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Digital Printing
All printed output from a computer is technically digital. However, the term refers more to printing finished pages on the computer in contrast to using an offset printing press and commercial printer.
Digital printing eliminates numerous mechanical steps in the conventional printing process, including making films, color proofs, manually stripping the pieces together and making plates.
Instead of cutting and folding printed "signatures" to put the pages in order, software sorts them in memory and prints them in sequence. After printing, the output goes directly to next-stage equipment that can just staple or 3-hole punch the paper or go all the way to turning it into postmarked packages for the mailroom. Millions of invoices, documents and booklets are printed on large digital printer assembly lines every day.
Although digital printer systems do not compete with high-speed newspaper and magazine presses, it is expected that these "analog" monsters will become all digital in time.
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