Contemplating switch from litho

[londonlondon]

Is digital comparable to litho?

I'm looking at Konica Minolta bizhub Pro C65hc, Oce CS665, Xerox 700, CANON IMAGEPRESS C6000, HP INDIGO 3500.

We currently print 30-50,000 leaflets/month double sided 6 page from A4 on uncoated stock. The flexibility of digital would be great.

I am getting samples back from suppliers but is this worth pursuing at all - if customers have got used to litho will they turn their noses up?

Thanks.

 

[lfelton]

For the vast majority of jobs you will find that the digital print is acceptable, assuming that you are comparing this to a "standard" litho at AM 175lpi. If you have been getting (for example) 300lpi litho and your product requires this level of quality, then the digital will fall short.

The closest to litho will be the Indigo, but the costs are significantly more.

The Konica machine you mention is the High Chroma, which has a different colour gamut to most digital presses. Unless you specifically need this, you should really be looking at a 6501 not a 65HC.

For such small numbers, I assume that you have been subcontracting your litho printing. Will you be doing the same with digital, or are you considering bringing the digital in-house? If in-house, then there are a whole slew of issues that you also need to consider, and each machine you mention will have a somewhat different set of issues (i.e. TCO, operator expertise, training, SLAs, climate control, work flow, etc.). You'll find quite a bit of info on this board about that via the search facility, or just ask specific questions.

 

[JJBenderLLC]

Digital vs. Litho

Digital vs. Litho

Litho vs. digital quality can be very comparable, where the big difference is in the cost (not necessarily quality). Digital machines charge per copy or click that the machine uses (i.e. front and back = 2 clicks). Digital is also a slower (20-40 sheets per minute), whereas a litho machine runs much faster. A benefit though of going digital is that you don't have to go through a bunch of steps in the setup before being able to print a single sheet...so it's easy and efficient. If you start doing variable data with your brochures, than you should also definitely consider going digital. The technology in digital printing has advanced enough where you don't have to settle for a lower quality.

In the end I don't think your customers will turn any noses with quality, but may on price and turn around time. If you decide to go digital, or want to speak to someone who will give you an honest opinion on different digital machines and how they can benefit the type of brochure volume you're printing, feel free to call a digital printing consultant of mine named BJ. He can be reached at 203-336-4034 or by email at [email protected]. He knows his stuff.

Good luck!

Jeffrey