Offset vs Digital Printing: What It Means for Your Packaging Costs
At Kumar Printers , one of the most common questions we hear from clients is: “Why do minimum order quantities (MOQs) matter so much in offset printing?” It’s a fair question—especially when you’re evaluating smaller runs of folding cartons or comparing offset with digital printing. The truth is, the choice of printing technology directly impacts both the cost and efficiency of your packaging project. To make this easier to understand, let’s break down the difference using a simple case study. Key Terms to Know Before we dive into the numbers, here are a few basics that will guide our comparison: Units per sheet (UPS): This refers to the number of cartons that can be printed on a single sheet of board or paper. For example, if your folding carton job runs at 5 UPS, then 10,000 cartons will require 2,000 sheets (10,000 ÷ 5). The UPS depends on the carton size and the maximum sheet size of the printing press. Machine setup / make-ready: Every time a new job is loaded on a pres...