Press
Related
01 |
Ganging your jobs will save you money. |
02 |
Do not wait until the last crucial moment to have your
project printed. |
03 |
Allow your projects ample drying time. Inks will only
dry so fast and offset will occur if your printer is forced to cut
and trim your project before the inks are thoroughly dry. |
04 |
Printers schedule press time according to their
clients' needs. Don't open yourself up to rush charges by waiting
until the last minute to get your project started.
If your printer has to pull off another clients' work,
to rush your project through, YOU WILL incur additional expense. |
05 |
Print the "same color projects" at the same
time in order to lessen the wash-up charges you will incur for the press. |
06 |
Combine corporate packages to print at the same time.
If you are in need of letterhead, envelopes and business cards - you
could print them altogether. By printing each on a larger press
sheet, you would save on press time charges, wash-up charges, stock
and plates used. |
07 |
Stock that needs to be printed on, after being
delivered from a cold delivery van, makes for a slower completion. |
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Back to Contents |
Ink
Related
16 |
One of the major expenses in the cost of printing is
the number of colors you use. |
17 |
1-Color printing is acceptable for some things, but
2-color printing is usually the norm. |
18 |
The use of a second color, will increase, your
printing price. Sometimes, up to double the expense. |
19 |
Spot color printing is more cost effective than four
color process printing. |
20 |
Four color process printing is not necessary unless
you have full-color photograph reproduction. |
21 |
It is possible to mix 2 or more spot colors which will
result in additional colors, without additional expense. |
22 |
Most print houses have standard ink colors. Using
these standard colors will prevent additional expenses from being incurred. |
23 |
Your colors should be prepared with trapping, if
colors overlap in the piece. This will prevent "white areas"
where there should actually be color. |
24 |
DO NOT use spot colors with CMYK (four color process)
colors. This will incur additional expenses for you when the printer
needs to fix your files before outputting to film. |
25 |
In some cases, to eliminate the need for metal plates,
you should AVOID using massive coverage of one ink color. |
26 |
AVOID bleeding your colors off the edge of a sheet.
This will be more cost-effective when your piece does not need to be
"trimmed to size." |
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Do
Not Assume!
36 |
DO NOT assume that all printers have your best
interests at heart. |
37 |
DO NOT assume, the printer will fix your mistakes for free. |
38 |
DO NOT assume, your expectations are detected by the
printer. You must convey your ideas to your printer! |
39 |
DO NOT assume a printer will accept expenses for your
typography mistakes. |
40 |
DO NOT assume, a printer will follow this quotation
price, if you make multiple changes before your project actually gets
to the press.
Why Not........Printers'
quotations are a reflection of your "request for a project
price" - and are based on the information you have supplied them.
IF you have not given the printer an accurate picture
of your project, then it stands to reason, they were not going to be
accurate in their quoting process.
During interviews with prospective clients, I have
experienced many complaints concerning their invoices not reflecting
the "original quote" price they received. Most times, this
was a direct result of the client themselves, not relaying a
"true picture" of what the project entailed. |
41 |
If possible, always supply the printer with a
pre-printed sample of your previous run for accurate quoting. |
42 |
DO NOT assume the printer will automatically run your
work. Always call in advance, even if you print weekly. |
43 |
DO NOT assume a printer has the ability to print
everything. If you need presentation folders, perhaps you need to
inquire with a Specialty House? |
44 |
DO NOT assume the printer will tell you they don't
print specialty items. Many printers will take your order and out
source it to another supplier. Mark up the project when it is
completed and send you a billing which is much higher than it would
have been, if you utilized the proper channels. |
45 |
If you're a print buyer, make yourself knowledgeable
in all phases of the industry. DO NOT assume someone else will make
you aware! |
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Bindery
Related
08 |
Avoid difficult folding techniques. |
09 |
Saddle-stitching is not necessary on newsletters,
pamphlets or brochures if you intend on using an envelope to mail it. |
10 |
Considering hand-folding your own materials. |
11 |
An advertising agency will send us their old sheets,
letterhead or miscellaneous stock. We will cut it down, pad it, and
send them notepads which can be acquired for mere pennies! |
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Stock
Related
12 |
Mill items take longer to be delivered to your printer. |
13 |
Consider using coated stock, versus more colors, to
bring a piece to life. |
14 |
Before wanting a specific stock - ask your printer if
there are any leftover shelf stocks which can be used instead. This
saves cash! |
15 |
Special stock should be ordered ahead of time. Give
yourself plenty of time to be prepared. |
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Pre-Press
Related
27 |
Save dollars and supply your own text. |
28 |
You are not required to let the printer output your
films for you. |
29 |
You can save when you supply your project films. |
30 |
You can utilize a Service Center for all your
pre-press needs. |
31 |
If you know the press your printer will use, supply
your ready plates. |
32 |
Do not color separate a two-color spot job that has no
tight registration. Your printer will be able to "mask off"
the color seps during the stripping process. |
33 |
Remember, whether you supply your films, or the
printer shoots them, they belong to you once you've paid for the
completed project. |
34 |
When changing printers, make certain your old films
are sent to the new printer. This will save on unnecessary
reproduction of these films. |
35 |
Save yourself the aggravation and check with your
printer to see what software program(s) they support.
Providing your printer with a four color process piece
done in Publisher, will definitely add to your costs of having it
prepared for better output. (Publisher does not handle four color
process photograph separations properly.) |
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Customer
Proofing
46 |
Colored printers will not give you a 100% accurate
color proof. |
47 |
Request your printer to send you a 3M Rainbow (Dye
Sublimation Proof) when you are in need of viewing a 99% accurate
color proof. |
48 |
Should you fear that your colors or layout are
incorrect.....ask your printer for a short pre-run of your project.
While this will incur additional expense at the beginning - it will
save you expenses in the long-run should you be correct. |
49 |
Signing your final proof is acceptance of the proof
provided - and that you are in agreement to continue to the final
phase of printing. |
50 |
NEVER sign the proof unless you're ready to go to
press. Signing the proof makes you responsible for payment. |
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Miscellaneous
Strategies
51 |
Save additional funds on typesetting by doing the
design work yourself. |
52 |
Hire a professional to design all your advertising materials. |
53 |
Hire an employee with typography experience, to save
the $60-$125 per hour charged by most printers and designers. |
54 |
Avoid the need for "tight registration" in
your projects and save! |
55 |
Give yourself more leverage during the quoting process
by telling each printer - you are going to several others for a quote
and you will be going with the lowest price.
Printers most likely will "underbid" their
normal markup, to insure they stand a chance to get your job. |
56 |
If you run flyer projects constantly, why not
"gang" up on these projects to save yourself the extra cost
involved with the wash-up of inks? |
57 |
Have the printer "break down" the price of
their quote. It will give you bargaining power if prices aren't
matching other quotes you have received. |
58 |
DO NOT use a slide program to prepare a brochure that
needs color breaks. |
59 |
If the printer has ample time to complete your job, he
will be much happier - and you will be happier when the invoice arrives. |
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60. Clients
will use bitmapped images instead of vector graphics.
Example: Vector
graphics can be enlarged or reduced in size without losing their
consistency, while bitmapped images will tend to show
"jagged" edges.
61. Clients
will supply disks using the wrong format.
Example: Supplying
a flyer that was produced in a slide presentation program and expect
miracles to happen when the printer needs to output the project to film.
Example: Using a
publishing program that does not separate colors properly. Sure, it
may look great on your screen - but it doesn't output in the
Commercial Printing Industry!
62. Clients
will supply camera ready artwork with screens or gradient colors.
Example: A
gradient in color means you start with 100% of a specific color and
using a gradual decrease or tint of the color, the final
"end" color becomes white. Clients fail to understand - we
can not make our camera do tricks. Anything with a screen tint, will
not be picked up during the "shooting" process. Gradient
colors, screens or tints will need metal plates - and therefore need
to be output to film. DO NOT supply them as camera ready artwork.
63. Clients
will supply camera ready artwork with 256 grayscale images.
See Explanation
#62 above.
64. Clients
mistake "full color" as anything with color in it.
Example: Clients
think anything with color is naturally "full color," or
four color process. When receiving a quote for such a piece, the
client will be flabbergasted with a high price. Printers assume the
client knows what "full color" means and therefore will
quote a four color process, when in fact, all the client wants is one
color. Be certain of everything your project will entail so your
quotation request is accurate.
65. Clients
supply camera ready copy that hasn't been properly proofed.
Example: If you're
going to supply your own films - then be certain to check it for
errors. Incidentally, proofing should be done BEFORE it gets output
to film!
I had a client who
used as many of the cost effective tips we mentioned above - with one
major fallacy. They didn't carefully proof it for spelling errors
before they had it output to four color films and a Matchprint. This
mistake cost them a pretty penny - considering we found 17 spelling
errors in the entire piece, including the clients' own address and
phone number!
Make
certain this doesn't happen to you with your next printing project.
Make yourself knowledgeable in the print buying process - and smile
all the way to the bank! |