Choosing a Printer
Choosing a printer to produce the work you design is akin to choosing a mate to spend your time with. You want to make sure you're a good match. Like a good mate, a printer should have open lines of communication.
You're going to do a lot of work together and see a lot of money exchange hands. You need to be working with someone you can trust. They're the person who's going to deliver your baby. They should be available at the drop of a hat to answer questions. They should allay your nervousness. You should be able to ask them any question without embarassment.
You and your printer should know your limits. What type of equipment do they have? Does it suit your needs?
- Do they have sheet-fed and web-fed presses?
- What are the width of their presses?
- How many colours can they print in one run?
- Do they offer Hexachrome or stochastic printing?
- What kind of post-press equiment do they have?
- Can they provide queous or UV coatings?
Know Your Limits
One of the best pieces of advice concerning prepress is to know when not to get involved. You need to do your due diligence and your printer should do his. Some tasks are best left to the pros in their field.
- Scanning
- Odds are, you have a scanner in your studio. And odds are, it cannot produce the quality product you need for a high-end print job. It's best to farm out scanning to a service bureau or your printer. They'll have equipment which is properly calibrated for the job.
- Colour Correction
- During your time in the graphic design program, we'll show you colour correction techniques. These are a good start. You'll want to talk to your printer to know if they are sufficient. They have pros who can fine-tune your images. Always ask your printer whether you should convert your images to CMYK. They may want to do it themselves.
- Trapping
- Three words: don't do it. Your printer's equipment has its own tolerances. Let them do the trapping, since they know how much trap is needed.