Printing Services - Changes Over The Years

By Lilith Smith

The popularity of print medium as an effective means of distributing information to several different kinds of people is great and known even in the present days. Over the years the printing services industry has developed vastly & has reached its present form of a diversified industry. Today it can fulfill almost any demand of the clients affiliated to printing & its additional requirements.

Large volume printing services through relief printing technology originated during the--00's when the world's very first printing press was invented by Gutenberg. In relief printing the printed image appears elevated from the background, just as it exists in a rubber stamp. Relief printing is scarcely in use nowadays, though there are still some cases where it is used.

Technology has always been a motivating factor behind changes in printing processes that have been embraced down the years. Modern printing techniques are quite varied and have a range of uses. In fact, most clients now feel puzzled with the printing alternatives available in the industry.

Offset printing is a popular printing method preferred by most printers these days. In this method, the image is transferred onto paper from a metal plate on which the image is first printed by the use of limited amount of ink. This kind of printing is very cost effective and fast, and it is often preferred when big quantities of prints are needed.

Evolution in printing technology has also introduced other printing methods like thermal printing, that requires heating of layered thermal paper, and electrostatic printing, that is similar to photocopying.

However, digital printing is the newest printing method that is drawing a lot of popularity. As is evident from its name, it involves image creation and editing on a computer, and then this computer generated image is eventually printed after analysis. This mode is quick and error free, but is appropriate mostly for limited prints. As this technique allows each print to be modified it has resulted in some innovative uses like computer form printing, where documents like invoices and receipts are printed on a fixed format but with varying contents for each customer.

The use of the internet in printing has been another huge leap for the industry. Most printing firms run their own websites that allow customers to conveniently place orders and study designs and specimens, without them having to walk or drive all the way to the firm's premises for this purpose.

Printing has always taken giant evolutionary jumps with the progress in technology. The best thing about this trend is that it will stay on track well into the future and keep improving the quality and efficiency of printing services.

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