Editing Digital printing (section)

{{Short description|Method of printing}}
{{Distinguish|3D printing}}

{{refimprove|date=May 2024}}

{{History of printing}}
'''Digital printing''' is a method of [[printing]] from a [[Digital data|digital]]-based image directly to a variety of media.<ref>{{cite book |author=David Whitbread |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gvPx-_CjFaIC&pg=PA312 |title=The Design Manual |publisher=[[University of New South Wales Press]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-981-270-855-7 |page=312 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> It usually refers to professional printing where small-run jobs from [[desktop publishing]] and other digital sources are printed using large-format and/or high-volume [[Laser printing|laser]] or [[inkjet]] printers.

Digital printing has a higher cost per page than more traditional [[offset printing]] methods, but this price is usually offset by avoiding the cost of all the technical steps required to make [[printing plate]]s. It also allows for on-demand printing, short [[turnaround time]], and even a modification of the image (variable data) used for each impression.<ref>{{cite book|author=William E. Kasdorf|title=The Columbia Guide to Digital Publishing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNIRkAqOzLUC&pg=PA320|year=2003|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|isbn=978-0-231-12499-7|page=320|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> The savings in labor and the ever-increasing capability of digital presses means that digital printing is reaching the point where it can match or supersede offset printing technology's ability to produce larger print runs of several thousand sheets at a low price.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Marianne Hörlesberger|author2=Mohamed El-Nawawi|author3=Tarek M. Khalil|title=Challenges in the Management of New Technologies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_tHxoYNU1V8C&pg=PA493|year=2007|publisher=[[World Scientific]]|isbn=978-981-270-855-7|page=493|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>