Printing & Finishes · Quick guide
Litho vs digital printing for packaging: which suits your order?
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Litho printing gives the finest quality, true Pantone colours and the lowest unit cost on longer runs, because once its plates are set up each extra sheet costs little. Digital printing needs no plates, so it suits short runs, several designs or personalised boxes, with quick set-up but less exact spot-colour matching. Choose by quantity, the number of designs, how critical your brand colours are, and the board you are printing on.
This article explains how each process works, where each has the advantage and how to decide. Both are followed by the same finishing, cutting and creasing, so the box itself is built the same way.
How litho printing works
Litho, short for offset lithography, prints from a metal plate for each ink. The plate carries the image, the ink transfers from the plate to a rubber blanket, and the blanket prints onto the board. A four-colour CMYK design needs four plates; each Pantone spot colour adds another. Many litho presses can also apply a varnish or coating in the same pass.
Before a run, the press is made ready: plates are fitted, ink and water are balanced and colour is brought up to target, which uses time and some waste sheets. After that, litho runs quickly and consistently. It prints large sheets, so several cartons fit on each one, which is why it is so economical on volume.
How digital printing works
Digital presses print directly from the artwork file, with no plates. The main types used for packaging are toner or liquid-toner presses for carton board and sheets, and inkjet presses, including machines that print directly onto corrugated board. Because nothing physical has to be made for each design, set-up is short and every sheet can be different.
Digital prints in CMYK, and many presses add extra inks, such as orange, green and violet, to reach a wider range of colours. Some can print white, which is useful on kraft and dark boards. Pantone colours are usually simulated rather than printed as mixed spot inks.
Litho vs digital compared
| Litho (offset) | Digital | |
|---|---|---|
| Set-up | Plates and make-ready for each design | Minimal; prints from the file |
| Unit cost at low quantity | Higher, because set-up is spread over few boxes | Lower |
| Unit cost at higher quantity | Falls steeply; the most economical | Stays fairly flat |
| Pantone colours | True spot inks, exact matches | Usually simulated; many close, some not |
| Large smooth solids | Excellent | Very good; can vary on some presses |
| Fine detail and small type | Excellent | Excellent on most modern presses |
| Several designs or personalisation | Each design needs its own plates | Straightforward, even box by box |
| Consistency over long runs | Very high | High |
| Sheet size | Large sheets, many cartons per sheet | Often smaller sheets |
| Changes between orders | New plates for artwork changes | Just a new file |
Quantity, versions and unit cost
The biggest difference is how cost behaves as quantity changes. Litho has a fixed set-up, so on small runs that set-up is shared by few boxes and the unit cost is higher. As quantity rises, the set-up is spread further and each extra sheet costs little, so the unit cost falls quickly. Digital has little set-up, so its unit cost starts lower but falls more slowly.
Somewhere in between, the two cross over. Where that happens depends on the box size, the number of colours, the board and the finishes, so there is no single figure; it can sit anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand boxes. Our guide to why unit cost falls with quantity explains the maths behind it, and custom orders start from 50 boxes; see minimum order quantity explained.
Versions change the picture. If you need eight scents, six sizes or a limited edition for each season, digital prints them all in one run without separate plates. With litho, each version adds its own set-up, so fewer designs in larger quantities suit it best.
Colour and quality
For a strict brand colour, litho has the edge. A Pantone printed as a mixed spot ink is matched to the reference and repeats reliably across orders. Digital simulates the same colour from its process inks, which is very close for many colours, but bright oranges, greens, blues and special colours can fall short. Our guides to CMYK vs Pantone and Pantone colour matching explain how colours are judged.
Metallic and fluorescent inks are generally a litho option. For a bright metallic logo on either process, foil blocking applied after printing is usually the better route.
Board and finishing
Litho prints carton board beautifully and is the usual process for high-quality folding cartons. For corrugated mailer boxes, a litho-printed sheet is laminated, meaning glued, onto the flute; this gives the finest full-colour print on corrugated. Direct digital inkjet print onto corrugated is an alternative for short runs and versions, and direct flexographic print suits one- or two-colour designs on transit boxes. See corrugated board for how the flute affects print.
After printing, both processes go through the same finishing: lamination, foil blocking, spot UV, embossing, then cutting, creasing and gluing. Some digital prints need a compatible lamination film or a primer, which is part of the specification rather than something you need to arrange.
How to choose
| Situation | Usually best | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Small first order or test launch | Digital | Little set-up at low quantity |
| Several designs, scents or sizes in one order | Digital | No plates for each version |
| Personalised or numbered boxes | Digital | Every box can be different |
| Larger runs of one design | Litho | Lowest unit cost as quantity rises |
| Exact Pantone brand colours across a range | Litho | True spot inks and repeatable matches |
| Large areas of smooth solid colour | Litho | The most even solids |
| Premium full-colour mailer boxes | Litho-laminated sheet | Finest print on corrugated |
When you compare quotations, check which print process each is based on, because it affects both the look and the cost. Our guide to comparing packaging quotes lists what else to check. If you are working to a launch, see packaging for product launches, then tell us your required delivery date and our team will confirm whether the timing is achievable.
Common mistakes
- Assuming digital always means lower quality. Modern digital print is excellent; the real questions are cost, versions and colour.
- Choosing litho for a very small first run. The set-up is spread over too few boxes; digital is often the better fit.
- Expecting exact Pantone matches from digital. Many colours simulate closely, but some cannot be matched; check critical colours first.
- Splitting one design into many versions on litho. Each version adds set-up; consider digital or fewer versions.
- Comparing quotations without checking the process. A litho and a digital quotation at the same quantity are not like for like.
- Designing artwork that only works on one process. Colours that rely on special inks may not reproduce if the process changes at reorder.