Digit-all Printing
31.07.2008
Printing has come a long way since the first woodblocks in 200AD. Lithography eventually came along in 1796, with offset printing (where the inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printed surface) following in the 1800s.
The digital press first made an appearance in 1993. Whilst offset lithography is still, by far, the most popular form of commercial printing for large volume work and quality print, digital has seen subsequent growth in recent years and is getting closer to the benefit and quality of traditional print.
More excitingly for us however, is the possibilities digital opens up past the former restrictions of traditional print. Unveiled at Drupa 2008, the world’s largest exhibition for the printing and media industry, is a host of new digital flatbed machines which offer the potential to print onto a variety of surfaces such as wood, glass, metal, leather, fabric and plastic and at a much larger size.
So whether you want to inject some colour in the office with some funky glass partitioning, want an unusual metal invitation or wooden exhibition panels, you are now - budget aside, as always! - limited by imagination, not technology.
Tags: Design, digital printing, specialist printing