Gowise Digital Print
Digital printing is a rapidly growing technology within the print industry. For ten years now, Gowise have been monitoring the evolution of this sector and the changes in speed, quality and most importantly colour control.
We believe that the time is right for us to offer these services to you our customer in addition to our extensive lithographic expertise.
Digital is certainly not a replacement for litho, but it is the best option for some situations. Digital print offers things that litho cannot - most notably cost effective print solutions with a minimum order quantity of just 1 copy and the ability to adapt to modern advertising demands such as variable data. We believe that technology has now progressed enough for us to offer digital printing alongside litho. There are of course many things that litho still does that digital cannot.
Our new machine is a culmination of six months intensive research where we identified the following four equally important requirements:
i) a good supplier we can work with
ii) correct brand
iii) correct machine
iv) correct configuration of the machine
The result is the Xerox DC242, purchased through First Copy in Wymondham, a Xerox Premier Concessionaire who are an extremely helpful and supportive local company.
Our machine has all the very best add ons; SRA3 deep pile feeder, pro-finisher with booklet making and drilling facilities and an adjustable de-curler (which enables us to digitally print on heavier stocks).
The main advantages of digital:
Very low runs. There are no plates and very little set up costs for digital compared to the cost of plates and machine make ready in litho. How often have you heard a litho printer (including us!) say "well I can do you twice as many for a few pounds more"? Times have changed. Consumers are asking the industry for shorter and shorter print runs to meet their business demands. Digital should be economical for a print order of just 1 copy.
Variable Data. This is not possible with litho. Are you printing a batch of colour postcards and then getting someone in the office to stick address labels on them? It is perfectly possible if the cards are digitally printed to take your database and print each address on the card as they are produced. This is known as variable data. It can be as simple as printing a batch of letters (each with it's own specific address and name) or can be really technical with changing pictures, colours and logos.
Online Finishing. The job does not have to come out the back of the machine as flat sheets. We can fold, collate, stitch, tab-cut and drill in-line. Effectively we put a digital file in one end and a booklet drops out of the other!
It's Fast! OK, if we are talking a thousand or so, our litho machine with computer-to-plate will get the job done quicker, but if the way is clear there is no reason why a short run digital job cannot be ready within hours rather than days.
Proofing. Always a tricky subject for litho reproduction, but with digital you can see one copy of exactly what you are going to get almost instantly on the exact paper required.
Different Materials. Digital stocks come in various shapes and sizes. As well as paper and board we can print on clear materials, window stickers and various pre-cut boxes and point of sale material.
Finally, a word in defence of litho....
All the advantages previously listed give us the ability to offer more than we have before but please do not think that digital is the be all and end all!
The quality of digital has improved dramatically to the point where we no longer call it inferior to litho, but it is different (in the same way that a flat screen LCD TV is different to a tube TV - personally, I prefer the look of the tube). There is also a point in numbers where it is much faster and more economical to print on a lithographic press.
There are limits with digital as to the types of paper, thickness of card and post-printing use (most notably, letterheads - if you are running your letterhead through a lazerprinter in your office you really must get them litho printed as the heat of your laser printer could damage the digital print).
Here at Gowise we offer a one-stop solution - to be able to go to one place where both services are offered at such an incredibly high quality. We have the experience and skill to produce high quality lithographic print. We also have the technical knowledge in colour and file handling to produce excellent results in digital.
We will know on sight (or at least after a single trial print) whether your job is best suited to our digital press or our litho presses. Switching between the two, is not a problem.
We are always looking for new and exciting things to do in print. It is a rapidly changing world and we are excited to be a part of it.