What is Offset Printing? The latest explanation in 2025
Definition: Offset printing, also known as offset printing or offset printing, is a lithographic printing process that transfers the image from the metal plate to the rubber blanket, and then from the rubber blanket to paper or other substrates.
Advantages: This process has high printing accuracy and good color reproduction, is suitable for large-scale printing, and is widely used in packaging, books, newspapers and other fields.
Features: Offset printing has high operating efficiency and low unit sheet cost after one-time plate making. It can adapt to various papers and special inks, such as metallic colors, and the printed product has a high quality.
In contrast, digital printing does not require plate making and is flexible for short-run and personalized needs, but the unit cost is usually higher than offset printing in large-scale production.
Current situation in 2025：By 2025, the printing industry as a whole is moving towards digitalization and automation.Offset printing is still the mainstream technology for large-scale commercial printing with its high quality and cost advantages, but short-run, small-batch and personalized needs are increasingly turning to digital printing.
The degree of automation and environmental protection performance of existing offset printing equipment are constantly improving, but offset printing and digital printing each have their own advantages. The appropriate printing process should be selected based on the printing quantity and quality as well as one's own customization needs.
Offset Printing 2025 Latest Trends
In 2025, offset printing is developing in the direction of environmental protection and sustainability, and more printing companies are starting to use water-based and plant-based inks to reduce VOC emissions.
At the same time, automated offset printing equipment is popularized, and the front-end plate making, color correction, post-printing folding, binding and other links are highly integrated, reducing manual intervention and improving efficiency.
It is worth noting that hybrid printing is becoming more and more popular, that is, combining the advantages of offset printing and digital printing on the same equipment to achieve short-run flexibility and long-run high-quality.
In addition, AI color management tools are also beginning to be used in prepress, which can monitor ink concentration in real time, automatically optimize ink color curves, and ensure color consistency of different batches and different papers.
On the whole, offset printing in 2025 will be more environmentally friendly, smarter, and adaptable to diversified needs.
When is it most cost-effective to use offset printing?
Generally speaking, the unit cost of offset printing is lower than that of digital printing when the print quantity reaches about 2,000-5,000 sheets or more.
Because offset printing requires plate making and machine adjustment first, its fixed costs cannot be spread out when the quantity is small. Therefore, when the batch is large enough and the requirements for color and details are high, offset printing can play the advantages of high efficiency, stability and lower cost.
What products are suitable for Offset Printing?
Products suitable for offset printing are classified by industry.
Publishing industry
- Books (novels, textbooks, professional books)
- Magazines, journals, annual reports
- High-quality illustration albums, art collections
Advertising industry
- Large-volume posters (promotions, events, exhibitions)
- Brochures, product manuals, catalogs
- Direct mail cards, DM single pages
Catering industry
- Food packaging boxes (cake boxes, instant noodle boxes, takeaway boxes)
- Restaurant menus, recipe albums
- Wine labels, food instructions
Brand promotion and gifts
- Corporate albums, brand manuals, corporate brochures
- Customized gift packaging boxes (gift sets, souvenir boxes)
- Exhibition materials, sample brochures
Business stationery and office supplies
- Business cards, letterheads, envelopes, high-end handbags
- Large-volume envelopes, letterhead paper (corporate unified letterheads)
- Corporate folders, album boxes
Packaging and labels
- Cosmetic packaging boxes, electronic product packaging boxes
- Food, beverage, drug labels and instructions
- Gift bags, handbags, paper bags
As long as the single print volume exceeds 2,000 sheets/set and If there are high requirements for color reproduction and details, you can consider using offset printing for the products in the above industries.
Differences between Offset Printing and Digital Printing
Offset printing requires the production of printing plates and adjustment of the machine first. It is suitable for large-scale printing, usually more than 2,000 sheets. It has stronger color reproduction and graphic details, and the unit printing cost is the lowest when the quantity is large.
Its disadvantage is that the initial plate making and machine adjustment time is long, which is not suitable for urgent orders and small batches.
Digital printing does not require plate making, and can directly output files to the printer. It is suitable for short-run, dozens to hundreds of sheets, and personalized customization, such as variable data, on-demand printing, etc., with fast delivery and low initial investment.
However, the unit cost is higher in large quantities, and the color consistency and detail performance are slightly inferior to offset printing.
The choice of the two should be determined based on the print volume, quality requirements and delivery time:
1. If you pursue high quality, large quantities and are cost-sensitive, offset printing is preferred.
2. If the demand is flexible, the batch is small, or personalized content is required, digital printing is selected.
A brief explanation of the process of Offset Printing
Design and plate making: First, the design provided by the customer is converted into a printing layout, and the image area is developed on the aluminum printing plate using CTP, computer direct plate making technology.
Installing the printing plate: Install the prepared printing plate on the plate cylinder of the offset printing machine, and adjust the ink color and ink balance to ensure that the image area can be correctly transferred.
Printing transfer: The offset printing machine transfers the ink to the rubber cloth cylinder through the printing plate, and then the rubber cloth transfers the image to the paper or other substrates. This "secondary transfer" is the core of offset printing.
Tension and drying: The paper is transported through the tension control device, and after the initial curing of the ink, it enters the drying or ultraviolet curing to ensure that the printed product does not stick.
Post-processing: After printing, the post-processing such as lamination, hot stamping, die-cutting, folding, binding, etc. are carried out to finally obtain the finished product.
Quality and cost advantages of offset printing
Offset printing is suitable for printed products that require precise brand colors and details due to its high color reproduction. Its ink permeability and chemical combination with the substrate make the printed products more wear-resistant and fade-resistant, and its durability is better than general digital printing.
Since the plate making and machine adjustment costs can be spread out when printing in large quantities, the cost per sheet decreases rapidly with the increase in print volume, and usually has a significant cost-effectiveness advantage when printing more than 2,000 sheets.
Compared with digital printing, offset printing achieves the best balance between high quality and low unit cost, and is especially suitable for commercial printing projects that require stable quality and large print volume.