Why Digital Presses Finally Beat Litho for Short Run Art Books
Forget what you learned about digital printing ten years ago.
2 minute read · Grosvenor & Guild Print, London
The prejudice against digital print was earned in the era of waxy toner and banding. That era is over. For runs under 1000, the modern digital press now matches litho and beats it on flexibility.
Where the prejudice came from
Early digital presses laid a thick layer of dry toner on the sheet. Solids looked plasticky, gradients banded and uncoated paper was a struggle. Anyone who commissioned a photography book on one of those machines has a right to be sceptical. But the technology that produced those results has been retired.
What changed
Modern high definition presses use liquid toner or advanced inkjet systems that lay a film thinner than offset ink. The dot structure is finer than most litho screens, the colour gamut is wider and the image sits in the paper surface rather than on top of it. On uncoated fine art stock the result is now indistinguishable from litho in blind tests with experienced buyers.
- Resolution and screening finer than conventional 175 line litho
- Extended gamut options for saturated reds, oranges and blues
- Full compatibility with uncoated, textured and recycled stocks
Zero setup waste and true short runs
Litho requires plates, make ready and a run of waste sheets before colour stabilises. That overhead makes a run of 100 art books prohibitively expensive per copy. Digital has no plates and no make ready. The first sheet is a saleable sheet. Runs of 50 to 500 are not a compromise but the natural home of the technology.
Variable data and versioning
Because every sheet is imaged fresh, each copy can differ. Numbered limitation pages, personalised dedications, client specific covers on a corporate edition and language variants within a single run are all straightforward. For limited editions this removes an entire manual step.
- Litho: still the right choice above roughly 1500 copies of a single version
- Digital: the right choice for short runs, versioned editions and fast turnaround
- Both: proofed, press checked and finished to the same standard at Grosvenor and Guild
Judge the output, not the label
Our sample pack includes printed colour and photographic samples from our presses on fine art stock. Request it and see whether you can tell.
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