PRINT// TOP 10 MUST DO’S/ KNOW’S12345678910

This manual is my understanding of the 10 most important elements to consider when dealing with print.

CONTENTS1/ cost2/ time3/ colour4/ colour gamut5/ pantone6/ printer7/ format8/ stock9/ finishing10/ proofing

TIMETime is money, and money is more than likelyon a budget. Find out how much time you haveto work with and how long it will take for thework to be printed. Theres nothing worse thanbeing late for a client, puntuality is everything.

//ticktock

1

COSTING£££££££The costing is a major factor to consider when designing something for a client.

It is something you have to be aware of all the time. The client will have a budgetand you have to find a way of using their money in a creative way as to provide

the client with the most cost effectivedesign that works for them.

- As soon as you get a brief for a client, the firstthing you should do is contact several printers

and get a rough quote. Obviously you wont knowexactly what your going to do but a

ballpark figure will be invaluable!

- You need to understand things like unitcosts and understand viable minimumquantities, extras, author corrections andmaybe even delivery of the final prints.

2

C M

Y KPANTONE 361C//

SOLID COATEDPANTONE ORANGE 012U//

SOLID UNCOATEDPANTONE 238 PC//

SOLID TO PROCESS EUROPANTONE 284M//

SOLID MATTEPANTONE DS 199-1U//PROCESS UNCOATED

PANTONE DS 108-3C//PROCESS COATED

PANTONE 9324U//PASTEL UNCOATED

PANTONE 9524C//PASTEL COATED

PANTONE 8161C//METALLIC COATED

DUOTONEMONOCHROME

// SPOT COLOUR // CMYK 4 COLOUR PROCESS

// DUOTONE AND MONOCHROMEColour is a very important element when it comes to taking a piece of design to print. The printer

will need to know the colour process you are using and what exact colours your design contains in order

for the design to print exactly as a client needed.Depending on what colours you use within a designwill effect the cost of print, so it is important to get it

right before it goes to the printers.

The most heard of colour process is CMYK, this is a four colour process made of cyan, magentayellow and black. This process is often used for photographic images and is used in digital printquite often. When designing work for print itis vey important to make sure you are working in CMYK (if thats how you intend to print), worse casescenerio is that you try and print RGB coloursyour design will NOT look anything like it wasintended to!

Spot colouring inks are specialist inks that usethe globally recognized colour swatch system

PANTONE. These are a series of colour swatches that are not made from the CMYK colour process.

There are several different types of PANTONEcolour books. Spot colouring is often used in

logos. Each swatch has a special code which isrecognized in all printers.

Duotone colour is when you use 2 spot coloursin a design. Tones from the two colours add tonal values.Monchrome is using just one colour and its tonalvalues, black is often known to be monochrome, but itcan be any single spot colour.

3

GAMUTThe colour gamut shows the range of

colours which are available for print

and screen. They help you to choose

colours that will be suitable for print

and within the CMYK colour gamut.

This diagram shows all the colours

we can see and then the print and

screen possibilities within that.

COLOUR

4

PANTONE 361C// SOLID COATED

PANTONE ORANGE 012U// SOLID UNCOATED

PANTONE 238 PC//SOLID TO PROCESS EURO

PANTONE 284M// SOLID MATTE

PANTONE DS 199-1U//PROCESS UNCOATED

PANTONE DS 108-3C//PROCESS COATED

PANTONE 9324U//PASTEL UNCOATED

PANTONE 9524C//PASTEL COATED

PANTONE 8161C//METALLIC COATED

PANTONEPantone is a globally recognised colour reference system. Pantone swatchesare a series of colours that each have their own unique colour code. This meansthat designers and printers around the world will all understand the Pantone system and can send their work almost anywhere in the world to be printed.

'The Pantone Color Matching System is largely a standardized colorreproduction system. By standardizing the colors, different manufacturersin different locations can all refer to the Pantone system to make sure colors match without direct contact with one another.' // Wikipedia

5

ROTARYA process which involves image printing plates

that are based around a cylinder. This process is an automated one which means

the material to be printed on can be fedthrough or on a roll.

- There are 3 types of rotary printing:

- Offset lithography: Etched aliminium plates that are wrapped around a cylinder,

which then transfers ink to a rubber offset blanket roller before then printing onto t

he surface chosen. This process is vey fast and can also be known as DTP (direct to plate).

Web offset is another type of lithoprinting, it is often used for producing

large amounts of print for example newspaper printing. They use a big roll of printing material. They are very fast and often have finishing and

folding built into them.

- Rotogravure: This process uses copper plates which transfer ink directly to the print surface, usually on rolls. These are

often long running printers due to the durability of the plates.

The gravure process would be used for things likeprinted laminate flooring and glossy magazines,

gravure is very good quality.

ROTOGRAVURE

- Flexography: A positive mirror image is made of a rubber plate which is then placed around a cylinder which then transfers sticky ink to the print surface, this is usually done using roll feed.

Flexi is often used for things like sweet wrappers and packaging, its not brilliant quality because itscheaper than other processes. Companies always look for best value printing and what your printing and its purpose will decide on what printing process would be most appropriate.

FLEXOGRAPHY

- Screen printing: A printmaking technique thatuses a woven mesh to support an ink blockingstencil. Screen printing can either involve a rotaryscreen press which is mechanical or people could operate it.

SCREEN PRINTING

- Pad printing: This is a printing process whereyou can print a 2D image onto a 3D object.Things you could print on include pens,usb sticks, cups, golfballs etc.

PAD PRINTING

WHAT? HOW? WHICH PRINTER?It is very important to know and understandhow and what different types of printers work and what they are used for. Choosing the rightprinting method could save you time and money.

6

FORM

ATS

//STANDARD ISO PAPERSStandard ISO paper sizes are the most commonly known paper sizes. These relate to A4/A3 etc.

//A/SRA SIZESThe A and SRA paper sizes are a seriesof sizes that specify the sizes of untrimmedpaper used by printers. Dimensions have normally been rounded to the nearestcm.

//IMPERIAL (NORTH AMERICA)Imperial sizes were sizes measured by inchesrather than cm. This was a measuring systemthat the UK used to use, often oldergenerations can only understand theimperial system because they were taughtthat. North America is the only place thatstill uses the ‘old’ system. As a designer you have to be aware of this, as youcould end up printing something in thewrong size.

//METRIC (REST OF THE WORLD)The metric system is using cm for measuringrather than inches (imperial). In a way I thinkit is alot easier to work with as it gives you smaller measurements to work with (as itseasier to work out).

//TABLOID (COMPACT) BROADSHEETThe tabloid, compact and broadsheet are

all newspaper standard sizes. The Independantis an example of a tabloid paper. The broadsheet

is the largest newspaper format, with the Guardian being a popular broadsheet paper.

A compact is a broadsheet quality printed on a tabloid format, the Daily Mail is an

example of this.

//BERLINERThe Berliner is also a newspaper format

but is taller and wider than a tabloid compact and is shorter than a broadsheet

format.

//ENVELOPE C SIZEC envelope sizes are based around the sameprinciples as A and B sizes. Depending on the

size of the envelope, an A size piece ofpaper should fold down into the same size C

envelope size.

7

//STOCK??Stock is a very important element to print. It can make or break a

piece of design. Its not just the GSM (grams per square meter, weight)of the stock that is important, you need to know what type of

stock is suitable for your printed design.

//Gloss? Gloss paper is often used for photoprints, its helps to make images look sharper

and the colours more vibrant.//Silk? Silk paper has a very luxurious feel to

it, it is paper but feels more like fabric, asit has particles of silk woven into it.

//Matte? Matte paper produces goodquality prints but unlike gloss, it takes awaythe vibrancy of colours, and is veryprone to fingerprints!//Coated? Coated paper is any paper that has had a particular surface addedthis includes gloss and matte.//Uncoated? Uncoated is the oppositeof coated. The stock is a lot more tactilethan coated stocks.

//Laid? Laid paper has a slight texture to it.

//Woven? Wove paper is mainly used for writing. It is made in a similar way to laidpaper but is woven together after initial

making.

//Boards? Boards could mean cardboardor mount board printing, it will have a higherGSM.

//Carton? Carton stock is thicker than ‘paper’stocks but thinner than boards.//Plastics? If you were to print on plastic, you mayuse the PAD process, unless it was a thinner plastic.//Acetates? Acetates are like very thin plastic sheets, almost like plastic paper. They have twosides, one of which will never dry if printedonto!//White?? What is white? There are somany different types of ‘white’, so dontbe caught out. If your sending something to print on a particular white stock, senda sample to your printers so they have an idea of your white!

8

FINISHINGS.

//Embossing/debossingEmbossing is the process in which a particular

part of a design is raised, this is done using heat and pressure.

//DiecuttingDiecutting is the process in which a particular piece

of a design is cut out, using a diecutting machine.

//Foil blockingFoil blocking is a process where use heat

to transfer foils to a particular area of a design.

//CreasingCreasing is a process by which a

design must have certain folds in it tobe put together. For example paper shopping

bags have particular folds in them.This process makes the final stage of the

design easier.

//FoldingFolding is the process by which a

design will be folded in a particular wayafter printing. This could be with

leaflet designs for example.

//BindingBinding is the process by which

a book for example is puttogether. There are several bindingmethods, including perfect bound

and swiss binding.

A finishing is a method that is generally used after the printing has taken place.They are finishing touches that will make the design look amazing.

9

// PRE FLIGHT CHECKS AND PROOFINGThis is probably one of the most important parts

of sending work to print. The proofing and preflight check ensure that everything is PERFECT!

Everything is checked several times over beforebeing given the GO AHEAD.

The BIG sign off//The sign off is where you takethe work to the client andthey triple check it is good to goand sign to say so.This is important! If anything goes wrongas you can just blame the client as they signedit off! (Obviously you check it too!)

10

IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER ALL OF THE PREVIOUS 10 TO DO’S. SLIPPING UP

ON ONE COULD COST YOUTIME, MONEY AND YOUR CLIENTS!

Happy printing.

Design by Kirsty Hardingham.