October 2017 - Sharp Ideas

Digital Printing vs Offset Printing: How To Choose?

Printing has become an essential part of our lives. Information is constantly being printed, whether in offices or in our homes. Therefore it is important to know the details of printing. From materials being printed in like magazines and newspapers to isolated print outs, for school or work; printing has evolved to form an almost perennial constant. However, all materials cannot be printed with the same ink or the same device. The methods of printing differ from situation to situation. For example, some information needs to be printed on special pages like glazed or photography paper, while some differ in types of ink that is to be used or simply in the system of printing. This article aims to show a comparison between digital printing and offset printing by listing their advantages and disadvantages.

Digital Printing

In digital printing, large format and high volume laser or inkjet printers are used. Digital printing is used for small scale printing purposes for example, in home or office, which require fewer amounts of printouts.

Advantages:

Digital printing is quick and methodical. There is need to waste time or engage in unnecessary details while digitally printing any information. As you do not need to set up any infrastructure, material gets printed faster, which otherwise would have taken days to produce.
Digital printing does not require any photo chemicals or film plates as used it traditional methods of printing. Therefore, digital printing is more of a cleaner and easier process.
For printing images, this method is the best. Digital printing produces good quality images with high resolution and these images can be printed on a number of materials and they can be directly applied on glass, wood, Sintra board or PVC.
Digital Printing is all about precision and consistency. Whether you require large format printouts or a small volume of printed material, digital printing is a safe option. It starts and completes orders fast and you can easily duplicate if you want and avoid any major errors.
Digital printing requires no extra labor, supplies or infrastructure and thus it is extremely cost effective for printing a small amount of material.

Disadvantages:

Though the cost is quite low with digital printing, when it comes to large volume of printouts this method tends to get expensive. Getting large volumes printed is a problem because a digital printer runs between 15 to 50 feet per minute.
In spite of having a color palette that supports a wide range of colors, digital printers do no support metallic inks.
Most inks fade if subjected to direct sunlight. However inks used in digital printing fade much faster. There is an UV inhibition laminator system but the printer surface needs to be constantly updated to prevent the ink from fading.
Although there is no set up involved and no labor costs, digital printers need to be updated and have to be checked periodically so that it operates properly. This ends up costing more than the actual printing.

Offset Printing

The technique of offset printing involves the formation of an image or type on a printing plate and this plate in turn prints the image or the type onto the printing material. Offset printing is useful for commercial or business purposes where printouts are required in large amounts like for example, in printing magazines, books, newspapers or booklets and brochures.

Advantages

Offset printing is an extremely efficient form of printing and using this technique, the production of printing plates is not only easy but also pretty fast.
Images and typed information printed are extremely sharp and clear. The images are of good quality. The reason for such quality print is that offset printers have a rubber blanket feature that conforms easily to the surface of the printing material.
For producing good quality prints in bulk, offset printing is a good technique to use as it is fast and cheap.
In offset printing there is not direct contact between the print plate and the printing surface and due to this reason, offset printers have longer printing plate life.
The amount of ink being used can be controlled in an offset printer by adjusting the ink on the fountain roller with screw keys. The density of color applied can also be altered.

Disadvantages

The infrastructure around an offset printer needs to be set up and the constant production of printing plates involves high cost.
Offset printers often contain anodized aluminum printing plates that due to chemical oxidation slowly become highly sensitive and tend to print in the non-image areas.

Though print quality is very high, in case of images that are printed, the resolution is not as good as those printed using photogravure or rotogravure printing.

Contented by: Copydepot printing Inc.

List of Dos and Don’ts for Smoky Eye Makeup for Wedding

When it comes to eye makeup, there are may be only a few which can beat the timeless classic of a smoky eye. It is bold and beautiful and can be done in a jiffy and looks good with almost all kinds of occasions.

When there is a wedding on the card, you need to have a host of styles up your sleeves which will cover all the events included in the process. Smoky eyes are one of the styles which goes with both the day time functions and the night ones.

Here are some do’s and don’ts which you would like to keep in mind while trying out the smoky eye at a wedding.

Do’s:

When you are going for smoky eyes, after you have prepped you face with the base, start up with your eyes and then move to the rest of your face. Smoky eyes deal with a lot of dark colors and this sequence will prevent spillage of dark shadows and mascara smudges.
In order to prevent the creases that appears from wearing eye shadows for a long time, wear an eye shadow primer. This also helps in smoothening the eyes and allows the shadows to stay on for a longer period of time.
Since smoky eyes are all about dark colors, it may sometimes make your eyes appear smaller than they are. In order to prevent this try using a highlighter or white eye shadow in the inner corner of the eye which makes your eyes pop.
The best way to hold the whole smoky look together is to use a liner. You can either choose a simple look with the help of an eye crayon or go for more dramatic looks with gel liners.

Don’ts:

Smoky eyes are usually the star of the whole look you are trying to pull off. Any other makeup that you are pairing up with smoky eyes should be subtle and a complement to your eyes. Avoid using bright lip colors with smoky eyes else you will end up looking like someone from a horror movie. Go for a slight blush and nude lips with your smoky eyes.
One of the worst mistakes that you can make while trying out smoky eyes are to not blend the colors properly. The demarcation lines between the various colors used for creating the look should not be visible at any cost. Keep on blending the colors and when you think that it is done properly, blend some more just to be on the safe side of matter. Improper blending can give you panda eyes.
Don’t just stick to black when you are creating smoky eyes. Too much of black can provide you with odd looking panda eyes which you wouldn’t want during a wedding. Try creating smoky eyes with warmer colors like browns and champagne and gold which looks equally beautiful but will be a tad bit different than the usual smoky eyes.
This is just not for smoky eyes but holds true for any eye makeup artist that you try, brows are which makes or breaks the whole look. So, don’t forget to shape your brows with the help of a brow pencil to bring out the boldness of the look. if you have thin brows, you can also use some brow shadows to bring out a fuller look.

Now that you are aware of the things you need to do and avoid in a smoky eyes makeup, go ahead and experiment with your look and make sure to bring along your confidence to rock the wedding season.

7 Simple Tricks to Create A Perfect Accent Wall

Accent walls enable you to differentiate the design of a wall from the design of other walls in the same room. While creating an accent wall, you have option to choose from many colors, materials, and surfaces. Likewise, you can also experiment with various wallpapers to personalize the room and make the wall sport a chick style. It is also a good idea to consider some simple ideas to make the accent wall appealing and eye-catchy.

Ideas to Make the Accent Wall More Impressive and Appealing

1) Use Contrasting Colors

The simplest way to create an accent wall is paint the wall with a distinct color. The paint will differential the wall from other walls. You have option to experiment with a variety of colors. Based on your preference, you can paint the wall with bright, deep, or mid-tone accent colors.

2) Hang Stylish Wallpapers

You can accent a wall quickly by hanging stylish wallpapers. The wallpaper will make the accent wall standout and look trendy. You even have option to choose the wallpaper according to your personal choice and preference.

3) Try Out Multi-size Pictures Frames

You can easily make a wall look different from other walls by hanging pictures. Based on the length and width of the wall, you can hang either a large picture or multiple small pictures. It is also a great idea to create a collage of photos to depict important events and milestones in your life. Otherwise, you can also consider hanging a piece of art, canvas painting, or framed inspirational quotes.

4) Install Built-in Shelves

The built-in shelves help you to enhance utility and aesthetic appeal of the wall at a time. You can install the custom shelves after applying the wall. You can fill the shelves with books, framed photos, or decorative items to transform the wall and room together.

5) Cover the Wall in Wood

You can make the accent wall distinct by covering it in wood. You can cover the wall in wood in a number of ways. For instance, you can make the accent wall look natural by covering it with reclaimed scrap wood. Also, you can make the accent wall look different by installing vinyl wall coverings that look just like wood.

6) Use Wainscoting

Most homeowners use wainscoting to cover a wall partially. But you can accent the wall by covering it with wainscoting. The wainscoting will add extra texture to the wall and make it standout. You also have option to make the wall more appealing by wainscoting it with a gorgeous color.

7) Accent the Right Wall

It is always important to accent the right wall. You can always consider accenting a wall that does not have any architectural features. Likewise, you can also consider accenting a wall of windows. The right wall will complement the accent wall ideas perfectly, while making the room appear distinct.

You can also accent the wall by availing professional services. The service provides will deploy skilled handymen and robust tools to accent the wall creatively and quickly. You can even ask the service provider to implement your own accent wall ideas.