringing the image "up to color" and checking registration or position).
• It is excellent for rapid prototyping, or small print runs which means that it is more accessible to a wider range of designers and more cost effective in short runs.
• On some equipment substrates are positioned upon and travel through the machine using a belt(conveyor, like).