Printing Fairfax Virginia

A Guide to Printing Services

Printing Fairfax VA is a printing company located in Fairfax, Virginia.

Discover the difference of working with an experienced and professional staff. Contact Printing Fairfax VA for your next printing project and see how hard we work for you.

Equipment

Printing presses, digital printer/copiers, and a broad spectrum of bindery equipment to assure we can handle almost any job, and in the most efficient manner possible. Below is a guide to the printing, copying, bindery, and graphic services offered by Printing Fairfax VA and the advantage each process might have over the other for a particular application.

Graphics

All jobs start with graphics and layout. It may be a simple word processing document, or a complex full-color layout. Either way, we have the equipment and software to handle the job. Twenty years ago, when other printers were embracing the Mac computer and serving graphics professionals, Printing Fairfax VA realized there was a huge void in service for the business community which primarily used PCs. We made the decision to build our graphics department around the PC platform. We were truly pioneers in this field, often using beta versions of software so that we were always on the leading edge of emerging technology. There were many challenges, and it took some time to perfect the processes, but before long we were able to serve the business community where other printers could not. Many printers started referring PC clients directly to us. Of course, things in the computer world have changed over the years, but our past experience still gives us a clear advantage in serving our business customers. Even today we take in a number of "impossible" jobs that other printers turn away.

Offset Printing

Offset printing offers the highest quality of all the printing processes. A polymer plate is imaged with a laser. The plate is developed like film. It looks very much like a negative when developed. The plate is then mounted on a printing press to produce multiple copies. The plate can print only one color and the color is determined by the ink mixture in the press. A typical press will run two colors at a time. This is why a job of more than two colors can increase sharply in price, because it requires two passes through the press and careful alignment.

Full-color offset printing is a special process where a color image is broken down into the primary colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow. Black is also added to provide better contrast and sharper detail. This is referred to as process color or CMYK. This requires four separate plates and the four colors are usually printed together on a four-color press for best results. When the four colors are printed on the paper the colors blend together to make a full-color image.

Because of the initial setup involved, offset printing is most economical for larger quantities. It is also the choice where the highest quality is desired, regardless of quantity. Also, there are some ink colors and special inks that cannot be duplicated digitally, making offset printing the only option.

Digital Black and White Printing

Digital printing has come a long way in recent years. It is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between digital printing and offset printing. The entire printing process is done within one machine. Rather than imaging a plate, the laser images an electrically charged drum. Dry ink is applied to the drum and clings to the image. The drum then transfers the image to the paper. Finally, the image is fused to the paper using heat and pressure. This process is repeated for each sheet of paper, so the image can be changed for each sheet of paper. Printing one copy of a 200 page document is very efficient.

Digital Color Printing

Digital color printing works much like digital black and white printing except there are four drums, each printing one of the four process colors (CMYK) to create full-color images. The quality is remarkable. In fact, it is so good that even a printing professional often can't tell digital from offset printing without inspecting under magnification. The cost per copy may be a shock at first, but the overall cost for printing short runs is much cheaper than color offset printing. It is the perfect choice for brochures, color business cards and much more. Digital color printing is a great way to test different sales materials before producing large quantities, or printing catalogs in short runs allowing more frequent price adjustments. Our digital color printer can print sheets up to 13x19 inches.

Digital Large Format Printing

Large format printing is typically used for temporary signage and short-run posters. We can print in full-color up to 24 inches wide and nearly any length. We can also mount on foam core board and laminate up to 24x36 inches (larger sizes available by special order). Large format is also great for enlargements of sales and educational material for presentations, trade shows and more.

Printing Fairfax VA