What is a Web-to-Print Storefront?
Web-to-Print Storefronts is a service that provides print products via online website ordering. At Paulsen Printing we can customize your Storefront to meet your specific needs. You can order business cards, flyers, brochures, stationery, envelopes, etc. You can even do custom designs VIA our Storefront Variable Data Printing design software. We can customize your Storefront to suit your particular wants and needs. We can also create user accounts with Gatekeepers so your sales staff and management team can easily manage their department’s print orders conveniently online. Storefronts are a very convenient way to address your companies print needs by ordering remotely online at your convenience.
Whatever your needs we can customize a solution just for you. Personalization and the variable data component of the storefront allows you and your employees to quickly customize, proof, and approve documents directly from the web. You'll receive a press-ready PDF file immediately after the order is placed. Avoid having your customers complete tedious steps online by focusing only on printing. Easily define which users need ordering approval and which users can approve orders. When a user with limited permissions places an order, users with approval capabilities are automatically notified by email to complete the approval process. Contact us today for a demo of some of the Storefronts we have created for other businesses. We think you’ll agree, Storefronts are a convenient and powerful way to accomplish your businesses printing needs remotely.
Digital Printing vs. Offset Printing
Digital printing differs from traditional, analog printing methods, such as offset printing. Digital printing machines do not require printing plates. Instead of using metal plates to transfer an image, digital printing presses print the image directly onto the media substrate. Digital production print technology has evolved quickly, and digital printing output quality is improving continuously. These advancements are delivering print quality that rivals offset. Digital printing enables additional advantages, including:
- Personalized
- Variable Data Printing (VDP)
- Print-on-demand
- Cost-effective short runs
- Fast turnarounds
What is a Digital Printer?
Modern printing methods such as laser and ink-jet printing are known as digital printing. Digital printing consists of an image being sent directly to the printer using digital files such as PDFs and those from graphics software such as Illustrator and InDesign. This eliminates the need for printing plates, commonly used in offset printing, which can save money and time. Digital Printing offers many advantages such as cost, short cost effective runs, speed of turnaround and the ability to offer targeted Printing Services such as VDP (Variable Data Printing).
What are the Advantages of Digital Printing Services?
Offset printing is the older of the two methods and involves a plate on which the material to be printed is engraved, which is transferred with ink onto a rubber blanket, then to the material which it has to be printed on. Digital printing, on the other hand, skips the plate entirely and directly prints onto the material. Offset printing is known for producing higher quality than digital printing, but comes with high initial costs and isn’t cost effective unless large quantities are needed. That’s where digital printing comes in, and here are its advantages:
- Eco-Friendly: While it still involves ink and chemicals, there’s no pre-press procedures like offset printing, so there’s no need for plates, chemicals and extra material. Directly printing onto the material saves a lot!
- Quick Turnaround: Again, since there’s no pre-press procedures and plates, the initial setup time is reduced, and you can get your prints quicker than with offset printing. No Initial Costs or Setup: Speaking of initial setup, there’s no additional cost of creating the plates, so you’re saving on money, but only if you’re looking to print smaller numbers. For high volume printing, offset printing is still the king because once set up, the cost per unit is much less.
- Small Batch Printing: If you’re looking to print in the hundreds or even thousands, the setup cost of offset printing might not seem justified. With digital printing, you can print in multiple small batches and not worry about big setup costs.
- Customization: Offset printing is essentially imprinting the plate’s content onto the printing material, which means that the content is physically set and cannot be changed. In digital printing though, there’s no such thing, so you can easily customize each print unit without too much hassle. For example, you can print different names on wedding cards, where only one small area is changed while the remaining is the same.
- Accuracy: With digital printing, you can print samples to check on color accuracy and the like so that you’re printing exactly what you envisioned. It’s easy to tweak colors and their properties, but with offset printing the whole process gets much trickier because of the physical separation of ink and water. So in a nutshell, if you’re looking for customized prints and small or multiple batches, digital printing is the way to go. Easy, flexible and affordable up to a certain point, digital printing is definitely worth your money!
