Offset and digital printing
CEGE has state of the art offset and digital equipment. All this equipment is constantly renewed and updated to ensure optimum quality and productivity at all times. Our equipment is directly connected to prepress, with ISO standard colour reproduction and colour measurement systems, Axis control, throughout the whole print run.
Offset printing is a method of reproducing documents and images on paper or similar materials, developed at the beginning of the 20th century, which consists of applying ink, generally oily, to a metal plate normally made of an aluminium alloy. This is a similar process to lithograph printing. The plate takes the ink in those areas where there is an oleophilic compound and the rest of the plate (hydrophilic zone) is wetted with water so that it repels the ink; the image or text is transferred by pressing it onto a rubber mat and then finally onto the paper, also by pressing.
The press is called offset (meaning indirect), because the design is transferred from the printing plate to the aforementioned rubber drum before it is printed onto the paper. This term came about in contrast to the previously dominant system which was lithography, when the ink was passed directly onto the paper.
It is precisely this indirect characteristic that gives this kind of printing its exceptional quality, as the surface of the rubber mat is capable of taking on, with the ink adhering to it, rough or irregularly textured surfaces. Obviously this is due to the elastic properties of the rubber, unlike with metal drums.
Digital printing is a process in which an image is created from digital data; in other words, from the pages, text or images created with electronic design or publishing programs. In the case of CEGE, and taking into account the kind of brands and companies it works with, the digital printing used offers similar quality to offset (often known as digital offset printing), as well as all the advantages of digital printing regarding short or one-off print runs, the generation of variable data to create individualised copies in terms of content, and the speed of production and delivery.
