A small guide on design for print.

By Ben Harwood

Design for Print: 10 need-to-knows.

A0 841 x A1 594 x A2 420 x A3 297 x A4 210 x A5 148 x A6 105 x SRA0 900 x SRA1 640 x SRA2 450 x SRA3 320 x SRA4 225 x

1189mm 841mm 594mm 420mm 297mm 210mm 148mm 1280mm 900mm

Paper Types Coated - Available in Satin, Gloss or Matt. Sharp, Bright, Reflective e.g.

Brochures.

Uncoated - Not as smooth, available in a range of finishes, colours and weights.

Wove - Uniform surface. Faint mesh, patterned paper for stationary/books.

Laid - Premium quality, similar to hand made paper. Common business stationary stock.

Bond - Economic paper for copying or laser printers.

Weight - GSM: Grams per square meter.

Photocopier: 80 Letterhead: 120.

640mm 450mm 320mm

Considering and Selecting Stock 1

Coated Stock Laid Stock

Considering and Selecting Stock 1

Terminlogy Duotone

Colour Systems 2

CMYK - cyan, magenta, yellow and black (key). Process Colours, subtractive and used with litho printing.

RGB - red, green, blue. Screen.

Additive.

Grey scale - Black, white and continuous grey. E.g. Black and White photo Duotone - Continuous tone image in 2 or more spot colours.

Spot Colour - Not cmyk/rgb but specifically mixed.

Mono - Greyscale but with a coloured ink. One colour with tints plus stock

CMYK & Spot Colour RGB

Colour Systems 2

CMYK Used for print based design.

The more colours layered the darker the colour becomes.

Eventually it will become black.

Subtractive.

RGB vs CMYK 3

RGB Used for web based design.

Larger spectrum.

The more colours mixed the lighter it becomes.

Additive.

Rotary Printing Rotogravure

Printing Systems 4

Offset Lithography (Litho) Etched plates wrapped around a cylinder transfer ink to a roller and then onto print surface. e.g Flyers.

Rotogravure Ink strait to print surface. Very durable so ideal for long print runs. E.g. Newspapers Flexography Rubber reverse image rolled onto print surface with ‘sticky ink’ E.g. Crisp packets.

Further Print Techniques

Digital Printing

Printing Systems 4

Digital Printing Ideally suited to short runs or specials. For example the side of a builders van would be a digital print.

Screen Printing Uses a woven mesh to support an ink blocking stencil. E.g. T shirts.

Pad Printing A method that can transfer a 2D image onto a 3D objects. E.g. usb sticks.

Flexography

Pad Printing

Printing Systems 4

How and when to use tints.

Tints can be very useful as all tints can be created from the same printing plate.

This can be economically beneficial as if you are using a spot colour(specifically mixed and non cmyk)a seperate plate has to be made. But you can use all the various tints of that spot colour on the piece of design and use the same printing plate. This allows you to keep costs down but still be visually effective.

Tints are also useful when keeping to a colour scheme and adding consistency.

Tints 5

Remember...

What resolution should working in?

300 Dots Per Inch (dpi)

I

be

What colour mode do I need?

CMYK What format should images coming into inDesign be? .tiff/.psd What format should illustrator images be coming into inDesign? .ai

File Format 6

In InDesign

File>Print>Output>Colours>Separations: This shows you the effect of what printing does to each component.

Deleting any unused spot colours will avoid accidents.

If you intend to print in overprint you must check with the printer the maximum print limit. This lets you know how many layers of ink can be put down before the stock becomes too wet.

To check this: Window>Output>Attributes>Overprint fill then Seperation Preview>Ink Limit Red indicators show whichc areas are exceeding the print limit

Colour Seperations in Print 7

Various Finishes

Deboss

Print Finishes 8

Emboss - Embossing is where an image is pressed into the material so that the image raises from the surface.

Deboss - Debossing refers to an effect that is opposite of embossing.

An uncoated stock usually gives the best effect.

Die Cut - When a piece needs to be cut to a specific shape a die needs to be made from which the piece is stamped out.

Foil Varnishing - The process is achieved by pressing coloured foil onto a substrate with a heated die, which causes the foil to separate from its backing, leaving the design of the die on the paper.

How to deal with costing of print

Early Quotes - Make sure you acquire an early quote so when you approach a client you have an idea of costs.

3 Quotes - Always compare and contrast quotes to get the cheapest.

Learn rough costs! - This will allow you to seem knowledgeable qwith the client.

Minimum quantities - Find out the price for the smallest quantities Author Corrections - Be weary of the client making alterations. This can be costly.

Delivery - Make sure you take in to account how much it will taker to deliver the prints.

Costing 9

The printer vs the graphic designer Although your knowledge may now be at a whole new and incredible level regarding print processes and design for print, never walk into a printers thinking you know everything because that is a printers nightmare.

They are the professionals; take their advice and listen and you will develop a strong, reliable relationship.

Now get printing!

Don’t be a know it all!

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