7 Types of Commercial Printing and How Your Business Can Use Them

When it’s time to print something for your existing business, you’ll be faced with several options. Instead of going into the process blind, it’s wise to develop an understanding of each printing type. This will make you feel more confident about your ultimate decision.

Also, don’t forget that what works for one printing job may not work for another. Therefore, it’s a good idea to become familiar with a variety of commercial printing types.

What is Commercial Printmaking?

Commercial printmaking, also known as business printing, is a device that can print things for businesses such as leaflets and brochures. Of course, there is a lot more to it than that, which helps explain why there are multiple forms of printmaking. Whether you’re looking for offset lithography or large-format printing, Sheer Print Solutions can help!

Commercial Printing

What Are the Different Types of Commercial Printing?

We understand that your company’s message is of vital importance. We’ll talk to you about your printing options to figure out what type of commercial printing will work best for you. There are a wide variety of options, including:

1. Offset Lithography

Offset lithography works best for creating books, stationery, newspapers, and posters. Basically, if you’ve got a flat surface to print on, this type of commercial printing just might be ideal.

The way offset lithography works is by using printing plates. Once a plate has been inked, it is offset (or transferred) onto a rubber blanket before finally being moved onto the printing surface.

This particular printing style is good for jobs that require a high volume of work. There are four different towers that feed the printing paper to make sure you receive high-quality results.

2. Flexography

Have you designed a new chocolate bar? You’ll want to choose flexography then, as this printing process is safe to be around food. The printing plates make sure that the ink dries quickly.

Other printing jobs that flexography can make easier include envelopes, tape, metal foil, corrugated cardboard, and plastic containers. It has also more recently been discovered that flexography provides a solid alternative for producing newspapers.

Flexible rubber is engraved before liquid ink floods the indention. The remaining liquid is rolled out on the rubber printing plate. Finally, the inked plate will transfer the words or imagery onto the page.

3. Digital Printing

There are two types of digital printers that can be used: sheet-fed production printers and cut-sheet digital press. In most cases, though, businesses that ask for digital printing stick with sheet-fed production printers. Either way, this process is much more affordable and will be produced much more quickly. That’s because there are no printing plates involved.

There are five main points that make digital printing so sought after, including faster turnaround rates, easy customization with design, higher quality results, exceptional color accuracy, and consistency.

Sometimes referred to as “direct to press” or “print on demand,” digital printing enables you to make a quick change and reprint your marketing materials without costing an arm and a leg.

4. Large Format

Using the large format style is best for completing massive projects such as a store displays, banners, posters, building wraps, tradeshow panel walls, etc. Preparing for a large format print style requires paying attention to a few simple tips.

Optimize your image.
Calibrate your screen.
Use Photoshop’s Soft-Proofing feature.
Convert your fonts into vectors.
Save your file to the appropriate type.
Use 300 dpi to receive the best quality.

These durably printed signs work very well, particularly if they’ve been printed from a PDF or TIFF file. Once your large format project is finished, you’ll have something you can use to market your business for a long time.

5. Screen Printing

Screen printing is the process through which people can make their own t-shirts. It begins with a stenciled design that is then transferred onto a flat surface with ink, a mesh screen, and a squeegee.

Sometimes referred to as silk screen printing or silk screening, this process will produce extremely vivid colors. It’s also a very efficient method for creating work uniforms or uniforms for a sports team.

Screen printing is almost always used to make t-shirts. However, as long as you use a special ink, you can print on plastic, metal, glass, and wood.

6. 3D Printing

3D printing is the latest craze, and it almost seems like magic. After all, you take a digital design and then print it. This process works by putting the thin materials down first in the form of cement, metal, liquid plastic, or powdered plastic. The next step is fusing everything together.

3D printing has allowed people to create things that were previously unheard of. You can make everything from a cat figurine to a house.

7. UV LED

If you want to be green-friendly, you can opt for UV LED printing. This process uses light rather than heat to transfer items. As a result, the ink dries immediately, and you have a broad range of print applications. This highly durable process can save you money, increase your operations, and lead to higher productivity.

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How Many Types of Print are There in Textiles?

If textiles are your thing, you’ll be interested to hear that there are four main types of printing: heat transfer, screen, roller, and block. Although the process is similar, each printing style requires its own specific setup.

Pages in Our Commercial Printing Guide:

Order Your Prints Today!

Sheer Print Solutions provides quality results to businesses and individuals of all sizes. To determine what printing type will work best for you, be sure to contact us for a quote. You can also speak to a sales representative by calling 212.627.1500. Let us print something you’ll be proud of!

About The Author

Craig Sheer

Craig Sheer is the owner of Sheer Print Solutions, located in New York City & Portchester, NY. We are the proven leader for affordable, high-quality Digital and Offset, and Large Format Printing in NYC. Sheer Printing Solutions is your single source for solutions to all your printing, binding, warehousing and fulfillment needs.