Offset printing and print on demand, explained plainly

When you ask a printer for quotes, you will hear two terms quickly: offset and print on demand. They are different machines and different ways of thinking about a book.

Offset printing

Offset is the traditional method. Ink goes onto metal plates, the plates press onto rubber rollers, and the rollers transfer the image to paper. Making the plates takes time and effort. Once the press is running, though, it prints thousands of pages very quickly.

Because the set up work is the same whether you print two hundred copies or two thousand, offset suits larger runs. You decide a quantity, the books are printed together, and they arrive as a stack.

Things to know:

• You need to decide a quantity before printing starts.
• Changing something after the plates are made is awkward.
• Quality is consistent across the whole run.
• You hold stock, so you need somewhere dry to keep it.

Print on demand

Print on demand uses digital printers, which work more like very good office printers. There are no plates. A file goes in, a book comes out. This makes it practical to print a handful of copies, or even one at a time when an order arrives.

Things to know:

• You can print small quantities as you need them.
• Fixing a mistake means uploading a new file, which is simple.
• You do not have to store a pile of books.
• Some paper and finishing options are narrower than with offset.

So which one?

Ask yourself these questions.

How many people do you expect to buy in the first few months? If you honestly do not know, a small digital run lets you find out before you commit to more.

How certain are you that the text is final? If you are still nervous about errors, digital printing lets you fix them quickly.

Do you have a place to keep stock, and a way to send it out? Boxes of books are heavier and bulkier than most people expect.

Do you care about a particular paper or finish? Look at physical samples from the printer you are considering rather than trusting a description.

Many people use both

A common path is to print a small digital batch first, learn from it, and move to offset for a later reprint once the book has proved itself. Nothing says you have to choose once and forever.

Whatever you pick, ask the printer to show you a printed sample from the same method. Pictures online tell you very little about how a book feels.