Your sixteen-color logo can be reproduced with the four process colors. Offset usually occurs when printing on a highly-calendered (very glossy) sheet, and can be eliminated by slip-sheeting, although this option is costly because the press operator has to insert the slipsheet manually between each press sheet...

I have no experience with digital printing and its problems with offset, but with the right offset press and operator you should never see any offset, even with full flood printing on extremely coated stock. You could achieve a very nice looking card printing four colour process offset but the start-up costs will be higher. If you are looking for a large volume it could end up being cheaper.

Correction: I just found out the set-off was from the litho CMYK business cards, not digital. They were printed on non-coated recycled Cocoon stock. The company that printed those said it was inevitable unless coating...is that right or should I use a different print company and allow more curing time? They said "the ink never really dries actually".

Is litho the same as offset?

Offsetting if the process of printing (offsetting) from a plate onto a rubber blanket and then printing from the ink on that blanket rather than directly from the plate. It increases plate life and makes for a crisper print.

You can offset any kind of printing plate, it doesn't need to be litho, but 99.9% of the time in 2010 people talking about offset printing will be referring to offset litho.

Printing on coated stock without an additional coating makes for problems offsetting, but an experienced pressman should be able to avoid these. Printing uncoated stock should yield no problems with offsetting between cards. I would perhaps try another shop.

Do you know if there are any large, solid areas of any of the process colours (black, cyan, magenta or yellow) on the cards?

Hmm, thanks. My personal cards have a blue reverse that is C90 M10 and the set-off has been noticeable.

They said "the ink never really dries actually".

That really depends on the total coverage: anything more than 240% (e.g., 60%C 60%M 60%Y 60%K) WILL take forever to dry, even if you're on a large press that has uses anti-offset spray powder. If your printer is having offset problems with 100% coverage (C90_M10), you need to find a new printer.

The 16-color logo is a nightmare to print small with offset lithography.
Orange and purple go flat.
And the screening will be obvious under the close scrutiny that biz cards undergo
Not to mention registration problems...

Perhaps print the logo by inkjet?
That would give great color, and could be done on good stock.
And then print the text black, offset (or even letterpress), for sharp typography.

Aha. Yes there are orange and purple sections, and screening *is* obvious on the offset ones we have. I did partially wonder about spot colours but then as you mention registration becomes impossible. Guess the text could be spot colour if we're going to mix techniques. I hadn't thought of that.

Does inkjet avoid screening altogether?

I love letterpress but I've never looked into it for business use. Would it normally work out more expensive than offset? (Quantity is actually rather small say ~250-1000 at a time.)

> with the right offset press and operator
> you should never see any offset

I agree, I've had many jobs printed via offset printing on glossy stock with no varnish and have never had a problem with set-off (unwanted ink transfer).

As Nick said, the conversion to 4-color process may cause shifting of some colors, and printing in individual flat colors will always give superior results in that respect, but with 16 separate colors that would be prohibitively expensive. Years ago cards were seldom printed via 4-color process, but today we're seeing many more logos with multiple colors, gradations, etc and 4-color cards are much more common.

Just pick a good-quality print shop.

For the record, in my cards you refer to, the color on the back does rub off a little to the next card in a stack. Varnish helps, but doesn't completely cure the problem.

Letterpress will end up much more expensive. Printing from type is extremely time consuming. Digital relief plates for letterpress are many times more expensive than offset plates, and makeready on a letterpress is at least as time-consuming if not more. The other major factor is that print-shops doing fine letterpress work nowadays are few and far between (although there are more and more) and you will have to pay a premium for the service.

However, especially when working with spot colours, text and uncoated stock, it is a premium you should pay.

Also: forgive my skepticism, but 16 colours?

Skepticism? No, it does sound worse than it looks. (At least I think so.)

Here's what we're talking about:

Can digital print use spot inks rather than screen/halftone?

I do not think digital printers are outfitted to print spot inks, but many of them are designed to print with processes that extend past four colour process, i.e. they would have 6 or 8 inks to simulate a full range of colours instead of four. Many incorporate secondary ink colours like orange, purple and green so that the screening that is done is less apparent, only when trying to achieve tertiary colours.

I could be wrong about the spot colour thing, though. There are lots of different kinds of digital printers/presses nowadays. Especially when it comes to digital, I would call around everywhere you can to get samples.

As Paul says, inkjet has more than 4 colors.
Thing is, you don't need many business cards, so printing up a couple hundred, ganged up on A4, wouldn't be many sheets.
As for letterpress, it ain't going away.
The printers that do it (from plates, not just with foundry type) also do embossing, foil, die-cut work which there is always a demand for, from graphic designers who appreciate the special things.
It's a great way to rise above the mainstream, where now anyone can print in full color at home, school or at work.

Hi Bendy,
without seeing the actual design all I can offer is broad advice.
First digital vs offest vs letterpress is almost perfect in terms of quality low to high and price low to high.

Digital is great for low numbers (use a Indigo press if you can find one locally). Offset litho is best value when your talking sensible print numbers by this I mean 1000 - 2000 business cards. Letterpress while having the highest setup cost gives the most gorgeous finish and print quality but you pay for it, not only can you get great flat solid colour but you also get an amazing tactile finish (personal recommendation for letterpress in the UK is Glasgow Press).

Your problems with colour rubbing off is pretty common when you print solids in offset, especially when you use blues, the only real solution we have come across is to have them matt or gloss laminated, this solves the problem but doesn't always give the the finish your after. We've had this problems even with just a pure C covering at 100%.

16 separate colours pose no problem for offest or digital, these can even be printed via letterpress with a little preparation.
For best quality you need to get a colour chart from your printer on the stock that your going to use, setting this up with gradations and colour wheels will give you the most accurate way of picking each colour.

For letterpress take time to speak to the printer, be prepared to amend your design based on their recommendations for best results.

For most vibrant colours look to specify spot pantones/hexachromes, you can even specify 4 colour process using pantones (bit pricey though). As far as I am aware digital print, even the HP indigos, use 4 colour process + additional colours, you can't specify pantones rather they simulate them.

The single best bit of advice is to speak to your printer and let him know what you want to do, they have the knowledge. Speak to local design studios, they will let you know the best local printers, bear in mind good printers are never the cheapest and you will have to book your work in possibly weeks in advance.

If your after quality you need to move away from digital and on to litho, screen printing and letterpress.
Digital while fantastically versatile is not quite there yet in terms of quality.

cheers
Martin

We run two HP Indigo digital presses at the company I work for.

Contrary to the comments above, they can run Pantone spot colours. Our presses run CMYK wet ink plus up to two additional Pantone spot colours. Alternatively they can be set to run 'Indichrome' as 6-colours CMYK plus Orange and Violet. They can even be configured to run up to seven colours.

We have a really bright green (Pantone 368C) installed on the press as one of our clients uses it extensively and by running the spot colour we can achieve a very bright clean colour and also run 2-colour (Black and Green) jobs as well.

The only drawback is the Pantone colours have to be ordered in pre-mixed and installed into the press, which isn't cheap. So wouldn't be cost effective for just one run of business cards.

Good to know. What kind of coverage are we talking about for an order of Pantone ink for an Indigo press? If I'm is printing 5-10% coverage letterheads/invoices etc are we talking 1,000; 10,000; 100,000 sheets?

At the print shops I've worked for, "digital printing" refers to what is a glorified laser printer. Powdered plastic toner (in CMYK) goes on the paper, and gets fused down, no worrying about set-off. I've never seen a digital that can do spot colors (and orange, by the way, it pretty much impossible to get right. It's always muddy.) As mentioned above, there are inkjets that can do certain spot colors, though I don't know if there's any high quantity producing inkjets out there. (The places I've worked only used them for proofing or very limited, wide-format runs. I suspect it would be awfully expensive.