Digital vs offset printing

Offset (litho) transfers ink from an etched plate to a rubber blanket to the sheet, one plate per ink. Making plates and dialing in the press are fixed costs paid before sheet one, so the price per piece falls off a cliff as the run grows. Digital lays toner or inkjet straight onto the sheet from your file with no plates at all, so page 1 costs close to what page 500 costs. Close, not equal: there is still file setup, press calibration, and often a click charge or an order minimum. The fixed cost is far smaller, not absent.

The crossover is job-specific. It often lands somewhere in the hundreds to low thousands, but size, stock, ink count, finishing, and the individual shop's kit push it a long way in both directions, so get both quotes instead of trusting a rule of thumb. Digital also buys you things offset cannot do: variable data (every piece personalized), a 40-copy reprint, next-day turnaround. Offset wins on long runs, big sheets, true Pantone spot inks, metallics, and unusual stocks.

Gotchas. Digital toner sits on top of the sheet and can crack along a fold or score, worst on heavy coated stock in dark solids, so score first and ask for a folding test. Most digital presses simulate a Pantone in CMYK rather than running the real ink, and the simulation can land visibly off, though plenty of machines now carry extra stations for white, clear, neon, or metallic, so ask what that specific press holds before you drop the idea. And two digital runs a month apart may not match each other, while a single offset run is one consistent batch.