Working with a printer

Printing and your logo, stationery & brochure

The files you’ve received from The Logo Factory will be print-ready, so all your artwork will be ready for reproduction, be on it your office desktop printer, at a local commercial print shop or using an online print company. For convenience, many of you will choose to work directly with a local print shop – especially if you’re a ‘do it yourself ‘ type of business owner and are concerned about the quality of your business cards, letterheads and brochures. Nothing wrong with that, but you may be unfamiliar with some of the industry jargon, concepts and terms involved. Accordingly, we thought it prudent to offer clients some helpful hints and suggestions dealing with the printing phase of any corporate identity launch. We’ll give you some tips on working with your printer, how to make sure that your marketing material is always printed to spec and how to help insure there’s no surprises when your new letterheads, business cards or brochures are delivered. For more information on technical terms and concepts, you can always browse our design glossary. Your designer will also be happy to discuss any of these design concepts when working with you on a project.

Gang printing

If your printer is using a ‘gang run’ – grouping your job with a number of other pieces on a large sheet – expect varying colours and print quality from run to run. This type of printing is designed to be cheap, not precise, and you’re not paying for exacting colour standards. Be realistic in your expectations. This is particularly true of discount printers you’ll find online. If they require that you supply artwork in Pixel based formats (.tiff, JPG, etc) you can be assured that this is how your project is being handled. It is not recommended for anything other than ‘quick and dirty’ printing, but if pricing is your major concern, these services provide an adequate alternative to high quality printers. Our recommendation? Use quality printers for your staples – letterhead, business card, etc – while utilizing discount online printing for your throwaways – flyers, sale sheets, etc. The level of quality you’re after will also depend on your market segment. If you’re sending material to Fortune 500 level companies – the higher the quality the better. If you’re advertising cut-rate pricing on consumer goods, a lower level of quality will suffice.

Bleed artwork

From a design perspective, letterhead, business card and brochure artwork that bleeds can be visually appealing, but can add dramatically to the cost of printing. While many clients love the look of full bleed designs, the cost is often prohibitive. When any artwork is placed on a printed piece, and the artwork is located on the absolute edge of the paper, it is said to ‘bleed’, referring to the artwork ‘bleeding’ off the edges of the page. In order to get images, colour fields or artwork to ‘bleed’ off the edges, we have to print the artwork on paper that is larger than the desired size and cut it back. This can add significant cost to a printing job – larger paper, larger press and the additional step of trimming the paper to final size.

Printing 4 color process material

If you’re printing a 4 color process project, and are also using Pixel based images, insure that the digital files you’re supplying your printer are in high enough resolution. While some services will accept images as low as 150 DPI, it’s recommended that your digital files are no lower than 266 DPI (300 DPI and higher for high-quality glossy reproduction). If your images are in a low or even medium resolution, you run the risk of ending up with ‘blurry’ images in your printed piece.

4 color process bitmap images & photography

If you’re printing a 4 color process project, and are also using bitmap images (photography for example), you must insure that the digital files you’re supplying your printer are in high enough resolution. While some services will accept images as low as 150 DPI, it’s recommended that your digital files are no lower than 266 DPI (300 DPI and higher for high-quality glossy reproduction). If your images are in a low or even medium resolution, you run the risk of ending up with ‘blurry’ images in your printed piece.

Printing spot color material

If you’re hiring a printer to print spot color material, and BEFORE printing, ALWAYS check your colours with a Pantone Swatch Book. This is the only way to insure that your colors are to your liking. This is the ‘industry standard’ for matching colors so if your printer tells you that they don’t have one, select another printer. Fast.

Changing spot colors without changing your artwork

Your printer can change spot colors on the press easily, regardless of what is ‘tagged’ in your digital file. The PMS number has no effect on the ink used – it is simply a notation to indicate to your printer what color SHOULD be used. They can set up the press substituting any colored inks for the ones originally proposed. Check the swatch book beforehand.

Converting spot color artwork to CMYK

Colors may not match exactly if you attempt to print spot color artwork as a CMYK (four color process) job. Many printers will simply change the colours to CMYK in your original files – this is haphazard at best. There’s a Pantone Spot to Process Formula book that allows you to choose CMKY equivalents to your spot colors. Use that beforehand, or ask an experienced designer to do it for you. Keep in mind that certain spot colors will not convert exactly and may not match material that you’ve previously printed as spot color.

Press proofs

Always ask for a ‘press proof’ of your job. Most proofing systems are set up for CMYK and 4 color process so you’ll be able to get a fairly accurate ‘first peek’ of your job as it will end up. While it’s sometimes difficult to get a color proof that’s completely accurate when using spot colors it will still give you a rough idea, and also allows you to check for typos and spelling errors.

Paper stocks and the effect on your logo colors

If you’re printing on a combination of coated (glossy) and uncoated (matte) papers – typical with ‘glossy’ business cards and letterheads – keep in mind that the Coated and Uncoated surfaces may shift the colors and the colors may not match exactly across your stationery. Your printer can adjust for this by using different color inks for each part of your print job, but this may increase the price of the print run.