Is Print Dead?

Thanks to the constant flow of media and communications these days, I hear the same things over and over.  One of the most prevalent is that “print is dead”.  A heartbreaking phrase to anyone in the industry, and it makes me envision a headstone that reads “Here lies Print”.  In the obituary, will it read the print was killed by the screen, a tablet, a cell phone, and a computer?  I don’t remember the last time I met someone who didn’t have a cell phone; is reading or viewing graphics on an app better than seeing it on paper?  Many offset printers are closing in favor of transitioning to the world of digital screens, but print is fighting back with digital commercial presses, and the offset printer is hanging on as the godfather of the operation.

The traditional offset printing press is a huge piece of machinery, almost equivalent to a spaceship.  The workers train for years to understand the technology, there are more moving parts than you can imagine, and if one thing is incorrect the whole system shuts down.  In Germany, for example, one can graduate with the equivalent of an Associate Degree in offset printing, mostly used on the German Heidelberg, the supreme printer of all offset printers.  All offset printers have a high level of complexity and require training to operate correctly.  However, offset printing isn’t the only choice anymore.  Digital printing is the easy, fast, and cheap solution.  No longer do printers need to waste long hours, practice, or repeat jobs; the times and favored methods of print have changed.  Traditional offset printers were also built to last at least twenty years, but in today’s ever moving world most printers will be rendered obsolete by new technology.

Today’s digital printers are being created with simplicity, usability, and the ability to be used cheaply and cost effectively.  They also offer the capability of personalization, which was a time consuming process on an offset printer and can now be done with the push of a button.  Typically offset is now used for packaging and other high volume/run jobs that have non variable data or personalized print production.  The main benefit offset still has is that for high run jobs it can be cheaper than using a digital printer.  Using a digital printer for high run jobs can be very expensive because of ink costs due to graphics and the need to find materials that will run appropriately on the printers.  Digital printing has many benefits as the new kid on the block, but offset has the years of experience to provide true dependability.

Even when offset and digital printing coexist together, how does a world that’s becoming digital look at print?  Even though many books, newspapers, and magazines are going mobile, printing can still drive creativity and compliment.  Sign up for a magazines app online?  Maybe they send a complimentary printed edition to your home with a free sample-a surefire way to be remembered.  Print what matters and will leave a lasting impression; leave the extras on the Internet.  We are all still human beings and not machines, so as long as it is in our nature to touch, hold, and feel, print should be safe, even if over time it takes a backseat to the screen.  With substrate options such as leather look and feel and wood look and feel, the only surefire way to make sure that print stays around is to print quality and important information in an aesthetically and eye catching way on the best materials possible, because materials change, but a screen can’t.

To find out more about our offerings for offset and digital printers please email us or call 636.349.6401.