what is print

WHAT IS PRINT? TOP 10 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT PRINT

EDDIE COOPER

CONTENTS 4.

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2.

WHAT ARE YOU PRINTING? PREPARE FOR PRINT COLOUR MODES STOCK/SUBSTRATES IMPOSITION PANTONE SWATCHES TYPES OF PRINTING FINISHING BINDING COST

S THIS BOOK IS SURE TO HELP GUIDE YOU THROUGH THE CONFUSING WORLD OF PRINTING, HOW SUCCESFULLY GET YOUR DESIGN WORK FROM COMPUTER TO PRINT WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS. SETTING UP YOUR DOCUMENT CORRECTLY, CHOOSING THE CORRECT STOCKS, CORRECT PRINTING METHOD FOR YOU’RE WORK AND THE BEST FINISHED TO REALLY MAKE YOUR WORK STAND OUT. ENJOY.

WHAT ARE YOU PRINTING? AN OBVIOUS START BUT BEFOR YOU BEGIN TO TACKLE PRINTING YOU FIRST NEED TO DECIDE WHAT YOUR DESIGN IS THEIRFORE DETERMING HOW YOU WILL GO ABOUT PRINTING IT.

TRY TO DECIDE; -WHO -WHAT -WHERE -WHEN -WHY IN RELATION TO YOUR DESIDE HOW YOU ARE GOING TO PRINT IT.

4.

PREPARE FOR PRINT ONCE YOU HAVE DETERMINED WHO YOUR PRINT IS FOR AND HOW YOU ARE GOING TO PRINT IT A PROBLEM ALLOT OF DESIGNERS FACE IS CORRECTLY SETTING UP YOUR FILE FOR PRINTING, MAKING SURE YOU ARE WORKING IN THE CORRECT COLOUR MODE WITH THE CORRECT SIZE AND FILE FORMAT BEFORE SENDING TO PRINT. MAKING SURE YOU TAKE EXTRA CAUTION WHILST PREPARING FOR PRINT WILL HELP YOU MAXIMISE YOUR PRINTS POTENTIAL. THINGS TO DOUBLE CHECK BEFORE PRINTING;

1. WORKING IN CMYK/ GREYSCALE/ DUOTONE/ MONOTONE. 2. THE RESOLUTION IS 300DPI.

3. YOUR WORKING AT THE ACTUAL SIZE YOU WISH TO PRINT AT.

4. SAVE THE IMAGE IN THE CORRECT FOR MAT; PSD, TIFF, PDF, JPEG. THE MAIN ONES BEING TIFF AND PSD, USE PSD OVER TIFF WHEN USING TRANSPARENCY WITHIN AN IMAGE, TIFF FILES DO NOT SUPPORT TRANSPARENCY.

COLOUR MODES CMYK IS THE COLOUR MODE USED FOR PRINT, ALL PRINTERS PRINT WITH CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW AND BLACK (CMYK) INK, SO TO BE SURE YOU GET THE PERFECT PRINT MAKE SURE YOU WORK IN THESE COLOURS. CMYK IS A SUBTRACTIVE COLOUR MODE WHICH MEANS THE COLOURS ARE BUILD UP FROM DYES STARTINGFROM WHITE.

RGB IS THE COLOUR MODE USED FOR SCREEN, ALL SCREENS ARE BUILD UP OF RGB COLOURS SO TO MAKE SURE YOUR DESIGN MATCHES THE COLOURS YOU WANT ON SCREEN MAKE SURE YOU WORK IN THIS COLOUR MODE. RGB IS AN ADDITIVE COLOUR MODE WHICH MEANS THE COLOURS ARE MADE UP FROM LIGHT AND ADDING MORE COLOUTS MAKES WHITE.

6.

CMYK COLOUR CHART

RGB COLOUR CHART

SUBSTRATES

SUBSTRATES IS ANY STOCK OR MATERIAL THAT RECIEVES THE PRINTED IMAGE, RANGING FROM A STAMDARD SHEET TO PRACTICALLY ANYTHING. CONSIDERING YOUR SUBSTRATESIS VERY IMPORTANT TO ENSURE YOU ARE MAXIMISING THE POTENTIAL OF YOUR DESIGN AND MAKING SURE IT FITS THE AIMS AND INTENTIALS OF THE PIECE OF WORK. COST IS A MAJOR ISSUE WHEN DECIDING ON WHAT YOU ARE PRINTING ON, FOR MASS PRODUCTION OF THINGS SUCH AS BOOKS AND MAGAZINES FINDING THE CHEAPEST STOCK WHICH STILL WORKS WITH YOUR DESIGN IS IMPORTANT OR ELSE YOU WILL BEGIN LOOSING MONEY FAST, WHEREAS FOR A ONE OFF INDIVIDUAL PRINT YOU MAY CONSIDER USING A UNUSUAL EXPENSIVE STOCK TO REALLY MAKE THE DESIGN STAND OUT.

IMPOSITION IMPOSITION IS IMPORTANT WHEN PRINTING A BOOK. IMPOSITION IS THE ARRANGMENT OF A PRINTED PUBLICATION’S PAGES, IN THE SEQUENCE AND POSITION THEY WILL APPEAR WHEN PRINTED; BEFORE BEING CUT, FOLDED AND TRIMMED. AN IMPOSITION PLAN PROVIDES A VISUAL GUIDE WHICH THE DESIGNER CAN EASILY SEE.

8.

PANTONE SWATCHES THE PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM IS AN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNISED REFERENCE FOR MATCHING INK COLOURS. MADE UP OF 1114 SOLID PANTONE COLOURS ON COATED, UN-COATED AND MATTE STOCK. BY MATCHING COLOURS UP TO A PANTONE SWATCH, YOU CAN ENSURE THAT THE DESIGN WILL BE PRINTED WITH THE CORRECT COLOURS AND APPEAR AS ON PRINT AS THEY LOOK ON SCREEN.

TYPES OF PRINTING. LITHOGRAPHY. GRAVURE MAINLY USED FOR COMERTIAL PRINT, PRINTING THINGS SUCH AS MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS BECAUSE OF ITS HIGH SPEED AND LOW COST.

10.

ANOTHER HIGH SPEED PRINTING METHOD HOWEVER THIS PROCESS IS MAINLY USED FOR LONG PRINT RUNS, THIS IS BECAUSE THE PRINTING PLATES ARE MADE FROM A VERY DURABLE AND DEEPER ETCHED COPPER.

DIGITAL

THIS METHOD IS USED FOR SMALL HIGH QUALITY PRINT RUNS BACAUSE OF ITS HIGH COST, HOWEVER THIS MAY BE THE BEST METHOD FOR ONE OF PRINTS BECAUSE THE PRINT THE PRINT GOES STRAIGHT FROM THE DOCUMENT TO THE PRINT SO YOU AVOIDING ALL THE TECHNICAL STEPS IN BETWEEN NEEDED TO MAKE PRINTING PLATES

FLEXOGRAPHY SCREEN PRINT THIS FLEXOGRAPHY MAY LEAVE YOU WITH A POOR QUALITY PRINT WHICH IS WHY IT IS MAINLY USED FOR CHEAP THROWAWAY GOODS, HOWEVER THE PROCESS IS STILL SIMILAR TO THE OTHERS HOWVER THE INK IS TRANSFERRED DIRECTLY ONTO THE PAPER FROM A RUBBER PLATE.

SCREEN PRINTING IS USED FOR VERY SMALL PRINT RUNS DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TAKES PREPARING FOR PRINT, CREATING SCREENS FOR PRINTING YOUR DESIGN, THE PROCESS IS ALSO DONT BY HAND AND IT QUICK TIME CONSUMING. HOWEVER YOU ARE LEFT WITH A HIGH QUALITY PRINT AT THE END.

PAD PRINTING

THIS PROCESS IS USED FOR PRINTING ONTO 3 DIMENTIONAL OBJECTS, MAINLY USED FOR PRINTING ITEMS SUCH AS KEYRING AND OTHER CHEAP PROMOTIONAL ITEMS. IT IS ABLE TO PRINT ONTO 3 DIMENTIONAL OBJECTS BECAUSE OF THE SEMESPHERICAL SPONGE LIKE PLATE.

FINISHING TO REALLY MAKE YOUR DESIGN STAND OUT YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER THE FINISHING YOU APPLY TO IT. THEIR IS A MASSIVE RANGE OF FINISHES YOU CAN APPLY TO YOUR PRINT, HERE ARE A FEW YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER. VARNISHES, VARNISH IS A COLOURLESS COATING WHICH CAN PRODUCE 3 FINISHES; GLOSS, DULL AND SATIN.

FOIL BLOCKING, FOIL BLOCKING IS WHERE A COLOURED FOIL IS TRANSFERRED ONTO THE SUBSTRATE VIA A HEATED DIE.

12.

EMBOSSING/DEBOSSING, TO EMBOSS/DEBOSS A DESIGN IS STAMPED TO THE SUBSTRATE WHICH RESULTS IN A 3 DIMENTIONAL RAISED SURFACE.

BINDING ANOTHER IMPORTANT THING TO CONSIDER WHEN DESIGNING A BOOK IS THE BINDING. BINDING IS THE COLLECTIVE TERM FOR THE RANGE OF PROCESSES THAT ARE USED TO HOLD TOGETHER THE PAGES OF A PUBLICATIOIN. DIFFERENT TYPES OF BINDING CAN AID THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THE PUBLICATION WHILST ALSO ENHANCING THE VISUAL ASPHETICS OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT. SOME TYPES OF BINDING YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER ARE; -WIRO, SPIRAL AND COMB BINDING. -CANADIAN BINDING -SELF BINDS -CANADIAN BINDING -CASE BINDING -PERFECT BINDING -ALTERNATIVE BINDING.

EXAMPLE OF PERFECT BINDING

COST THE FINAL AND PROBABLY MOST IMPORTANT THING TO CONSIDER WHEN PRINTING IS THE COST. I HAVE HINTED ON THIS THROUGHOUT THIS BOOK HOWEVER REALLY WHEN DESIGNING FOR PRINT THE COST IS GOING TO THE FACTOR WHICH AFFECTS THE FINAL OUTCOME. EVERYONE WOULD ALWAYS WANT THEIR WORK TO BE PRINTED ON THE NICEST STOCK ON THE BEST PRINTER HOWEVER SOMETIMES ITS JUST NOT REALISTIC. WHEN DOING BIG PRINT RUNS YOU WANT TO FIND THE CHEAPEST METHOD AS POSSIBLE SUCH AS LITHOGRAPHY WHICH MAY LEAVE YOU WITH A PRINT YOU NOT AS FRESH AS YOU WOULD OF HOPED BUT ALLOT MORE MONEY IN YOUR POCKET.

14.

WHAT IS PRINT?

ENJOY PRINTING.