Digital printing is best for on-demand printing, small quantities, short-run book printing and variable data printing. Digital printing outputs each page with the ink or toner cured and ready for finishing. Offset printing uses wet inks and the printed sheets typically have to dry for a certain time period or the ink will smudge or "offset" when cutting, folding, booklet making, etc. So for you on demand printing needs of rush orders, the best choice would be to use a digital printing company.
Offset printing is used primarily for larger quantities on printing jobs with more of a flexible timeline. This is generally a less expensive printing option because the larger the quantity, the cheaper the price. The majority of the cost involved with offset printing is the setup of the press. Once the press is set, the job can print away at 10,000 to 30,000 pages per hour.
Smaller quantities are best printed on a digital press because large printing orders typically cost less when printed offset with traditional lithographic printing equipment. A digital printingcompany pays the press manufacturer per click, impression or per sheet for supplies and service regardless if the press is on a lease or paid in full. So the cost for one sheet or a million is the same per piece.
But on an offset press, the majority of the cost is setup time and then paper cost. Since offset printing is 5 to 10 times faster than digital printing, once the press is set for a particular job, the actual printing is completed quickly. For example, a 100,000 quantity flyer order may take 1 hour on a printing press (setup and printing) that fits 16 pages on a single large press sheet. On the other hand, it may take two days to complete such a large job on a digital press that only fits 2 pages on it's much smaller press sheet. But for small orders, there is no paper waste for setup of digital printing equipment, and within seconds quality printed sheets are ready for finishing
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