There are a wide variety of technologies that are used to print. Digital printing has very less setup costs. Lithographic printing, on the other hand, has very large setup cost because of the engraved metal plates.

So, for printing 200 A5 flyers it would be substantially more cost effective to use digital printing because of the reduced setup costs. However, digital printing is a more expensive print in terms of unit. (each individual, flyer). So when it come to printing more than 1000 copies, the setup cost starts to pay for itself and offset printing becomes substantially cheaper.

Offset Printing

In offset lithography a printing plate, which is most often made from aluminium, contains an image of the content that needs to be printed. When the plate is inked, only this image part holds ink. That inked image is subsequently transferred (or offset) from the plate to a rubber blanket and then to the printing surface. The process can be used to print on paper, cardboard, plastic or other materials, but these have to have a flat surface.

It is the most widely used printing technique. Offset is used for printing books, newspaper, stationery, packaging, and so on.

Digital Printing

Digital printing can be done in various ways.

Inkjet: In an inkjet printer the image that needs to be printed is created by small droplets of ink that are propelled from the nozzles of one or more print heads.

Xerography: In xerographic printers, such as laser printers, the image that needs to be printed is formed by selectively applying a charge to a metal cylinder called a drum. The electrical charge is used to attract toner particles. These particles are transferred to the media that is being printed on.