Digital printing is where digital artwork is printed directly onto media. Unlike more traditional forms of printing like Offset (lithography), flexography, and gravure, digital printing does not use printing plates which results in quicker turnaround time and the artwork can even be modified between print runs.
The most popular digital printing methods are inkjet and laser. They work by depositing toner or pigment onto the media.
Laser printers use toner ink which is a powder mixture that is applied with heat. They tend to offer a large colour gamut with the standard CMYK colours and produces high quality text and graphics. Because heat is used to apply the ink it’s very important to control the temperature in the printing process.
Inkjet printers are the most common type of printers and range from inexpensive consumer models to large professional printers. They work by spraying small dots of the CMYK inks to form the colours in the artworks.
There have been many advancements in digital printing technology. These days digital printing can match or even supersede offset printing’s ability to produce larger printing runs at a low price.