Along with the content, pictures, information, and other facts, the printing style and quality play a significant role when it comes to magazines. A reader enjoys the overall reading experience only if the printing is to the point. In this guide, we have come up with different types of magazine printing services available in the market. So if you are interested, make sure to read this guide till the end.
Offset Lithography
Offset lithography is thought to be one of the most prominent types of magazine printing. It, along with being cost-effective and lesser time-consuming, provides great results every time. Using this printing technology, many printers regularly print newspapers, magazines, books, and brochures. This type of printing is extremely flexible and suitable for plastic, paper, and even thick cardboard surfaces. An up-to-date offset lithography printing uses a pre-pressed studio that generally prints utilizing a computer-to-plate system. In this typical printing process generally, four processed colors are used, known as CYMK (Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, and Black). As a result, offset lithography is often referred to as four-color printing.
The key advantages of this type of magazine printing are:
- Fine and detailed photography and images
- It is an ideal printing method for both small, large, and medium volume magazines
- Offset lithography printing is both time-efficient and cost-effective
Digital Printing
These days, many magazines are using digital printing because of the significant advantages of this printing. The best part of digital printing is that it does not contain any plate or other equipment rather than a computer. Additionally, digital printing is a very time-efficient procedure. Therefore, digital prints are suitable for classy, glossy, and high-quality covers of magazines.
The only problem with digital printing is that it sometimes becomes a little more expensive than offset lithography. The main reason behind the expense of digital printing is the ink, technology, and paper used during this process. Since the main goal of digital printing is to provide customers with more glossy and high-end pictures the process requires more expense.
The fundamental advantage of this type of printing is that the color does not get affected after printing. Therefore, it remains as vibrant as shown on the computer screen after getting printed.
Have a look at the key characteristics of digital printing.
- Fast, reliable, and exceptional outcome
- Ensures top-notch high-quality results every time
Letter Press
Letterpress is a conventional and old-school type of magazine printing process that got used a few years back in large numbers, although some new and fresh techniques have replaced it today. This type of magazine printing is a little tactile in quality and provides debossing effects. Letterpress printing involves individual blocks, papers, ink, and more traditional equipment. This type of printing takes lots of time since it does not use any modern technology. You can get images from this printing; however, they should be etched either on metal or wood.
On the other hand, this magazine printing service does not fit in the CYMB approach since each color has to be placed individually while working with this magazine printing. Therefore, it is advisable to stick to two to three colors while working with letterpress.
Despite being old and time-consuming, letterpress gets used to printing magazines, books, and posters, even in this era of computers.
Modern Flexography
Another famous magazine printing is modern flexography, which is thought to be extremely versatile and efficient. What makes flexography a modern-day and innovative solution to magazine printing is its use of photo-etched plates that help to bring the ink right onto the page with different colors, images, and characters. So, as you can see, this new printing technology offers many advantages to printers and magazine readers. Along with helping the magazine printers save money, flexography enables them to print high-quality pictures throughout the magazines.
The key benefits of using modern flexography for magazine printing are:
- It helps to cut down wastage
- It minimizes and almost eliminates returns
- This technology saves production time and cost
- It reduces print cycle time
Rotogravure
It is another highly used magazine printing style that incorporates similar digital printing components. However, this type of magazine printing is more advanced and directly connects the photo-etched plates and the papers. The only problem with this printer is its high production cost. Since this painting involves the latest technologies where all colors get distributed accurately, it works the best for almost all types of magazines. Being the most expensive and highly accurate one, readers can easily identify the dissimilarities between a rotogravure printing and other magazine printings.
Conclusion
These, in short, were the top 5 different types of magazine printing services available in the market. So if you own a magazine company, make sure to select the right type of printing service provider to enhance the overall reading experience of your customers as well as the entire company value.
