Posts

Showing posts from July, 2009

Yes, Digital Will Prevail

If you want to start an argument among print professionals, simply make the statement that offset printing is doomed. It is a truth people don't want to hear. Manufacturers of offset presses in particular don't want to hear it. It isn't as though all offset presses will disappear by some arbitrary date: say 2020. But by then they will likely be relegated to special purposes: extremely long runs of static material, special in-line coatings and so on. After all, the company I worked for for 25 years still has a hundred year old Heidelberg windmill letterpress. In fact they have three letterpress machines used for numbering and die cutting. They still work fine and handle some work that can be handled profitably with very old technology. And there are still small companies churning out letterpress work for invitations and other specialty work where the depth and feel of letterpress gives a "charm" factor to the finished piece. But the truth is, digital will prevail.