Inkjet and offset can both deliver striking posters, but they get there in very different ways. As a packaging designer working across North America, I’ve watched staples printing, FedEx Office, and The UPS Store handle the same 24x36 job with different constraints. Inkjet thrives on short-run agility, while offset favors volume and long-term consistency. Knowing which lever to pull starts with understanding the mechanics.
In practice, most retail centers lean on Digital Printing—specifically Inkjet Printing with aqueous or UV-curable inks—for one-off or small batches. Offset Printing enters the conversation when you’re talking hundreds of posters with tight unit costs and consistent CMYK builds. The tricky part for designers is translating intent—rich blacks, fine type, photographic gradients—into a process that respects time, budget, and local equipment realities.
Here’s where it gets interesting: the choice isn’t only about print quality. It’s about changeover time, drying behavior, substrate availability, and finishing options like Lamination or Varnishing. Make the wrong call, and your schedule—not your colors—will be the first thing that breaks.
How the Process Works
Offset Printing relies on plates, ink-water balance, and a transfer to paper via blankets and cylinders. Setup includes plate imaging, registration dialing, and a careful ramp-up to stable ink density. It shines on Long-Run jobs—think 500+ posters—where per-unit costs drop once the press is dialed in. Digital Inkjet skips plates entirely, firing droplets directly, often with Water-based Ink or UV Ink. Changeover on inkjet is typically 5–10 minutes; offset setup can run 45–90 minutes before you’re confidently in spec. That time delta matters when you only need a dozen pieces of poster printing 24x36.
For most retail environments (including staples printing), Inkjet Printing is the default for quick posters: a 24x36 can print in roughly 1–3 minutes depending on resolution and coverage. UV Printing heads can yield instant-cure results; aqueous systems may need 1–5 minutes to be touch-dry, more if coverage is heavy. Offset dries via oxidation or IR/heat assist, which can be fast in-line but still adds handling constraints before finishing.
Why not run everything inkjet? There’s a catch. On dense CMYK backgrounds or heavy solids, inkjet can push substrate limits (cockling or mottling) without the right paper. Offset handles solids gracefully but asks for more time and volume commitment. If you walk into an ups store poster printing counter and ask for 300 pieces by end of day, you’ll likely hit a bottleneck—not quality, but throughput plus finishing capacity.
Critical Process Parameters
Resolution targets differ by process and intent. For posters viewed at arm’s length, 150–300 dpi effective is typical; fine type or macro photography may push you toward 300–600 dpi. Screening in offset (AM/FM hybrid) handles gradients well when plates are fresh and blankets are clean; digital inkjet relies on droplet control and dither algorithms. A practical color target many designers use is ΔE 2–4 on brand-critical hues, acknowledging that store-to-store variability exists. In my experience, staples printing can hit ΔE below 3 on common CMYK builds when paper and profiles are stable.
Humidity and substrate surface energy play a quiet but decisive role. Water-based Ink systems behave differently at 30–60% relative humidity; too dry and you get banding, too humid and you risk drying delays. UV Ink systems sidestep some of this but introduce cured-surface gloss shifts. For photographic work—say, photo printing at staples—ask for the actual ICC profile used on that device and paper. Soft-proof against it, not against a generic sRGB mockup. It saves a roundtrip when a deep blue prints more indigo than you expected.
Designers always ask: “fedex poster printing how long?” Real answer: same-day is possible for ready-to-print files with stock on hand; more often it’s several hours to 1–2 days, influenced by coverage, finishing, and local queues. Ink-heavy designs with Lamination can stretch into next day. I’ve seen staples printing turn a single 24x36 in under an hour when profiles are dialed and no finishing is needed, but multi-piece sets with varnish or trimming add real time. The capricious variable is file readiness—preflight saves you more time than any machine spec.
Substrate Selection Criteria
Posters are less about exotic Substrate and more about matching coating, weight, and stiffness to ink behavior. Coated text stocks in the 170–240 gsm range tend to balance ink holdout with manageable curl. Uncoated options can work, but heavy solids risk mottling on aqueous inkjet. If you’re considering Kraft Paper or CCNB for a rustic look, plan tests—Fiber content can drag ΔE into the 4–6 range on saturated colors. Ask the counter which Paperboard grades they actually carry for poster printing 24x36; availability trumps theoretical spec.
Lamination and Varnishing aren’t just cosmetic. Soft-Touch Coating can mute contrast; Gloss Lamination enhances saturation but can show silvering if cure or pressure is off. UV Ink over glossy coated stock can look almost screen-like, while Water-based Ink appreciates matte or silk coatings to avoid pooling. With staples printing, you’ll often find a dependable glossy poster stock plus a matte alternative; if you need specific glare behavior for window installs, request a sample and hold it at the viewing angle you care about.
For lighter pieces—think handouts—what you get under staples flyers printing is usually a thinner coated text in the 100–130 gsm range. It runs fast, trims clean, and suits Short-Run campaigns. Posters benefit from sturdier sheets because edge waves become visible at 24x36. Window Patching and other specialty finishes are rare in retail poster workflows, so if you need it, a commercial shop with Offset Printing or Hybrid Printing capability may be the right call.
Quality Standards and Specifications
Color aims in North American retail setups often track G7 calibration, with ISO 12647 as the north star for printers running formal process control. Expect registration tolerances around ±0.1–0.2 mm on calibrated devices; offset can hold tighter once stabilized, but early make-ready can run through 50–100 sheets to settle. Typical FPY% sits in the 85–95% range for straightforward poster jobs. Waste Rate on Short-Run digital is commonly 3–7%, driven by trimming and test prints rather than press drift.
Proofing is the safeguard. A small test panel—say, gradients, brand blue, hairline type—printed on the actual substrate tells you more than any PDF. I encourage designers at staples printing counters to approve that tile before committing. If you’re comparing with an ups store poster printing output, bring the same file, same settings, and ask for their device profile. You’ll learn quickly whether it’s a device difference or a file-prep mismatch.
Standards are guide rails, not guarantees. Retail workflows juggle stock changes, device maintenance windows, and local queues. As a designer, you mitigate by controlling variables: clean 300 dpi artwork, embedded ICC profiles, clear finishing notes, and realistic schedules. Do that, and both digital inkjet and offset can serve your intent. And when you need a fast, local run, I’ve found staples printing reliable when you communicate constraints upfront.
