Title: The Offset Process of Book Printing Word Count: 425 Summary: Offset printing has been the printing process used for years in book printing. Compared to digital printing that offers fixed cost per unit, offset printing offer a more flexible pricing scheme. Keywords: offset, printing, digital, book Article Body: Books have been a part of peoples lives. They provide us knowledge, information and different stories. They make us laugh, cry and even bring us inspiring tales. This is perhaps why books have a special niche in the printing industry. Hence, they are carefully and effectively produced and designed to make a lasting impression to its readers. Books are usually printed using standard paper and sizes. And to make sure that they are printed the way a publisher wants them, they have to select the right printer that offers economical print pricing. Offset printing has been the printing process used for years in book printing. Compared to digital printing that offers fixed cost per unit, offset printing offer a more flexible pricing scheme. This means that the more you print, the lower the cost per unit. This is perhaps why even though digital printing is recently gaining popularity in the printing industry most publishers still avail of offset printing. There are basically three types of offset press. This includes web press, sheetfeed press and belt press. The web press process makes use of paper in a large roll that is continuously fed at high speed. The papers are then chopped and folded constantly and emerge into signatures or 32-page sections. This type of press is relatively the most cost effective print process that uses one color jobs and runs as much as five thousands prints. The belt press, on the other hand, is usually used for magazines and trade books. This process uses the web press process and makes use of binding. As a result paperbacks materialize completely at the end of the process while hardcovers only need jacket to complete the printing process. Conversely, the sheetfeed press is the slowest process among the three offset printing processes. This is because it prints one sheet at a time. Nonetheless, this is the only process that produces the highest quality and is best for short print runs ranging from two thousand to three thousand copies. Needless to say, the choice of printing process to use in your book printing is basically up to you. You have to carefully consider your printing needs before deciding which process to avail. But of course, before deciding the printing process to use you have to choose the book printer to do the job for you. This can be a lengthy and difficult process. But just the same, when you have carefully chosen the printer and the printing process, it can reduce your worry of not having quality book printing.