Operating a printing business requires a few specialised pieces of equipment, and can be operated as a home-based, storefront or online business. Types of printing businesses include vinyl sign printing, screen-printing t-shirts, printing of business cards, brochures and documents, election ballots, Photography archival prints and printing on different surfaces such as metal.

Printing photographs grounds your work and allows for a bit more separation from the image itself, since it is being turned into a tangible object. I have always been an advocate for the printed portfolio and without question prints bring value to your work and are also a more special means for sharing your images with others than viewing them on an LCD screen.

Digital Printing is when you reproduce a digital based image to print format, using a physical surface like paper, film, plastic, photographic paper or cloth. It usually refers to professional printing where small-run jobs from desktop publishing and other digital sources are printed using large-format and/or high-volume laser or inkjet printers.

The printing process of digital printing is different to that of litho printing, which uses wet ink and transfers the same image via printing plates. The Inkjet printer produces your image by mapping out minuscule droplets of ink onto your chosen paper surface – creating your image.

Offset printing uses etched metal plates that apply ink onto a sheet of paper. The setup for offset printing is generally significantly more time consuming and expensive than digital printing. On the other hand, digital printing uses electrostatic rollers called drums to apply toner onto the paper

Laser printers work by using a light beam, drum, and toner to print the document. The laser element allows for precision and black text often prints looking incredibly sharp and neat. However, the initial purchase cost of a laser printer is generally higher than an inkjet printer.

Yes, you can run gloss paper through a laser printer but it must be made suitable for laser printing. The gloss paper for laser printing will not work in an inkjet printer. Toner is fused to the surface, ink sinks into the paper. However, glossy paper can be pointless in a laser.

Printers are a font of information, so please go to them directly via this directory and have a chat, or of course call me for guidance.