WHAT IS LARGE-FORMAT DIGITAL PRINTING?
Digital printing is the process in which printed output is generated on demand by an
output device. Large format printing generally refers to output larger than tabloid sizes, or about 11×17. At NDS, large format usual means 22×28 inches to billboard sizes.
HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL PRINTING
METHODS LIKE OFFSET PRINTING?
Offset printing, or offset lithography, requires extensive equipment and specialized
operators. Printing presses are designed for mass production of printed material. As a
result, offset printing requires substantial setup and the costs of this setup must be distributed among the quantity of printed materials. For process color printing on 11×17 paper, quantities of 1000 or more must be ordered before the cost per print begins to be linear versus quantity. Larger sized output requires less common and more expensive printing presses and film, driving up minimum order quantities substantially.
Digital printing is cost effective in low quantities, with little or no tradeoff in quality.
WHAT ARE THE APPLICATIONS OF LARGE-FORMAT DIGITAL
PRINTING?
Large format digital printing can be used whenever traditional printing techniques is cost prohibitive because of quantity or unnecessary extreme quality. Some applications are posters, displays, signage, point-of-purchase displays, banners, fleet graphics, murals, billboards, custom fabric, wallpaper…etc.
HOW ACCURATE IS THE COLOR?
A 6 color CMYK +LC +LM or 4 color CMYK do not match SWOP inks exactly, so output is not identical to what comes from offset printing. Pantone color matches are not guaranteed, but the color range NDS can reproduce is within 95% of the CMYK Pantone standards.
WHAT QUANTITIES ARE COST EFFECTIVE?
With the higher printing speeds and multiple printers, quantities of up to 200 are now cost effective, depending on sizes.
WHAT COMPUTER PLATFORMS DOES NDS SUPPORT?
NDS uses Macintosh workstations but can accepts PC or windows files as well.
WHAT SOFTWARE DOES NDS SUPPORT?
We use Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, Freehand and Corel Draw.
HOW LARGE CAN NDS PRINT?
NDS digital output is 98″ wide roll-fed for banners and 49” for posters. Output can be
tiled to produce full color images up to 16’ x 30′. Anything larger and we would
recommend a billboard printer.
HOW DOES LAMINATION EFFECT COLOR?
Glossy finish lamination tends to make prints look more vibrant. Matte finishes will
prevent unwanted glare (important for trade show exhibits or backdrops being used on television or camera) but do not enhance color.
HOW LONG DOES A PRINT LAST?
Depending on the substrate used and extreme environmental conditions, NDS output can last indefinitely under indoor conditions. Outdoor applications, such as billboards and banners, can last several years, depending on finishing options like overlaminates.
NEXT DAY SIGN’S CUSTOMERS
NDS works mainly on a wholesale level, printing for many local companies, ad-agencies, fast food chains, banks, etc… We do our best to maintain up to date with equipment and materials so as to help our customers with everyday production needs.
Supplying PDF Artwork
We prefer all artwork to be supplied as high-resolution PDF format. PDF’s are the standard file format for large format print but it is important to ensure they are prepared in the correct way.Ensure that you choose the High Quality Print or Press Quality from the adobe preset menu. Please also ensure that fonts are either embedded or converted to outlines.
