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LITHO |
LASER |
| Example |
Preprinted letterhead on a high quality paper. |
A letterhead printed from a word document at your office. |
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| Definition |
Commercial Printing method used for large print projects. |
The final output of a project is produced on an inkjet, laser, or other type of desktop printer. |
| Colour |
When sending a project to a commercial printer it is possible to use the Pantone colour system to specify exact final colours in selected areas. This is especially useful for setting logo colours because you will be able to use consistent colour combinations throughout your company's media lifespan, regardless of which commercial printer you use. |
All laser or digital printers have their own colour settings and often one will get different results when printing the same file on different machines. Often one also gets a more faded final result. |
| Litho printing also allows the use of metallic inks. |
One cannot use metallic inks in a Laser printer. |
| Quantity |
The design, preparation and printing of Litho print projects tends to be more expensive. The good news is that the larger the number of copies to be printed the less the cost becomes. |
Laser printing is recommended for small projects and does not necessarily mean that you need to use your personal desktop printer. There are many small printing companies that can provide brighter prints for a smaller fee than litho printing. Weigh up the need for accurate colours against your media budget. |
| Quality |
Litho printing is often done on better quality paper than laser printing therefore the paper often has a longer lifespan. |
The quality of the paper is a definite factor in the lifespan of your printed document. Colours do tend to rub off. |
| General quality is definitely better than Laser printers and Grey Pebbles will advise you on the best processes to get the final result that you want. |
What you see is what you get. The quality of a laser print does not compare to a litho print. |
| The fact that customised effects such as embossing, spot varnishing, special papers and metallic inks can be integrated allows for a more exciting and memorable final product. |
The use of special papers is limited to what is publicly available. It is almost impossible to recreate commercial quality effects on laser printed. (One can get creative with hand made effects.) |
