New to print? Take a look at these beginners' print buying tips:
1. The right printer
Choosing the right printer is important. Printer’s machinery prescribe what jobs they can and can’t do efficiently, so select the printer who best meets your needs.
2. Involvement
Run your ideas by the printer right from the outset. Meetings early on can eliminate wasted efforts on impossible schemes.
3. Keep up to date
Speak to your printer’s regularly. It is useful to keep up to date details of their machines and the samples produced by them. Always visit to see first hand the operation they are running.
4. Samples
To be able to visualise possible options for your print project, it is a good idea to keep a whole range of samples – formats, paper samples and special finishes.
5. A sizes
It is advisable to work with standard sheet sizes. eg A sizes. This reduces wastage. If you must use non-standard sizes, use waste to print additional items at very little extra cost.
6. Colours
It is worth remembering that in the printing process, each colour requires a separate printing plate. So the more colours in a job, the more expensive it becomes. Full colour printed images are made from four colours which are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CYMK). However, some colours termed special colours can not be produced in this way. There are quite a few of these and they are listed in a Pantone colour swatch book. So, if your corporate logo has a special blue and red and is included in a brochure with photographs and text – this constitutes a six colour job. (The four colours CMYK make up the pictures and text and the special colours are considered as two extra colours). The job will therefore need six printing plates.
7. Planning
If planning a mailshot or marketing campaign, draw up a detailed production schedule and stick to it.
8. Dummies
It is useful to ask your printer to make up a ‘dummy’ of your items to be printed, especially if there are several items forming a pack etc (See A to Z for a definition).
9. The finer details
Once the specification and the prices have been agreed, make sure that payment terms, ownership of materials eg artwork and the storage of printed materials are clarified.
10. Proofs
Always request proofs. They should be cut, folded and pasted to ensure everything works. Remember to obtain proof clearance from all relevant personnel.
11. Complex double sided jobs
If your job is printed both sides with one side of the sheet being exposed to the other by way of folds, cut outs etc request that you have wet proofs which have had one side printed first and are then put back through the machine to print the reverse (this is known as ‘backing up’). It is commonplace for printers to print the two sides on separate sheets and then stick them together. However, this can have a wayward affect when when checking positioning, bulk etc
12. Finishing
Give consideration to different finishing processes. eg Two types of fold can mean the difference between machine inserting and hand inserting into envelopes. This obviously has cost implications.
