Sheetfed Offset, Web Offset, Digital : Defining Crossover Points

Finishing: A toner-based digital press yields dry, ready-to-process sheets a printer can take to the bindery or finish in-line while his still-wet offset sheets are sitting on a skid. This cedes the advantage to digital over the longer run if this time savings is critical to the job.

Print quality: The fact that a multicolor offset press (CMYK-plus) is built to handle spot colors, whereas many digital production presses can only approximate them from four-color builds, tends to favor offset in smaller quantities where quality requirements are strict.