Info...

Please review the following information if you are supplying files to us for print, whether you have designed it yourself or it's being designed by Aleo or a graphic design agency, it's very important to know the process and the guidelines needed to produce consistent and high quality work.

" A little knowledge goes a long way ".

From time to time we will put up articles on this page that we think will be of relevance for our clients or interested parties, a good understanding of the techniques and variables involved in print and design process can be used to your advantage whether it's a once off print job or it's part of your job description, preparing files for print.

File Specification

PDF workflow is the industry standard of exchange. When we receive a PDF it goes through a verification process that checks for common technical issues. If it passes the process, we go to print; if there are issues, we contact our client, inform them of the issue and wait for an amended file.

The advantage of PDF is that it allows errors to be identified at an early stage. Clients should proof from the PDF rather than from the source file, i.e. Quark, Indesign, etc.

The PDF must be finished size plus 3mm bleed all around. All images to be 300dpi for best results and all colours and images converted to CMYK including the PDF.

Please contact us if you have any queries on the settings or general queries, there is no such thing as a stupid question, and when it comes to print and design there are plenty of questions to be asked.

Common Mistakes

The best way to avoid mistakes is to communicate effectively with your printer/designer, if you ask all the necessary questions and proof early and proof often, you will avoid any mistakes.

Most common are:

• RGB or indexed colour files not converted to CMYK
• Images and graphics not 300dpi
• Text or images too close to trim
• Incorrect imposition
• Renaming Tiff or EPS files, which will brake the link with
  the page layout file.
• Missing or fonts not embedded.
  

With our PDF pre-press check, a lot of these issues will be spotted early and can avoid costly mistakes, but if you are on a tight deadline it's important to get it right at the design stage.

Standard Paper Sizes

It's important to understand a little about standard paper sizes so that when you are talking about A4 or A5, that you know in Inches or mm what size it actually is.

A Series

A Series is used for most types of general printing i.e. Stationery, publications, brochures and flyers etc. The most common sizes are A4 for stationery and documents, A5 for books and A6 for postcards.
Below illustrates the relationship between the diffrent A sizes. You'll see that all the sizes are in proportion to one another, with A0 being twice the size of A1, which in turn is twice the size of A2 and so on.

Size	Millimetres	Approx. Inches
A0	841 x 1189	33.125 x 46.75
A1	594 x 841	23.375 x 33.125
A2	420 x 594	16.5 x 23.375
A3	297 x 420	11.75 x 16.5
A4	210 x 297	8.25 x 11.75
A5	148.5 x 210	5.875 x 8.25
A6	105 x 148.5	4.125 x 5.875

C Series

C Series is used for envelopes, designed to take A series paper. eg C4 is used for A4, C5 for A5 and so on. DL envelopes take A4 sheets, folded into three Envelope and Paper Folds.

Size	Millimitres	Approx. Inches
C0	917 x 1297	36 x 51
C1	648 x 917	25 x 36
C2	458 x 648	18 x 25
C3	324 x 458	12 x 18
C4	2299 x 324	9 x 12
C5	162 x 229	6 x 9
C6	114 x 162	4 x 6
C7	81 x 114	3 x 4
C8	57 x 81	2 x 3
DL	110 x 220	4 x 8

 

 

The Printing Process

Offset printing is one of the most common printing methods used today. It is used in printing newspapers, direct mail, posters, business cards, envelopes, brochures, greeting cards, banners, books as well as other types of marketing materials that are used to promote and transact business.

Offset colour printing renders your prints with high-definition and contrast – two qualities that are ideal for your business and commercial prints. Rich colours and detailed images are the most striking features that your prints possess and that your readers take interest in.

Offset printing primarily uses four colours to produce your printed literature, in four colour print production, cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks are applied to the paper in microscopically thin layers. With modern multicolour presses, these applications of ink occur in rapid succession. Printers establish and maintain strict sequences for printing each of the colours. Modern printing presses can operate at incredible speeds, requiring many related systems to function nearly perfectly in the blink of an eye. Many printers use a standardised printing sequence of black in the first printing unit, cyan ink in the second, magenta in the third, and yellow in the fourth.

The moment the operator pushes the feed paper and print buttons, a sheet of paper begins a swift and complicated journey. When entering the first printing unit (black), the sheet is pulled between two rotating cylinders. On the surface of one cylinder is a rubberised blanket covered with a thin coating of ink representing a reversed duplicate of the image on the printing plate. This image is delicately pressed onto the papers surface as it passes through the cylinders under highly calculated and consistent pressures.

In this standard printing sequence, black is the first colour printed, the second colour in the sequence is cyan, printing over the black, the third colour is magenta printing over both black and cyan. yellow (Y) is the last printed over the black(K), cyan(C) and magenta(M). The four process colours are now combined, one after the other, in the blink of an eye, to create the final process colour image.

Image above (left) shows the sheet with black ink on first, cyan (above) added


then (above left) magenta and finally yellow (above right) completes the run.

Glossary of Print and Design Terms

If some of the technical terms in this website hav youa bit confused, we have included a glossary to refer to help you understand the terms.
Glossary Print and Design Terms

This glossary includes all the technical and business terms in the book, Getting it Printed, copyright © 1993 by Mark Beach. Used by permission of North Light Books, a division of F&W Publications, Inc. (800) 289-0963. In addition, it has many terms not used in the book but which are part of the graphic arts lexicon. Definitions are abbreviated from Graphically Speaking, which also includes terms about type, design and products.
sourced from www.printindustry.com