Filed under: Printing Help | Tags: bleeds, business cards, file preparation, flyers, guidelines, orientation, postcards, prepress, printing, templates
You know the drill -
you get your files set up just right; fonts embedded and/or converted to outlines – check;
color settings correct – check;
folding dummy shows front & back correctly aligned – check.
Then you upload it to your chosen online printer and send it to press . . . only to have it come back to you with the inside of the card upside down.
What did you do wrong?? You made your list & checked it twice, right? Sure – but did you check your layout against your printing company’s guidelines? Do they print work & turn or head to head? There’s a big difference.
That’s where this article comes in.
Most commercial and online printers use what is called a “gang run” method. This simply means that several items are laid out on a 28” x 40” press sheet and printed at the same time. This allows printers to save money, which is generally then passed along to the consumer. It’s the method your printer chooses for printing the second side of that press sheet that affects how you set up your artwork.
The most commonly used methods of “four over four” printing (full color on both sides) are referred to as “work and turn” and “head to head”. In the work & turn method, both sides of a double sided print order are laid out on one side of a press sheet. This would allow the printer to turn the sheets over, once they are dry, and run them through the press a second time, exactly the same way, on the opposite side of the sheet, “backing up the job” without changing plates. The same plates would print the back of the sheet, creating four copies (called “four-out” or “four-up”) prior to cutting and folding.
The head to head method uses two plates – one for the front images, one for the back images. The head of a page is defined by the top of the rendered proof and the bottom is called the foot. Once the front side is printed & dry, your printer can change plates, turn the stack of press sheets over, and print the opposite side of the sheet (the back of the job), then trim down the stack of paper to produce four finished pieces from each press sheet.
When working with an online printer, you are faced with the additional challenge of not seeing your finished product until the entire quantity is printed. For this reason, it is imperative that you check the printer’s policies regarding which method they use. If it isn’t listed somewhere on their website – call their customer service department and ask! Once you’ve determined the method of printing that will be used, you can confidently proceed with your artwork set-up.
If your printer is using the work & turn method, no special set-up is necessary. The alignment of your document will be up to the printer. However, if your printer is using a head to head method, these guidelines will assist you in ensuring a correct finished product.
For this example, we will be using a folded business card. These methods worth the same way for anything with a single fold – greeting cards, brochures, newsletters, flyers, etc. If your set-up is vertical (fold on the left, like a book), the set-up is fairly simple. Notice the orientation of the text in this format. This is very important!!
However, if you are folding your artwork at the top, the layout requires a bit more thought. First, be sure your artwork is set up like so:
Filed under: Printing Help | Tags: brochures, catalogs, desktop, file preparation guidelines, flyers, prepress checklist, printers, printing
In the online printing business, one of the most frequent subjects of discussion is that of file preparation and file transfer. Therefore, we hope to address the most commonly asked questions in this series of articles, to assist online print buyers in better preparing their files for printing. Before you know it, you’ll be creating stellar color brochures, color flyers and even full-color catalogs in the blink of an eye!
In the first of this three part series, we will address color settings – which ones to use, which ones to avoid and how to know the difference.
What is RGB?
RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue. These colors are used for digital cameras, scanners, computer monitors and TV screens. When combined RGB creates white as they are the additive colors of light. Files must be converted from RGB to CMYK if printing on a printing press.
Changing from RGB to CMYK will always produce some color shifting and a reduction in the color gamut because it is impossible to reproduce the entire RGB color palette with an offset press. It is highly recommend that you create and submit your document in CMYK to assure the color looks as close to your original file as possible.
What is CMYK?
CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black and are used in the offset printing process. Printing with these four colors is often referred to as full color or 4-color printing. CMYK are subtractive colors and create black when combined. Any file that is printed on a printing press must be converted to CMYK.
If you are using black in any extensive solid area, you will want to create what is called a “Rich Black” – 60% Cyan, 40% Magenta, 40% Yellow and 100% Black (K). This will give you a deep rich black. However, do not use the rich black color mix on text. Black text should always be printed at 100% black (K).
What should I know about viewing files on my monitor?
You might notice that the colors on your printed piece may not exactly match the colors you see on the monitor. The age and or calibration of your monitor can determine monitor colors compared to the final printed colors. Also, the conversion from an RGB file to a CMYK file will alter the appearance of colors (See RGB and CMYK colors, above). If color is crucial to your final output, order a hard copy proof from your chosen online printer. This will ensure the look of your finished product before the order is completed, giving you the opportunity to make any necessary changes before the final printing.
Join us for our next installment, where we will discuss ways to convert your document to CMYK in various programs. We will also address the best resolution to use to achieve optimum results.
Filed under: Printing Help | Tags: acrobat, adobe, business cards, calendars, file preparation, flyers, guidelines, microsoft word, ms word, pdf, printing files, reader, template
As the Internet becomes a daily standard in most peoples’ lives, online printing companies are experiencing an influx of “new blood”. This new client base presents a fresh set of challenges. While online printers’ previous clients most likely consisted of people with design experience and software, the online print buyer of today is less likely to have access to commonly used print industry software – much less understand the lingo! Sure, John Q. User knows how to find the right company to do his color flyer printing, custom calendars or color business cards, but ask him about things like bleed, four color process or coated vs. uncoated substrates and you’re likely to get a deer-in-the-headlights response.
Well, fear not! Printing a beautiful, high quality document using only Microsoft Word CAN be done! Follow the simple steps below and you, too, can create a print-ready Adobe PDF file that can be uploaded to your favorite online printer!
1. Go to the ‘Print’ dialog box
2. In the scroll down window for ‘Name’ choose ‘Adobe PDF’
3. Next to that window click on ‘Properties’
4. Choose the setting “PDF/X-1a:2001
5. Then click on the ‘Layout’ tab at the top
6. Click on the ‘Advanced’ tab at the bottom right corner
7. There you will see only one choice with a scroll bar, that is the ‘Paper Size’
8. Scroll down to the ‘Post Script Custom Page Size’
9. Once that is selected, enter your PDF size, being sure to include the bleed in your measurements.
For most online printers, the bleed size of a document is typically an additional ¼” to height and width dimensions (i.e. an 8.5 x 11 document would have a bleed size of 8.75 x 11.25). Be sure to check your printer’s requirements before saving your final document for press.
Filed under: Printing Help | Tags: appreciation, business, clients, customer reviews, customer testimonials, printplace, thanks
As they say, keep your friends close; keep your clients closer…well, something to that effect.
In marketing, the only way for you to draw clients in to your business is to make them feel important. And the only way to do that is to befriend them. If you have more friends then you would most likely have more sales than your competition.
So how does this strategy work?
The core of this principle is actually from the famous author Dale Carnegie. According to him, in order for you to win people to your way of thinking is to make them like you. And they would only like you if you make them feel that you’re really interested in them – how they feel, their issues and concerns, etc.
If you want to sell better and make your marketing collateral work (i.e. business cards, flyers, postcards), you need to focus your attention on the other person and not on yourself. When you try to make a sale, don’t look at your desired outcome. But rather look at how you can sincerely help the other person’s life become more convenient and comfortable.
It’s actually the same thing that the Bible says – love thy neighbor. If you love your neighbor, you want to make him feel special and important.
When you learn to make your clients’ needs the priority in your business, then and then can you truly say that you have had a successful business in your hands.
