|
 |
What's
your budget for the project? |
|
What
type of project is this? |
|
What
kind of turnaround do you need from your
printer? |
|
What
type of artwork do you plan to
use? |
|
What
will your project be printed on? |
|
How
many colors do you have in mind? |
|
How
will the color you've chosen look on the paper
you picked? |
|
When
should you proof and what kind of proofs will
you need? |
|
What
binding and finishing steps are
necessary? |
|
Are
you planning to do a press or finishing
OK? |
| |
|
| What's
your budget for the project? |
 |
|
| |
What
you can do with your printing project is largely
determined by how much money you can spend. If
you have champagne tastes but a beer budget,
you'll have to make some
compromises. |
| |
|
| What type of
project is this? |
|
|
| |
Consider the size of the
printed piece, how many copies you need, the
number of colors you plan to use, in general,
and what you expect from the end product. Also,
do you plan to use bleeds? These factors and
others will influence what you'll be spending on
the project and how long it will take your
prepress service provider and printer to produce
it. All of these factors influence the cost and
scheduling of your
project. |
| |
|
| What kind of
turnaround do you need from your printer? |
|
|
| |
Overnight? A few days? A few
weeks? Ask your printer about the normal
turnaround time on a job such as yours. If you
need it sooner. let the printer know and ask if
there are additional charges for faster
turnaround. Will the final product be a
disposable item or will it be reused?
If it
is a single-use item, you may not want to invest
as much time and money in it as you would for an
item that will be reused. |
| |
|
| What type
of artwork do you plan to use? |
|
|
| |
•
Line art
• Drawings and illustrations
*
Reverses
* Electronic art
*
Photographs
* Transparencies |
| |
|
| What will
your project be printed on? |
|
|
| |
Many
customers choose a paper stock without
understanding its printing properties, only to
be disappointed when the job doesn't turn out as
they'd expected. To avoid such problems, work
with your printer or paper merchant ahead of
time to make sure the paper you choose is
suitable for your end product and whether or not
it fits into your budget. Among the things
you'll want to consider are color, size, weight,
grade, grain, opacity, and finish. See the
Technical Supplement for more information on
paper/substrate. |
| |
|
| How many
colors do you have in mind? |
|
|
| |
One
color? Two-color (typically black and a second
color)? Four- color? Six colors or more? Your
color choice affects how your printed piece
looks and what it costs.See the Technical
Supplement for more information on inks. Here
are some of the things you should consider and
discuss with your printer as you make color
decisions |
| |
|
| How will
the color you've chosen look on the paper you
picked? |
|
|
| |
The color and
appearance of ink can actually change depending
on the color, texture, coating, and weight of
the paper you're using. The absorbency, gloss
and whiteness of a paper greatly affect the
appearance of inks, especially special color
match, metallic and fluorescent inks. Also, the
same color ink printed on coated paper stock can
appear significantly different when printed on
uncoated stock.
A special corporate logo
color, for instance, may require an ink
formulation on the actual paper to be used for
the job. A representative print can be produced
by the ink manufacturer in their laboratory and
will provide the best representation of that
match color. Ask your printer if a sample is
required. If so, it is advisable to send a
sample of
the ink on the production paper to
the customer for approval.
If you want metallic or
fluorescent colors, remember such inks are
specialty items and must be considered
carefully. The final effect of these inks is
highly dependent on the quality of the paper
stock being used. Even the best papers may
require a double hit of the ink for best
results. Be sure to discuss this with your
printer. Also, it is wise to order these special
inks well ahead of the press date.See the
Technical Supplement for more information on
these and other inks
Color guides and color
matching chip sets or swatches have a limited
shelf life and will change color over time. It
is important to keep your color guides current.
Send your printer a chip or swatch of the color
you want matched.
Be careful when trying to
print a special color on one form as a CMYK
color match on another form. See the Technical
Supplement for more information on spot
color. |
| |
|
| When
should you proof and what kind of proofs will
you need? |
|
|
| |
To proof or not to proof
should not be the question. When in doubt always
proof a job and proof often. Problems detected
early in the production process are the easiest
and least expensive to correct. Waiting until a
job is on the press to check for mistakes is an
expensive way to proof a job, and often too
late. The cost of a color proof is next to
nothing compared to hearing, "Stop the
press—something's wrong."
Along the prepress workflow
path, there are key places where proofing needs
to be considered, if not mandated. A proof not
only guarantees that the design up to that point
is correct, but also what needs to be done at
the next step is representative and properly
communicated. During the initial stages, a black
and white copy may be an adequate proof. As the
design begins to take shape on the computer
monitor, one or more digital color proofs serve
to ensure that the finer details are reproduced
or modified properly to match the customer's
expectations. For workflow that is entirely
digital. a final contract proof may be all that
is required to finish the job. As a
communication and quality control tool, a color
proof serves as a contract for the customer, who
wants an accurate prediction of the final
printed job. and as a visual color target for
the press operator.
In a more traditional
conventional workflow, a photomechanical analog
color proof, either overlay or single sheet
depending on the critical nature of the piece,
may be appropriate and necessary for customer
okay and pressroom guidance. For black and white
work or two-color work, a blueline maybe
adequate to confirm element accuracy and
register of the film separations. The types of
proofs you choose will differ in cost and
quality, and the number of proofs will add to
the overall turnaround time. Proofing a job,
however, can be viewed as an insurance policy of
sorts—a small price to pay up front to guard
against trouble and expense down the road. See
the Technical Supplement for more information on
Proofing. |
| |
|
| What
binding and finishing steps are necessary? |
|
|
| |
Binding and
finishing encompasses a huge field of
specialized processes and involve many steps.
Most of those steps will affect how a piece is
designed, some will affect how a piece is
printed, some will affect how pieces are
combined, and some will affect the schedule and
cost of a project. Watch especially for
finishing steps that occur after the piece is
completed. For example, a 4 i/2-inch panel on a
brochure may fit the printer's sheet, may cut
and fold correctly. but if the brochure is to be
placed in a rack with 4-inch slots, there is a
problem. To avoid frustration and potential
expense, consider finishing steps as you plan,
then check them again each time you make a
change in any of the project specifications. See
the Binding/Finishing section for more
information. |
| |
|
| Are you
planning to do a press or finishing OK? |
|
|
| |
Press checks needs to
be scheduled. so discuss this with your printer
early, during the planning stage.
How is your printed piece
going to be delivered?
Delivery
considerations impose limitations that may
affect each step of the production process. For
example, if your final product will be inserted
into a magazine or newspaper, the publisher may
have size, trim. bleed, weight and product
identification requirements. These requirements
must be communicated to those who plan, design
and print the product.
If you plan
to mail your printed piece, this is the time to
decide if a small change in size or basis weight
of the paper would reduce your postal costs.
Make a dummy of your project using paper with
the same weight that you intend to use for
production of the final piece, then weight the
dummy and determine your inailing costs. To
minimize postal costs, ask these questions:
Must you conform to weight
and size limitations to stay within the amount
budgeted for postage?
Can you
take advantage of special labeling discounts,
such as bar codes, business reply cards or mail
permits. If so. make sure the designer
understands these requirements. Are the plans
for paper, ink, printing and binding suitable
for your delivery requirements? Factors may
include paper weight, requirements for sealing
folded pieces, selecting scuff-proof inks and
designing noncrushable
products. |
| |
|
