Offset printing has a simple basic principle that goes way back to centuries, the most typical way of printing the message on any medium - paper, cloth, bark, or sheet. It transfers the printer ink from a plate also referred to as PS plate to an offset machine rubber sheet and then at a blink of an eye it rolls the ink back to the paper, cardboard sheet, board, or any medium on which you want your design to be printed.
Offset printing machines are capable of printing on medium as thick as 800 gsm to 1000 gsm, whereas digital machines can at best print up to 350 to 400 gsm paper.
Products Printed
- Product brochures and catalogs
- Company newsletter and presentation
- Magazines and souveniers
- Folded brochures
- Files and folders
- Hotel menus
- Posters and banners
- Tabletop and tent cards
- Postcards
- Product booklets
Minimum Print Run
This technique involves setting up plates for each print job and the whole machine needs to be set up again for the next job which can take anywhere between 30 minutes to 1 hour of machine operator time.
PS plate cost is a fixed cost, therefore regardless of the quantity you have to pay for the fixed cost which will not distribute for lesser quantity (about 500 numbers), but with higher quantity price per unit of the printed item will go down and therefore making it more and more economical.
Plate and Printing Cost
There are varieties of machines - some well-known machines like Helderberg Speed master, CP Tonic Multi color machine which commands premium printing cost, and other machines printing cost may be lesser.
Plate cost for which CTP (computer to plate) methodology is used is the same irrespective of the machine on which printing will take place. The price of a plate can be in the range of Rs 1600 to Rs 2400 for a plate of size 25 x 36 inches and printing cost is on the total number of impressions with minimum chargeable impressions being 1000, which can be again in the range of Rs 1800 to Rs 3000 per 1000 impressions for multicolor.
Before finalization on the lowest quote, it is important to know on which machine your job will be printed as else the print quality will suffer. Even for the same make machine like Helderberg, the price can vary with models.
Paper Cost
Paper cost is one major chunk in the total price of the product and this is one component which is the same in both offset and digital printing.
The price of paper will only go marginally down with the higher-order quantity. You can get a paper of size 25 x 36 inches at around Rs. 25/- for a good quality 300 gsm BILT art paper.
Post Press Cost
- Cutting charges - a minimum of Rs 500
- Creasing (folding) charges - Rs 300 per 1000 number of items
- Lamination - depends upon the size
- Packaging or Franking as per size and quantity
