Print on Demand (POD) is the term used to describe the professional printer’s ability to offer as few as one professionally printed product at a reasonable price and in a short time-frame. Such service is possible due to the development of digital printing equipment.
The key here is “professionally printed” as opposed to something you might be able to produce on a personal laser or inkjet printer at your home or office. Professional and commercial print shops utilize larger, more sophisticated versions of laser and inkjet printers, enabling them to produce many printed products (books, brochures, catalogs, business cards, flyers, etc.) that rival those printed on traditional offset presses. And as time marches on professional digital printers continue to increase the types of products they can successfully produce.
Digital printers (laser or inkjet) print directly on the substrate; offset printers require a printing plate to be made, which will then be used in the offset press to transfer the image to the substrate.
Substrate is the term used for the material the printed piece will be printed on. Common substrates are paper, cardboard, various fabrics, plastics.
In digital printing, the “image” (which includes text as well as photos and graphics) can be sent directly from computers to presses without the physical intervention of a printing plate. This software-driven process is therefore able to move from completion of design to output on the printer much more quickly than is the case in offset printing. Speed-to-output is one of the cornerstones of Print On Demand.
On the other hand, once a job is ready to go on an offset press, that press can produce individual units faster than digital printers which is why high-volume jobs are typically printed on offset presses. But for short-runs, digital printers make sense.
POD Short-runs
Generally 200 items or less are considered short-runs in professional printing. There are many situations in businesses and organizations where 200 or fewer copies of an item will serve. In some cases you’ll never need more than 200 of something; in other cases you may need more, but not all at once. Rather than stockpiling and storing items for use later in the month or year you can have them printed in smaller quantities when they’re needed.
Short-runs also enable ongoing updates of content that might change as well as easy fixing of goofs that were missed during proofreading.
Cost Comparison of Digital vs. Offset Printing
Up-front costs for offset printing are higher than digital printing due to the need to make print plates. Costs go down, however, with offset printing if you exceed 200 units in a run. All the heavy work is done in the beginning with offset presses; once they are properly configured they can produce large numbers of products fast. Offset pricing typically gets lower per-unit the higher the number of items printed.
With digital printing, the first piece and the 200th piece cost the same. Another way to put it: if you are going to print 1000 pieces, your total bill will be less with an offset printer than with a digital printer. But if you’re only going to print fifty or ten or one of something, your price will be lower with a digital Print on Demand provider.
If you have any questions about Print on Demand options, give us a call at 330-597-8560. We’re happy to help you get the most out of your printing project.
