The ability to print a pamphlet, manual or book in small quantities as requested, even just one copy. The printing is done from the computer rather than the traditional offset printing process. Print-on- demand is environmentally sound because hundreds of thousands of unsold, new books are destroyed annually. In addition, publishers no longer must maintain a physical inventory of titles, which translates into huge cost savings.
The Benefits
Print-on-demand allows every book ever published to be available in the future, and it allows new authors to be published more easily. It also prevents wonderful books from ever going out-of-print due to low demand. Using on-demand equipment, a complete, finished hardcover book can be created from scratch in less than 20 minutes. See
digital printing.