Print
material
If
you’ve ever had to commission print you’ll
know what a minefield it can be. Mark Hendriksen from Morris
Visitor Publications shares his experience so you get the deal
you deserve.
For many in the travel industry, the printed word (and glossy
images) are still a major part of promoting, selling or informing
visitors about their business. Whilst websites continue to assist
with the gathering of information right through to booking tickets,
the demand for attractive and informative printed matter remains
high.
This
article however, is not to debate the merits of print over
the web,
although there is a print method called ‘web offset’ and
I promise it wasn’t just something dreamt up by printers
as a dig at their new competitors!
With
a plethora of printers, in a choice of locations throughout
the world,
there are some basic questions you need to ask yourself
before you even consider the choice of printer for your particular
brochure, postcard, fold out map, guidebook, leaflet or other
inspired method of reaching your potential or active clients.
It’s all part of the research which reflects in the price,
quality, on-time delivery and long term relationship you will
hopefully receive from the printer you eventually choose.
For
those familiar with print, this is a basic checklist and we’ll
provide you with more of the nitty gritty in subsequent features.
For those requiring a basic understanding, and having
established your budget, here it is.
Firstly,
size does matter. Take a look at half a dozen pieces of print
that may be around you at work and you’ll soon
notice that each of them is likely to vary in size and weight
and the number of pages (pagination). Some have staples in the
spine (saddle stitched) and others are have glued spines (perfect
bound), whilst leaflets are merely folded.
There
are different ‘cover’ paper finishes and weights,
and indeed quality and colour of the paper inside (many shades
of white, matt or gloss). It’s already getting complicated!
Don’t despair help is at hand!
Let’s
outline a basic working process from beginning, to middle,
and end.
When considering the size you will need to take into account
how and where you will be distributing your print (and the cost
of that distribution). If you are using standard display racks
use standard sizes, i.e. A4, A5 or DL (1/3 A4).
The
next step is to consider the quality you need to produce. As
a rule
of thumb, if you wish to print 50,000 or fewer copies
at a time, then you will need a ‘sheet fed’ printer.
If you do bigger quantities then it’s a ‘web
printer’ you
need. It’s helpful to understand what they mean.
Sheet
offset is, together with web offset, the most common printing
method, and is used with all kinds of paper grades in the modern
industry. Sheet printing can be run in everything from small
to very large volumes, but always with high-quality results.
Sheet printing is therefore popular for various kinds of advertising,
posters and books.
Briefly and in greatly simplified terms, sheet offset involves
placing a pallet of sheets at one end of a printing press, feeding
them into the machine, and collecting the printed sheets at the
other end.
For
high-volume printing, such as brochures, daily newspapers and
weekly magazines,
web offset is the most common printing
method. However, printing ‘from the reel’ does not
really produce the same high-quality results as sheet offset,
and lower grammages are often used. The main advantage is that
the unit cost for large volumes is far lower than sheet printing.
In web offset, a large reel of paper is fed into the press
in a long web, and it runs through the entire printing
press at
very high speed. There are two main types of web offset press:
Heatset and Coldset (more on that another time). Common to
both is the fact that printing and often also post-production – such
as folding, cutting and stitching – are done in the press.
Okay,
so you figure the size, the quantity, and should have an idea
of how many pages you want or need. Bear in mind that
most print is done in 8’s, 16’s or 32 pages at a
time (although 4’s are possible too depending on your printer
and ‘finish’ you choose). There are other options
but let’s keep this simple to start with.
Next, and this may again be dependant on budgets, is how you
finish the print, paper weight, quality, brightness, cover weights,
saddle stitch or perfect bound (in the case of magazines or guides,
but not for maps or cards).
Before the print stage you will have had to design and prepare
your publication in a format the printer can use. Remember, the
better the quality of your design and production (and especially
any visual imagery) the better your print will be.
Ensure
that you discuss this with your printer before you design your
print,
or you may find an incompatibility that could prove
costly. Most printers receive ‘digital files’ from
your designers (sent through the internet or on disks) and create
colour proofs to check before going to press.
In
order to give you a quote, printers will need detailed information
from you. Let us assume that you are printing in the UK and want
delivery to a single UK address (do remember you’ll need
storage space!).
Quantity
- no. of copies.
Size - mm x mm, portrait or landscape
Extent - no. of pages + 4 page cover
Colours - 4 x 4 (four main colour process)
Paper weight and type of paper
Cover weight and type of paper
Binding saddle stitched or perfect bound (glued)
Materials - digital files/pdf + colour proofs
Packing in boxes
Delivery to one UK mainland address
You will then get a quote with the details above, with price
+ terms of payment (usually 30 days). Paper is usually supplied
by the printer so ask to see samples.
It
is always advisable to see examples of a printers’ current
work. If you are spending a reasonable sum of money, do visit
them and see how they work. When you have chosen a printer it
is wise to see the publication “on press”, at least
for the first time.
Mark Hendriksen
We'll
shortly be adding another feature, looking at the merits of
printing in the UK vs overseas. We’ll
also cover the processes and pitfalls to avoid so you can get
the
best results
from your campaigns. Come back again soon! To be sure you don't
miss the update, why not sign up for our free monthly marketing
newsletter?
Never
be bamboozled by a printer again!
Do you ever feel that your printer is speaking another language?
Sometimes think you need a phrase book to know what they are
talking about? Why
not download our free print jargonbuster,
specially written for us by Mark Hendriksen
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