Print applications produced with digital equipment can be of almost any quantity. The run length may determine the type of output device that provides the greatest cost efficiency. For example, print runs ranging from one to 2,000 are most efficiently run on digital desktop printers and digital presses using electrophotographic technology. Direct imaging presses can be useful for print runs that are too large for digital presses and too small to be cost effective on conventional offset presses. They are most often used effectively for runs ranging from 500 to 20,000, but they can be also used for much larger print runs depending on the application. Over half of the commercial, office, and book printing is produced in quantities of 500 to 5,000, so digital and direct imaging presses could potentially print a large share of the applications in this range.

The longest print runs are still produced most efficiently using conventional equipment such as an offset press. Long run applications include newspapers, magazines, telephone directories, catalogs, tax forms, book publishing, direct mail, business forms, and government documents.