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If you are new to reproducing documents, you may wonder what a digital printer is. Many of the best printers feature unique designs and capabilities, and these include digital models. So what exactly is a digital printer, do you need one, and what benefits do they bring to the table for average folks? Keep reading to find out.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Digital printing refers to a printer that prints directly from a PDF or a related digital file without the need for a plate or intermediary. This design is popular with the best office printers. Many types of digital printers go above and beyond the features offered by standard offset printers, even if you are learning about continuous-ink systems. The setup time here is virtually nonexistent, which is not the same when learning about solvent printers.
Insider Tip
Despite printing digitally, this type of printer must still be cleaned and maintained at regular intervals.
Digital printing usually refers to professional printing jobs if you are learning how laser printers work, but it also refers to general residential use. For instance, if you use a standard inkjet to print directly from a PDF, you are engaging with digital printing and likely will not have to learn the best color laser printer for home use. Digital printers have a wide range of uses, and the same cannot be said of MFP printers.
Digital printing is simply printing from a digital source, so they have a wide variety of uses. Students use digital printing methods to print out essays. Freelance workers use this type of printing process to reproduce official work documents. Companies use them to make batch jobs of important documents. The use cases here are truly endless.
There are a number of benefits to choosing a model with digital printing capabilities over an old-school offset printer.
STAT: A digital printer is an all-encompassing umbrella term for both laser and inkjet printers. Essentially, as long as the printer has digital capabilities, for example, it can receive documents wirelessly or print from a cloud – we can call it a digital printer. (source)
