What is the difference between commercial offset printing and desktop printing?

Editor's note: Commercial offset printing and desktop printing are two common printing methods in our lives. There is a lot in common between them, but there are also certain differences. Only by understanding the differences between them can we make better choices.

There are three main differences between commercial offset printing and desktop printing (such as inkjet printing and laser printing). They are: the color of the ink, the way the ink is printed on the paper, and the type of equipment used to complete the printing job.

Ink color

Whether it is commercial offset printing (that is, lithographic offset printing that everyone is familiar with) or inkjet desktop printing, four basic colors are used for printing. They are yellow (Y), product (M), and green ( C) Black (K). The dots of these four colors are printed on the substrate in a specific shape, thus forming the colorful images in our eyes. In addition, people can use pre-made inks with specific colors as well as metallic and fluorescent inks in the offset printing process. These inks are collectively referred to as spot color inks.

Printing process

Inkjet printers can print all different colors of ink on paper during a single paper feed. The quotient inks are individually printed on the paper in order.

Printers and printers

Desktop printing usually uses inkjet or laser printers for production. Inkjet printers are equipped with ink cartridges that eject ink directly onto the paper. These self-contained printing units can be connected to computers via cables. Lithographic offset printing is generally produced by a single sheet or web printer with multiple units. People make photographic plates based on printed documents. The plates can accept ink and transfer the ink to the paper.

Document preparation

A key factor in choosing desktop publishing software is determining how you will print your own material. Some low-end or consumer desktop publishing software cannot generate the kind of files needed for commercial offset printing. Even when using software that can create the necessary files, some people may not know how to prepare documents for commercial offset printing.

Although there are many specific issues that need to be taken into account in preparing offset documents, such as ink color and printing process, the two most important issues are the use and separation of CMYK images.

CMYK and RGB

The RGB (red, green, blue) primary colors or CMYK (yellow blue, green, black) primary colors are commonly used in human eyes. The images displayed on a network or monitor are generally RGB images. Since CMYK inks are used in the offset printing process, all color images must be stored in the CMYK color space. Of course, this simple conversion can be done by your imaging software.

Color separation

Whether printing with CMYK inks or spot inks, you must provide offset printing service providers with a print file that can be split into different color separations. These separation files should only contain elements that need to be printed with one color of ink. The plates used on offset presses are based on these separations.