What is on-demand printing? How is it different than traditional printing?
On-demand printing is a commonly used term referring to using laser printers to print books. Commercial-grade laser printers (also called digital printers) work just like a home printer. A computer file is saved to the memory of the printer, and the file is printed in one step, “on-demand”, “as needed”. Traditional presses require a multitude of expensive steps prior to applying layers of ink to paper using a printing press. The quality of a traditional press is hard to beat, but the price is usually prohibitive. Traditional press becomes more economical than digital printing when the volume of books ordered is high (ie: in the thousands). Another difference between traditional (off-set) presses and on-demand (laser, or digital printing) is the way the paper ‘takes’ the ink. In the traditional printing process, ink is absorbed into the paper, whereas in the digital laser world, ink adheres to the top of the paper. You may notice some cracking on a digitally-printed full-colour book cov
