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Digital printing
Also called digital, electronic printing
Printing straight from the file, on a toner or inkjet press, without the plates of offset. It can print a single copy: it is what serves short runs and print on demand, where the book is printed when it is ordered.
In practice
Estimate your print run first: short, digital; long, offset. For a run in between, ask for both processes to be priced for the same number of copies. Check too that the paper you choose runs on a digital press: the mills’ data sheets say which processes a paper is made for. For a book reprinted as it sells, print on demand avoids unsold copies and their storage.