WHAT IS POD?

Print on demand (POD) is a method utilizing a printing technology and process in which copies of books or other documents are not produced until the printing company receives an order, allowing copies of single or small quantities.

Before the introduction of digital printing technology, production of small numbers of publications had many limitations. Large print jobs were not a problem, but small numbers of printed pages, in the first part of the 20th century, were typically produced using stencils and reproduced on a mimeograph or similar machines. These produced printed pages of inferior quality to traditional methods, but did it cheaply and reasonably fast. 

By  1950, electrostatic (xerographic) copiers were available to make paper master plates for offset duplicating machines and offset presses. Around 1960, copying onto plain paper became possible with new photocopy machines making decent-quality copies of a monochrome originals, but speeds were slow and expensive.

By the early 1990s, computer-driven, high speed printers made the production of single copies of multi-page books possible. Today, devices with speeds up to 400 pages per minute with extremely high quality and resolutions drive print-on-demand into new markets, usually replacing offset/lithographic methods. Inkjet technologies are slowly replacing the xerographic process with less expensive consumables and low operating costs.