This section is provided as a quick reference guide for both first-time and veteran print buyers alike. We welcome your input and involvement with checking the accuracy of your print job. Many L & D customers have come to trust the accuracy of our proofs and the quality of our work so much that they simply skip the press checks and rely on our printers and quality assurance team to make certain the job is produced right the first time, every time.
The file preparer is compelled to comprehend how the work performed on the computer has to reflect the needs of the ink-on-paper product that is the final result. If the anticipated goals - cost savings and quicker turnaround - are to be realized, these needs must be accurately reflected in the final file given to the printer.
Choosing a designer who can efficiently and effectively execute in the digital environment can result in achieving some of the time and money savings that software vendors promise and customers now demand. Communication has become an absolute requirement between the print buyer, the designer and the printer to ensure smooth delivery of the steps leading to the final printed piece.
Beyond electronic wizardry, consider today’s wide spectrum of papers, plus the creative production techniques like folding, embossing and coating. These contribute to the effectiveness of print as a media that gets marketing results.
Detailed, accurate specifications are the key to success with any printing job. Your printer must have complete information to fulfill your expectations.
Each printer should have a mock-up of your design and complete specifications. Request written estimates. If you change a specification to one printer (for example, paper) be sure to change it for all. Otherwise, your estimates are not comparable. Most estimates are good for 30 days.
Quick turnaround is the rule, but it requires intelligent coordination. Once the who and what are determined, the when needs to be decided. Printing projects usually run on tight schedules, so stay on track and let vendors know the specifics. Begin with your distribution date and work backwards with your sales rep.
Then stick to your schedule or alert your rep in advance if there are unavoidable delays. Tell your rep you expect to be informed if there are delays on the printer’s end. If you are contracting tasks separately, account for the time that each vendor needs, including delivery.
In most situations, plates are prepared from film that is generated from imagesetters or directly from computer. In either case, correct copy preparation is paramount. When changes are made or mistakes caught after this plating step, costs rise rapidly.
Jobs generated from computer files must contain all the printing production requirements that the final composited traditional plate film contained. File preparers who choose to construct files for plate-ready production must include spreads and chokes (called “trapping” in computer terminology), bleed overwork, plus trim and center mark indications that were formerly accomplished by the “image assembler” at the printer. Printers offer file manipulation services that cover things like trapping, low resolution image replacement and more. They generally prefer handling these critical production details in-house to assure proper preparation for their particular press and finishing lines.
The importance of proofs from digital files has increased because of today’s speed of production and the opportunities to rapidly incur expensive remake costs at the plate stage. Proofs should reflect exactly what is represented on the file or plate.
Multicolor printing of some kind is the norm, whether it’s spot color or four-color process. Spot color uses a designated ink color, while four-color process printing creates color by laying down overlapping dots (screens) of four primary ink colors: yellow, cyan, magenta and black (CMYK). The size, shape and degree of overlap of these dots determines the appearance of the final printed colors.
The most convenient way to specify spot color is to use the Pantone Matching System. The newest page makeup, illustration and photo-editing software also supports this system. Each Pantone color has a formula for creating that color with printer’s inks.
Preparing full-color files on your Mac or PC and delivering a file to your printer by physical or electronic means is now commonplace in most instances.
Creating color files requires knowledge of the printing requirements for color, including trapping and color balance. Use of color management systems by the file originator who wishes to go beyond low-res images is an absolute requirement for quality and consistency.
Despite all of today’s advances, the most important aspects of dealing with printed color remain: make sure everyone “sees” the same color and understands the limitations of four-color process.
Prepress color proofs that simulate color printing allow you to check composition, color breaks, registration and separation quality and are an essential step for satisfactory results.
Once you have approved the prepress proofs, your job is ready to print. If a press check is included in your bid, you’ll be at your printer’s plant when the first sheets come off the press. At this point, the final tweaking is done and the press operator takes over.
The final step in converting a printed sheet to product is called finishing and/or bindery. They are as equally significant a stage as everything that has gone on before and must be planned into the original design. While bindery and finishing are usually the last phases of a printed job, it is important to identify these needs up front when planning the job so that all will run smoothly.
Folding is a relatively imprecise operation, so you must leave room for variations in the folds. Remember, also, that each fold is affected by the variation in the previous fold. Paper stock also affects folds. Prepare a paper dummy of the folds before you go to press, and remember to allow adequate trim for the bindery operation.
When planning your job, you need to decide if it will be bound and how. Talk about the bindery requirements with your printer or trade binder before going into production. Listed below are some common bindings and definitions.
Signatures inserted into each other and stapled through the spine. Requirements: Lip on back of signature at least 1/4”. Head trims and foot trims should be 1/8”.
If your printed project is going to be die-cut, the mechanical requirements for this processes must be built into the design of the printed piece.
The basic principle of offset printing, the dominant printing process, is this simple: ink and water don’t mix. Early lithographers etched images onto flat stone. These images would accept ink, while the porous stone accepted water. When ink was applied, it stayed on the greasy image area and avoided the rest of the stone.
Modern lithography uses the same concept but adds one important element. In modern presses, the image is transferred from the printing plate to a rubber blanket and then to the paper. Hence the name “offset.”
Although there are many different kinds, sizes and qualities of offset presses, the basic configuration remains the same. When the printing plate is exposed, an ink receptive coating is activated at the image area. On the press, the plate is dampened, first by water rollers, then by ink rollers. Ink adheres to the image area and water to the non-image area. As the cylinders rotate, the image is transferred to the blanket. Paper passes between the blanket cylinder and the image is transferred to the paper.
The major types of offset presses are sheet fed and web. In a sheet fed press, cut paper is delivered into the machine. In a web press, paper comes on a large roll and is cut after printing.
Sheet fed presses run the gamut in size and quality from 8-1/2” x 11” or 11” x 17” one-color duplicators found in the majority of quick printers and small commercial shops to high-quality eight-unit presses with sheet sizes as large as 55”. Because web presses can print at very high speeds and large sheet sizes, they are generally used for forms, publications and very long runs.
Formerly the standard printing process, letterpress is now largely used for specialty work. Letterpress is often used for fine art prints, books and posters. Letterpress is also used for imprinting business cards and forms. In the process, the image area is actually raised above the rest of the plate, so the image makes a physical impression on the paper. Modern letterpress uses a photo-etching technique to remove the non-image area from the plate.
Printing is more than reproducing words and images on paper. It is the physical experience itself - holding the piece, feeling the paper, the interplay of ink and paper - that printing is concerned with. As such, paper - the vehicle of the message, as well as the biggest cost item in a printing job - is of prime importance. Understanding paper and picking the right sheet for your job can make or break your job.
Papers are defined by grade and basic weight. Understanding these two concepts is the key to specifying the right paper.
There are five basic grades of paper:
Bond: Usually reserved for letterheads, business forms and quick printing jobs.
Offset or uncoated book: Probably the most common sheet for offset printing, offering a smooth, uncoated look.
Coated book: A glossy sheet that yields vivid colors and excellent reproduction.
Text: A high-quality sheet with a lot of texture. It gives soft, gentle colors and a look of class.
Cover: Used for book covers, postcards and business cards. It is available as a coated or uncoated sheet.
Within each grade there are other distinctions - based on brightness, opacity and fiber content. For instance, there are matte, premium and ultra gloss finishes to coated paper. Text papers are distinguished by finishes like smooth/vellum, felt/embossed, laid and linen.
Bond: Usually 16# for forms, 20# for copying and 24# for stationery.
Text: Ranges in weight from 60# to 100#, but the most common weights are 70# and 80#.
Offset: Usually a 50# to 70# stock.
Coated book: Generally goes from 30# to 70# for web, 50# to 110# for sheet fed.
Cover: Comes in 60#, 65#, 80# or 100# weights.
Success in printing requires scrupulous attention to detail. Organize all information related to your printing job on a "spec sheet" so you and your printer know exactly what you want. Spec sheets are important for filing Request for Quotation forms and purchase orders.
Item: For example, a 16-page self-cover brochure, catalog, etc. Note that one sheet equals two pages. Use pages when "“specifying” a bound piece. All others use sheets and indicate if one-sided or two-sided.
Quantity: Include number of samples and percentages of overs you’ll accept. (The industry standard is plus/minus 10 percent.)
Size: Include both trims and folded sizes.
Stock: Brand name, color, finish, weight; is it text, cover, bristol, bond, etc.?
Ink: Include Pantone numbers, varnishes or in-line coating (spot or overall) for front and back.
Files: Let the printer know what file format will be provided. It’s helpful to provide a list of fonts used, as well as any linked graphic files or other components needed to output the final product. The most common problems experienced by prepress operators are missing graphic files or fonts. Some printers prefer to receive .eps or .pdf files to “collect” everything in one file.
Some print customers protect themselves from costly mistakes by “preflighting” files before sending them to the printer. This type of software, using your printers’ preferences, will check it for output accuracy and provide a report of approval or list errors that need to be corrected.
Proofs: Specify the type of proof required. Some color proofs are not considered “contract” proofs. This means they are not required to match the press sheet. If an accurate color proof is required, be sure to specify a contract proof. Blueline proofs are used to check placement, content, and backup - not for color.
Bindery: Trim, fold (type of fold), die cut, score/perf (lithoperf/score or letterpress perf), collate, number, drill (number of holes and hole diameters), stitch, shrink-wrap.
Finishing specialties: Embossing, foil stamping, UV coating, laminating, etc.
Packaging: Carton weight, padding, pallet and labeling.
Due date and delivery instructions: Include address and phone number to call for verifying shipment.
Return-artwork instructions: Specify number of boards and/or disks and photo/transparencies to be returned along with number of samples.
Quoted price: Be sure to understand the printer's terms and conditions of sale.
Questions to ask BEFORE you prepare the file:
Responsibilities: File Originator (The Designer)
Responsibilities: Service Provider
The prepress proof gives an approximation of what the final image will look like, this is especially important in four-color printing. This is your last chance to catch prepress errors. Bluelines, ink-jet, and laminated four-color proofs are examples of prepress proofs.
This is your last chance to affect the final product. Press checks can be demanding because they are at the mercy of production schedules. Often you will have only a few hours notice of when your job will be on press. Making changes at this stage can cost hundreds, even thousands of dollars.
Press checks are optional and depend on the complexity of your job. Always discuss a printer’s policy on press checks at the time of quotation (cost per hour for press time, time limits, delay charges, etc.). Have available: