Published: August 22, 2025
How digital inkjet printing adds speed, flexibility, and personalization to traditional offset workflows.
For decades, offset printing has been the backbone of the print industry, especially for envelopes, packaging, and promotional print. But with rising maintenance costs, fewer skilled operators, and growing demand for short-run, personalized output, digital printing has become the smart alternative. This article explores the key differences, benefits, and what it means to make the transition.
Offset vs. Digital Printing: complementary strengths
- Offset printing uses plates, rollers, and ink. It delivers high quality and fast speed, but requires longer setup times, skilled operators, and regular maintenance.
- Digital printing skips the plates entirely. It allows direct printing from a file. This makes it ideal for shorter runs, faster turnaround, and variable data printing.
While offset still has advantages in very high volumes, digital printing has become a smart addition to traditional workflows.
Why more printers are going digital
The industry is changing rapidly. According to the The Future of Digital Print for Packaging to 2030, the global market for digital packaging and label print is projected to grow from $22.0 billion in 2025 (4.1% of all printed packaging) to $36.9 billion by 2030 (5.8%). This rising demand underscores a broader shift toward short-run, personalized, and sustainable solutions. These are precisely the areas where digital printing excels.
Some of the most common reasons companies are making the switch include:
- Easier operation, no specialist needed. Offset presses require highly trained operators, but experienced offset staff are becoming harder to find. Digital printers are intuitive and simple to use, making it easier to train new team members or reduce dependency on scarce labor.
- Less maintenance, more uptime. Offset machines wear over time. Nowadays parts become harder to source, and downtime increases. Digital systems have fewer moving parts and require far less maintenance.
- Cost-effective for short runs. No plates. No setup. No waste. Digital printing is perfect for small to medium runs, allowing you to print only what you need, when you need it.
- Fast turnaround. Artwork goes from file to finished product in minutes, sometimes even seconds.
- Variable data and personalization. Digital allows every print to be different. This opens the door to personalized packaging, direct mail, targeted marketing, and custom branding.
- More sustainable. Rollenco users print with water-based pigmented inks, which typically use fewer chemicals and produce less waste than traditional offset processes. Combined with on-demand production, digital printing helps reduce ink and material use while improving sustainability.
If you want to explore what these advantages look like in practice, take a look at our T4 Basic, T4 Advanced, and T5 machines. These high-quality single-pass printers are designed for real-world production, delivering speed, flexibility, and consistent print quality across a variety of packaging and flat media.
We know the offset world, and why it is changing
Our founders started out in the envelope printing industry, specializing in HALM JetPress offset machines. Having spent decades producing, selling, and servicing this kind of equipment, we understand both its strengths and its limitations.
We have helped dozens of companies transition from analog to digital, especially those facing challenges like:
- Demand for more flexible production
- Increasing maintenance costs
- Long setup times
- Limited staff availability
- High startup cost
These challenges have squeezed profit margins across the industry. Digital printing offers a way forward, enabling companies to stay competitive while meeting customer expectations for speed, quality, and personalization.
See digital printing in action
Curious how digital print performs in real life? Our YouTube channel is packed with real-time demos, machine overviews, and application examples. You will find digital overprint solutions for:
- Paper bags
- Enveloppen
- Boxes
- Coasters
- Doypacks / Zipper pouches
- Bubble mailers
- and more…
Offset will remain essential for many large-scale applications. But today’s market increasingly demands shorter runs, faster turnarounds, and personalized output. Digital printing does not replace offset. It expands what is possible and makes it easier to adapt to modern workflows and customer needs.
At Rollenco, we specialize in high-quality single-pass digital printing solutions designed for all kinds of packaging. Single-pass technology prints everything in one go. It combines speed, consistent quality, and high output efficiency for real-world production. Whether you are considering your first digital press or looking to scale your production, we are here to help.
Curious how digital printing can transform your packaging into a powerful branding tool? Read our article: How to Brand Your Packaging with Digital Printing.
Contacteer ons today to explore the possibilities, or schedule a live demo tailored to your workflow.