Offset presses are used by large book manufacturers and require expensive plates, chemicals, ink, and highly skilled operators to run them. The time it takes to set-up the offset press is very expensive, because of the hourly rate of the machine and the high labor cost. Then you have to add in the cost for making the plates, ink usage, and paper cost. With all of these set-up cost you typically have to print anywhere from 3000 to 5000 books to get the cost per book down to make a profit. Not to mention that you also have to sell all of those books or you will take a loss.

When using Print on Demand, you don’t use expensive printing plates, and there is very little set-up. A digital press operator can run multiple machines at the same time, saving on labor cost. This technology uses a toner or liquid ink to print with, so there is very little waste, and it is much better for the environment. You can print short runs of a book, and still make a profit.

Print-on-demand book companies use digital printing presses exclusively. These machines are not your typical copy shop equipment. A POD press (which can cost more than $500,000) mirrors offset printing.

We have either used or demoed all sorts of digital equipment, from Xerox, Oce, Canon, Heidelburg, Konica Minolta, and others. We found what prints the best and mirrors offset quality, enabling us to give our customers the best quality printed book possible.

It is important to make sure you chose a company that uses the best on demand technology available, and that it matches offset quality. The last thing you want to happen when getting your book produced, is to end up with fat looking type, or really dark photos. Please read more about black and white printing technology.