Have you ever had to get graphic files published or DVD artwork for dvd duplication project, sent that artwork to the pressman only to have a series of emails where what always printed for you on your desktop printer – isn’t enough on their end? You don’t really get it, why can’t the professionals just make it work – they are the professionals after all.
Interestingly, this happens often. Its frustrating to all concerned. But after all you’ve done all the hard work with the design, or you’ve paid someone to do the design, why is it so hard? Computers are supposed to make life easier and cheaper and this sure ain’t easy.
Can you make it stop?
First, its significant to note that making artwork for the web or designing for wet ink to hit dry paper are two different things. It may not look that way to your eyes but the data contained in the files is different .The purpose of these two are mutually exclusive.
To be good for a website, a graphic has to contain as little information as possible in order to load quickly.
To be good for printing, a graphic has to contain massive amounts of information or instructions to print in color and clarity.
If you can at least determine if you or your designer understands the difference between the two processes, then you can sidestep a lot of frustration. With the explosion of web design, more and more graphic designers don’t know to set up their files differently for paper printing.
How to determine if you understand what you need to provide to meet the demands of printing on paper.
DPI – Do you know what dpi or “dots per inch” means? The image file ideally should be 300 dots per inch. Taking a 72 dpi image and just changing the number in the image specifications from 72 to 300 isn’t going to change the dpi.
Fonts – All those cool fonts, do you have them? Can you put them all into a folder to present with your artwork? Fonts get show up on a computer screen but when the same file goes to a high-end printer or press, a font is a small piece of code that contains detailed instructions on how to shape those letters or titles as you like them and to match how they appear on your screen.
Images – If you’re using links to images instead of embedding images within a file, then you must include those with the graphics file. When you send out artwork for someone else to print, you need to give them all the information.
Bleed – This isn’t a hospital, its a term for where the image extends beyond where the paper is trimmed so that when its trimmed it appears like your image has indeed printed to the edge. Making your image larger isn’t the same a bleed, you need to include some extra over the trimline image that you have no intention of showing. It is a critical factor in paper printing since usually there are multiple other projects on the press in addition to yours. Things are printed on large single sheets, one side at a time and then cut down to the size of your ad, postcard, CD booklet and folded or stapled if needed.
If you have items that need printing either for your advertising, CD duplication project, poster, brochure, postcards or book, contact a print consultant at http://www.printconsulting.info.
