In the case of book printing, there are only two basic choices available to authors – offset printing and digital printing. Each method has its own benefits and drawbacks that do make it suitable for some book types more than others. Comparing offset and digital printing aspects will help a person to decide what solution is the best for book printing.

What is Offset Printing? 

Offset printing signifies one of the easiest and traditional methods of printing that has been utilized for over a century for printing of books, magazines, newspapers, and others on a large scale. Here's a quick overview of how it works:

The words and pictures for this publication are placed on large flat picture-like plates which are coated with some form of chemical sensitive to light. 

The plates are then placed in the printing machines; high-speed printing plates that need to be inked. 

The inked image is then transferred or “offset” from the plates onto an elastic rubber cylinder called blanket cylinder after which is transferred onto the paper that passed through the press.

Several plates are employed to impart a different colour inks distinctly registered to provide the reproductions of colour pictures.

Benefits of Offset Printing

Here are some of the main benefits that make offset printing a popular choice, especially for large print runs:

• Cost effective for big quantity – Offset printing proves to be very cheap for bulk printing, with 1000+ copies being the recommended minimum for this process. The high setup costs are averaged over more units.
• Consistent high image quality is maintained - images that are produced through offset printing are sharp and detailed. It doesn’t change much for long runs which makes it suitable for high volume print projects.
• The flexibility of paper – Offset printing allows a wider range of paper types, and the various thicknesses, coatings and roughness that can be obtained. This makes it possible for books to be printed using quality an commendable paper.
• Very suitable for colour printing – colour doesn’t fade on any of the four types of offset printing. Plates enable an application of specific color separated custom mixed ink on the substrate.

Offset printing excels when printing books that have these attributes:

Extensive print runs of up to 1,000 and more

• High page counts books 
• Fotos or Ilustraciones en colores
• Paperback or hard cover binding
• Publisher’s bestseller list mass market genre fiction or nonfiction books
• It covers the children’s picture books also, and children’s books and young adult books, general fiction and non-fiction, textbooks and academic books, and reference books.

What is Digital Printing?

Different from offset printing, digital printing provides an entirely unique solution to transferring book content on paper. Here's an overview:

Book text and imagery are electronic files that are saved on a computer hard drive rather than etched onto plates.

The sheets are printed using functional printers, either laser or inkjet printers for printing individual sheets in tones or ink.

Today, many digital printers adopt a print on demand (POD) technique of printing where books are printed as soon as an order is placed, rather than ordering hundreds or thousands of copies upfront.

Benefits of Digital Printing

The advantages that make digital printing the better choice in many scenarios includes:

Which has very low initial cost very good for small-scale print runs such as 25 books up to 500. There are few leftovers that need to be disposed of, or storage cups that can accumulate.

• Short cycle times – In digital form a book can turn from file to actual books within days instead of weeks or months hence suitable for time-sensitive book publication.
• Print on demand – this means there is no need to pre-print the products and store them in the aim to sell a single copy. These books can be ordered for on-demand printing and can be printed in any number as when required.
• Possibility of integration – Digital files can be simply updated thus can easily update books’ editions as and when without having to reprint from scratch.
• Variable printing – This is an added feature that can be included as; images or messages that may be unique to individual clients in every copy that is printed.

Digital printing best serves books with these qualities:

• Few runs under one thousand copies.
• Low or moderate page counts     
• Black and white text printing 
• Paperback binding
• Quick turnaround needs
• Frequent content updating 
• In-line and inline text images, and personalized/customized text and graphics books that are independently published often by authors who have a small print run  

Which method should you choose?

But if it is critical to score high on book quality while still aiming at scale – then offset printing tends to emerge on top. However if quick turnaround, low cost and high elasticity are valued or the quantity is less than 1,000 the digital printing likely is the best solution.

Most of them employ a combination of printing techniques and many print the first copies of a new book through electronic printing. For certain sales, they then move to offset printing once certain books become fine tuned for high volume better, longer run sales.

Seeking advice from a knowledgeable book printing specialist must always be a plus as it helps in making a decision between offset and digital printing for the best fit printing method to book for the resultados match.

The good news is between digital and offset printing technologies – self-published authors up to big publishers have printing solutions to achieve their book manufacture and business objectives. Be proactive in the selection of the manufacture for each of the titles that you publish.