Commercial Printing Methods

 

What are my choices for printing my catalog? What are the different types of catalog printing, and which ones are the best for my catalog? In this article, I will go over several types of catalog printing to help you answer those questions.

Let's begin by discussing the various types of presses used in catalog printing.

Web Press: This is the most commonly used type of press for printing catalogs. It uses a roll of paper to make the catalog printing process faster. There are two types of web presses. The Heat-Set Web Press and the Cold-Set Web Press.

Heat-Set Web Press: The heat-set web press has a built-in heating unit that dries the ink. This gives the press the ability to produce a high volume of catalogs quickly. Another advantage it has is that it can handle printing your catalog on coated and high-gloss paper. A heat-set web press is an excellent option for catalogs that require high-quality photographs and images.

Heat-set web presses are suitable for large catalog printing jobs or where the cost of setup is irrelevant. It is a huge press and takes a staff of people to set it up for one catalog printing job. This is where your printer's setup fees come into play. If you are printing a large run, such as 10,000 copies or more, the setup fee, when divided by the number of catalogs, is not too high. If you were to apply the same setup fees to a run of only 1000 copies, the cost per catalog printed might exceed your budgetary constraints.

Cold-Set Web Press: This type of web press does not have a heating unit. The ink must be air dried. The cold-set web press is used with text stock paper, where the ink will absorb into the paper of your catalog. It will not print on coated and glossy paper. Moreover, the photos and images in your catalog won't be as sharp as those printed on a heat-set web press.

However, if you are printing less than 10,000 catalogs or your primary needs are not the sharpness of the images, a cold-set web press might be the right choice for you. It will save you money over the heat-set method.

Sheet-Fed Press: Another excellent choice if you are not printing a high volume of catalogs is the sheet-fed press. Before the print run, we cut the paper to size for your catalog. One of the advantages a sheet-fed press has over the cold-set web press is that your images and photos will come out of much higher quality. Both are suitable for small runs, so if you are only going to print less than 10,000 catalogs and your artwork is important to you, the sheet-fed press might be the best way to go.

The sheet-fed press can also use various weights of paper, giving it another advantage over a cold-set web press. The downside is that sheet-fed presses run much slower. For small runs of catalogs or those requiring high-quality graphics, sheet-fed presses are typically the only choice.

Digital printing is a relatively new method compared to the others discussed in this article, but it is expected to gain widespread acceptance. The computer sends the images directly to the press for catalog printing. There is no film involved. All of the images are digital. This also eliminates the need for plates. However, since this method has not yet gained widespread adoption, finding a printer for your catalog that utilizes it could be challenging.

The advantages of digital printing are fast turnaround times and producing high-quality full-color catalogs. The drawback is that your selection of paper types may be limited.

Electrostatic printing is suitable only for short runs of catalog printing jobs. This is similar to photocopying documents in that it uses toner from a drum to thermally fuse your text and images to the paper.

Embossing: This catalog printing method uses a die your printer makes according to your design. It creates an impression by raising the image or letters onto the page.

Engraving is the method of catalog printing that yields the highest quality images. Only use this method on the covers if cost is not a factor. You can run your finger along the edge of engraved images to feel the indentation or elevation.

Gravure: We use this printing method to produce a high volume of quality catalogs. It is much more expensive than other methods, but it is the best way to produce high-quality catalogs.

Letterpress: This method of catalog printing goes back to the 15th century. It uses a rubber stamp-like process. The stamp raises the images or text, applies ink, and stamps the pages.

Offset lithography is a popular method for catalog printing that requires minimal setup time and is highly cost-effective. It’s also useful for printing on textured paper. It also uses less ink than other methods.

I hope this has been a helpful guide to the different printing methods you can choose for your catalog. Every printer won't offer all of these methods. Each printer buys the equipment best suited to his or her business. If you have a specific type of catalog printing in mind, you might need to search for a printer who employs your preferred method.

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