There are various printing methods for books, and further understanding the advantages and disadvantages of these printing processes can help us choose the best printing method. Let‘s take a look at the 5 popular printing methods currently available.

1.Flat printing or offset printing

 Offset Lithography is a popular printing process suitable for various marketing materials, from business cards to marketing and sales orders. It is also widely used for packaging, especially for folding cardboard boxes and label printing, sometimes referred to as flat labels.

    Flat printing provides business owners with the opportunity to produce packaging using high-end retail quality appearances. Flat printing provides business owners with the opportunity to create packaging with high retail quality appearances.

    In terms of surface treatment, adding special coatings can improve the surface treatment, forming a surface treatment with ultra-high gloss, matte or soft touch, thereby increasing the perceived value of the product.

2.Flexographic printing

 Due to the multiple advantages of flexible packaging, flexible packaging printing has become increasingly common. Packaging using flexography, also known as flexography, is commonly used for flexible packaging such as self standing bags.

 In addition, it can also become an effective printing choice for corrugated box packaging. One of the advantages of flexographic printing is its high cost efficiency per unit. One of the advantages of flexographic printing is that it is cost-effective for each unit, and the turnaround time is usually much faster than other packaging program printing.

 Flexographic printing is famous for its fast production speed and low cost, but its quality is not high. If high-quality photos need to be printed, this may not be the best solution.

 However, despite these drawbacks, the economy of flexographic printing helps to maintain its popularity during packaging printing.

3.Digital printing

 As one of the most flexible printing technologies among packaging alternatives, Digital Printing is one of the most versatile applications. Nowadays, digital printing is applied in labels, corrugated boxes, folding boxes, prototypes, self standing bags, etc.

 In addition to flexibility, electronic printing also provides fast turnaround time. Usually there is no cutting fee, as all die-cutting is usually done through an automatic cutting table, and the printing quality is actually as good as lithography, with excellent results.

 Although there are no other printing fees, the price is relatively high compared to offset printing, making it more suitable for small-scale production. If a large amount of printing is required, the cost will quickly increase.

 Digital printing only uses CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) for printing, sometimes enhanced by OGV (orange, green, purple), but these machines generally do not have PMS colors.

 The color adaptation of the Pantone Color Matching System (PMS) is also challenging, and there are not as many coating options available as using lithography (such as packaging). According to demand, digital printing may be an excellent solution.

4.Gravure printing

 Gravure printing is commonly used for mass packaging production (millions of industrial units), for elastic self standing bag printing and folding paper boxes. Gravure printing for packaging is one of the most commonly used printing methods for mass printing.

 Gravure printing provides excellent printing quality and can replicate high-quality images. Gravure printing can create images with continuous tones, which means that even large-scale printing can achieve continuous high-quality printing.

 Although the gravure drum is very durable and can be used for multiple printing, its original price is very expensive. There are not many available paint substitutes, and in order to be more cost-effective, larger amounts are usually required. However, intaglio printing remains one of the most popular printing options.
 

5.Screen printing

 Screen Print can produce clear and sharp printed text and images. This printing method can be used on various materials, such as fabrics, labels, folding paper boxes, corrugated paper packaging, and plastics.

 It is also the perfect choice for making promotional and marketing materials such as T-shirts and cups. The installation price is usually very affordable, making it an excellent choice for small batch work. Screen printing is also used for corrugated paper packaging and non flat surfaces.

 The additional screen cost and setup time for producing multiple colors may seriously affect screen printing production. In addition, the thicker the printing ink, the greater the difficulty in obtaining high-quality images; Each screen printing color itself is a solid color, as it cannot be gradient.

 Surface treatment is usually not as clean, and it is not easy to reproduce photo quality images with absolute certainty. That is to say, screen printing may be a perfect solution for small batch packaging tasks.