Southern California Sign Blog

What Is Digital Printing?

Posted by Julie Ramirez on Wed, Oct 22, 2014 @ 06:10 AM

Digital Printing Los AngelesNearly three decades ago, the printing industry was revolutionized with the introduction of consumer inkjet and laser printers. Before that, the only way to reproduce documents was through offset printing. These days, digital printing technology has improved to the point where any image can be reproduced with sharp preciseness. But, how does it work? Read on to learn more.

Defining Digital Printing

The broad definition of digital printing is any reproduction method that uses dots or pixels and electronic files to produce an image using toner, inkjet, ink, or other pigment or dye based imaging system. Each sheet can contain a different image, and a digital print required no set up sheets, since a digital printer does not rely on a press plate to carry an image. Instead, it redraws the page image for each print; as on a banner for instance.

Large format printing Los AngelesThere are a variety of advantages to digital printing. Los Angeles businesses can get custom work done at a reasonable price, since the image does not need to be re-drawn on each page. This feature facilitates on demand printing for manuals and books, just in time inventory management based on short run lengths, and the use of personalization in marketing.

How it Works

The digital printing process starts with the creation of the images and words that will be printed. This is the document file. The file is converted into a raster graphics image, regardless of the program that is used to design the file and any of its components. A grid of x and y coordinates on a display space is known as a raster. The coordinates to be illuminated is determined by the raster image file.

Since it contains information that is directly mapped to the display grid, you may be more familiar with what raster image files are more commonly known as: “bit map.” Examples of raster image file types are TIFF, JPEG, BMP, and GIF files. You have likely heard of the phrase “ripping.” This gets its name from raster image processing (RIP), a process that must be performed to convert a file into a raster image file, which the digital printer can read.

Its Role in the Signage Industry

Digitally printed banners Los AngelesWhen it comes to digital printing, commercial signage companies typically use what is called large format printing. Los Angeles business can benefit from large, or wide, format printers because they typically render precise images on a variety of materials.

At The Sign Studio, we use state of the art wide format digital printers to print directly on sign material, such as vinyl. We are able to take any image files you have, like your company logo, and render them perfectly on any sign you want made. In addition, your company colors can also be precisely matched with the large format printer. This is usefully for brand consistency: you want all of your marketing materials to have the same fonts, colors, and logos, so you can build your brand recognition.

Now that you know what digital printing is and how it is utilized by the signage industry, feel free to contact us if you would like to utilize this technology to build your brand and promote your business.

 

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Topics: What is digital printing Los Angeles, Large format printing Los Angeles, Digitally printed Banners Los Angeles