Lenticular Printing: Offset vs. Digital
Are you looking for the best Lenticular printing options? An understanding of the best Lenticular printing options available in the market can help you choose the best one as per your requirements. Offset printing has been in existence for a long time and is still one of the most preferred choices. The story of offset printing started early in 1906. In the long run, this conventional printing process hasn’t changed much. Offset printing is a mechanical process where ink is applied in layers using rollers. These rollers maintain specific ink and when they pass over paper they create multiple color layers as ink is passed by the press. They work individually so every roller has some task to execute in the press. The colors that the rollers maintain are popularly known as CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black). The ink combines to form dots which form full-color images.
The Digital Lenticular printing process has fewer steps compared to Offset Lenticular printing. The parts like film and the plate for the rollers are not required under this process. In the modern Lenticular digital printing press, ink is passed to paper in one shot using one head. Different types of images can be transferred easily and swiftly. There is no requirement of extra manpower to handle the in-between process. If you have used any inkjet printers then the principles of both processes is almost the same. For a promotional business where the budget is low, digital printing press provides great support. As time will pass by, more technology will come that will change the printing world.
You need to consider several things in order to determine which method is best for you. Those elements include size, quality, and timing. If you carefully consider these factors then you can get the best results. For bigger size jobs and high-resolution printing, Offset Lenticular printing is preferred and for smaller jobs with lesser quality needed, digital is better. Sometimes conventional Lenticular printing proves more beneficial for your needs than digital. It all depends upon the job.
The Pros and Cons of both printing methods
The Pros of Offset Lenticular Printing:
• For bulk printing jobs, say 500 copies or several batches of 500, offset printing can cut down the Lenticular printing cost.
• In the offset Lenticular printing process there are some presses that can handle large formats like 20" x 28”. When you need big size prints your best option is offset Lenticular printing technology.
• The specialized offset printing technology allows options like glossy coating and even metallic foil also. The press having been set up for Pantone colors can bring in super impressive 3D depth results. Pantone colors are not recommended for Lenticular prints with the flip, zoom, or morph effects. The Pantone colors can result in a ghosting effect, from one frame to the other.
The Cons of Offset Lenticular Printing:
• The overall cost of production in most cases of offset is higher. Since the process is mechanical, manpower is deployed to handle the process. Besides this, the set-up & maintenance cost and special ink, plates, all these add extra cost to unit price.
• TAT (Turnaround Time) is higher as compared to digital Lenticular printing because it involves set-up and manual handling during the entire process.
The Pros of Digital Lenticular Printing:
• Digital Lenticular printing can adjust to any quantity job. Less than 500 copies are just fine for this Lenticular printing method.
• Digital printing allows customized Lenticular printing on each sheet. It can easily handle variable data as it happens, as is the case for postcards and addresses where all the information is different for others.
• For shorter run prints, the TAT is less and cost is also lower as there is no maintenance required for plates and films.
The Cons of Digital Lenticular Printing:
• Most digital printing presses can give you a maximum size of 18” x 12”, so there is always a size limitation factor.
• Pantone colors are usually not supported by digital Lenticular presses. Though in recent years some presses have started offering it but will take some time to bring in the rich feel of PMS colors.
• Typically, the quality is not very impressive. Until recently some presses started offering better quality than offset.
Before making a decision, you should carefully consider the job’s requirements. This will help you save money and bring more leads through advertisement. Here are some important factors that can influence your decision.
Quantity: Offset requires initial set-up cost but if the job is a long run with high quality then the final cost would be cheaper than digital. For small jobs, digital is more better, unless it can be printed on a gang print run with several print jobs on the same Lenticular print sheet.
Turnaround Time: Digital printing doesn’t require set-up, so the output can be fast compared to offset where plates need to be created and presses need to be prepared, to start printing.
Customization: Changes in the file can be done easily on-demand with digital printing but for offset, it is not easy to adjust on-demand prints.
Sheet Sizes: If you want big banners for outdoor advertisement, then offset can offer several sizing options, but digital printing has limited sizes. Lenticular prints over the size of 19x27 inches, requires flatbed inkjet printers.
Color Matching: The digital printing technology uses software to exactly match before converting RGB based office documents to CMYK. Though offset offers high-resolution printing, it cannot offer a wide range of Pantone colors like digital.
Use Lenticular technology to add more glamor to printing
Whatever printing method you choose, if you want to draw more attention from your customers and leave a long-lasting impression, then Lenticular printing is the best choice. If you have UV technology you can print directly on plastic or even paper, in your favorite press – offset or digital. Though the printing machines need to be tuned for best quality and use the highest possible resolution, it’s worth doing it.
What is Lenticular printing?
Lenticular printing converts normal images and produces an illusion of depth, flip, morph, zoom, motion and animation effects. In this process, several images are divided into strips and interlaced. Lenticular plastic is used to print the job. When the prints are viewed from various angles different images can be seen. This Lenticular print technology is used in several commercial and promotional materials for effective advertising. Thanks to this new age technology that lets you add more printing applications. Read on to know how to Lenticular printing.
How does Lenticular printing work?
The Lenticular technology uses the precise procedure to produce wonderful Lenticular effects. Before printing, the images are cut out into strips and interlaced to make a single image. The Lenticular images are printed on the back of a special type of Lenticular lenses. The Lenticular lens produces a depth illusion and makes only one image visible at a time. When the lens is placed vertically, a 3D image illusion is created because each eye sees a different image. There are several popular projects where the Lenticular process is preferred like Lenticular posters, lenticular postcards, 3d lenticular pictures and many more.
6 Lenticular printing effects that can change the way you advertise
Sounds interesting? These effects are very powerful to convey the message to customers. Lenticular advertising is the latest craze in the advertisement world. With the same cost of standard advertising, you get something which is capable of bringing more leads and sales. Whether you have a department store or a small business you can always choose Lenticular products for your business goals. Here are 6 interesting Lenticular effects that you can choose from.
Flip
This is the most basic lenticular effect that produces flip pictures. As the lenticular print is tilted up and down or side to side, the image appears to change. The direction of the flip can also determine image quality. Up/Down effect creates better image quality than Right/Left. This lenticular printing method with this effect allows up to 6 images, depending on the colors and artwork design.The images can be blended together and seen one at a time from different angles.
3D Depth
This effect doesn’t produce any movement but it produces a depth from foreground to background. This makes images appear in a 3D environment which looks very beautiful. This 3D effect is inspired by parallax effect; our eyes are able to visualize the 3D objects.
Animation
Do you love animation and want to see it in Lenticular printing also? Fortunately, lenticular technology allows for a frame by frame (up to 64 frames) accumulation of images to produce a short clip like effect just like a real movie clip. The number of frames depends on the colors and artwork design. The only difference between a lenticular animation and video clip, is that it doesn’t use any energy source.
Zoom
This effect is suitable for a corporate advertisement where a logo or single word is used to create a zoom effect. In a widespread background and using looping pictures a perfect zoom effect can be produced.
Morph
This is an interesting effect where one image gradually morphs into another image. The two pictures are carefully chosen so when the effect is seen it looks more real and attractive. It requires a background image and two transparencies with the object that will be morphed.
Motion
Here video frames (up to 50) are mixed to produce motion effects that look so real. This type of effects is suitable for advertisement of extreme sports, movie releases and motoring sports.
Popular Lenticular Products
Buttons, Badges and Pins: Lenticular lapel pins with custom designs offer a great way to take your message to customers. These badges come with a safety pin so it is easy to wear and go. Lantor, Ltd. also offers several attachment options like pin, bar badge magnet, bulldog clip, swivel pin etc
POP Signs - Counter Cards: The Lenticular counter cards / POP signs are said to best converting advertising methods. They are placed in a place where customers are sure to view. With fantastic Lenticular effects, the works become much easier.
Business Cards: Not just an ordinary business card, use Lenticular business cards to grab customer attention instantly. They stand out among other cards kept in the cardholder. Whenever there is any need for services or products, people will call and sales will increase automatically.
CD and DVD Inserts Carrying Case: These Lenticular printed CD and DVD inserts cases are very attractive to buyers at any retail store. These CD and DVD case inserts are great promotional material which always reminds users of your product thus helps in year-round sales.
Custom Products: The Lenticular printing company provides a facility for custom products. You can choose any product you wish to use for promotion and customize the print work as you require.
Now you know how to make Lenticular prints and the benefits of using Lenticular printing services for your advertisement and promotional needs. The fast-changing modern world needs fast and long lasting branding and promotion. Get started with new fascinating printing method to reap more profits. For obtaining best results, sourcing high-quality Lenticular printing services is very important. Due to increasing popularity of this niche, many companies have sprouted everywhere. Before ordering you should check the experience, printing facility, TAT, cost and customization level of the company. This way you will have peace of mind that the promotion & campaigns you are running are according to your plan and budget.
We are one of the biggest Lenticular printing companies in the US with more than 20 years of experience in this field. We have state of the art lenticular printing presses running exclusive Lenticular printing jobs 24-hours and can execute custom jobs and produce optimum results. We have exciting product ranges and several lenticular effects to offer you. Check our product pages for more details.
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