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What Are the Different Types of Digital Print Media?

G. Wiesen
G. Wiesen

There are, essentially, as many different types of digital print media as there are applications for the use of such media in business, advertising, and artistic creations. In general, however, the most common types of such media can be broken down into commercial or artistic uses. Commercial uses include everything from printing banners and signs to printing fliers and brochures, and even more unusual forms of media such as vinyl stickers and images that can be placed on windows, walls, and vehicles. Artistic uses for digital print media are often similar in nature to those for commercial purposes, but can also be used as part of a larger multimedia work.

Digital print media typically refers to images and text created digitally, often using computer software designed to create graphic images, and then printed. While this can refer to bodies of text, it more often refers to images and graphical works. Commercial uses for digital print media are quite varied and commonly used to create advertising materials for numerous applications. Large signs and banners are often created using digital print methods, as software can easily create images and text at large scale, which can then be printed on vinyl, cloth, or similar materials.

Digital print media often arrives as mailers.
Digital print media often arrives as mailers.

Smaller scale advertisements are also frequently made as digital print media, which can include anything from fliers and pamphlets to print advertisements in magazines. The wide range of applications for images and products created as digital print media often benefits from how easily digital images can be changed in scale to utilize a single asset in creating many different products. Many types of materials can also be used for printing digital media, allowing different advertising methods to be used. This often includes the creation of vinyl stickers or clings that can be placed on walls, windows, and vehicles to allow for a wider range of advertising opportunities for a business.

Fliers and brochures can be digitally printed en masse.
Fliers and brochures can be digitally printed en masse.

Digital print media can also be used in artistic and less commercial applications as well. A fine artist who works primarily in digital media, for example, can then print out his or her work and create a product that can then be sold or displayed for others. Multimedia work can also incorporate this type of digital print media as part of a larger demonstration. Someone can print out a large image, which is then used as a screen onto which images or videos can be projected, to create a final piece that expands upon the raw components used.

Discussion Comments

ysmina

I can't believe that at one point in history, people used to draw pamphlets and posters by hand, in ink. And they used to duplicate it with the printing press. So much work and it must have taken forever. Now, we can make a poster in just a few hours, maybe even less, have it printed and ready to distribute right away.

My friend didn't plan too well and did not have her wedding invitations until she was supposed to mail them out. She made them herself on the computer and found printing services working on a Sunday and had them all out on Monday morning.

ZipLine

@bear78-- Yes, definitely. The clue is in "print." Digital print media is media made digitally and then printed. It could be a single print or a mass print, such as magazines and newspapers.

I'm sure that we're going to stop using this term soon though because it's hard to imagine things being made non-digitally these ways. Even artists are starting to produce their art digitally.

We might even lose the need for printing anything as more of media gets transferred online. I'm sure there will be a day when no one buys newspapers and just reads it online, through their TV screen or cell phone. Many of us do already.

bear78

Digital print media is media that's made digitally? I thought it was referring to digital media like online news sites. I guess the clue is in "print."

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    • Digital print media often arrives as mailers.
      By: Johanna Mühlbauer
      Digital print media often arrives as mailers.
    • Fliers and brochures can be digitally printed en masse.
      By: SimFan
      Fliers and brochures can be digitally printed en masse.
    • Magazine advertisements are frequently made as digital print media.
      By: Rido
      Magazine advertisements are frequently made as digital print media.