Careful preparation of PDF files is important for a press job. Firstly, the PDF file must be high resolution. If you’re creating a PDF file from an Adobe application such as inDesign, choose the “For Press” option or better when creating a PDF. From other applications such as Quark, Do not downsample below 300 dpi (in general) and don’t compress.

Make sure that you preserve the correct color settings; If you’re creating a four-color project, your PDF file should be CMYK. (Cyan-Magenta-Yellow and Black) If you have spot colors in your project, ensure that the spot colors are preserved when creating the PDF file.

If the document has bleeds (your page prints to the edge of the sheet), please add them to your PDF file. Extend your artwork at least 1/8″ past the edge of the sheet. You can leave crop and registration marks on or off. If you leave them off, we can add them prior to imaging plates.

As always, it’s best to consult your commercial printer BEFORE you begin work on your project. It will save valuable time and $$!

If you’re planning an offset printing job, here’s a short checklist…

Before you even begin, make sure that your printer can handle the files you plan to use. This isn’t an issue when you use the industy standard Adobe products or Quark Xpress, but if you’re designing in any other format, ask first! Also make sure that you’re using a version that your printer has. Most printers accept PDF files, so if your software can create correct PDF files, you’ll be in good shape.

When placing graphics elements into your page layout software, DON’T cut and paste, place!

Ink selections are more important with offset printing. Remember that each spot color equals one printing plate, one special ink mix, one press make-ready/setup, one “run” through the press. So, if you’re specifiying for example Pantone 186, make sure there is only one Pantone 186 in your swatch pallette. Having different versions of the same color in your pallette will result in each of those colors generating a separate printing plate. At best, your printer will correct the problem, but at worst, the files will be referred back to you for corrections and you’ll lose time.

If you’re printing in process colors, it’s not so critical. Spot colors can be converted to process colors by simply setting the ink color as a process color from your page layout program. Bear in mind that the closest CMYK equivalent to many spot colors can look very different.

Make sure that your spot colors match when placing graphics into your page layout. While newer versions of page layout software are getting pretty good at realizing that PANTONE 186 C and PANTONE 186 U are exactly the same on a press, it’s not the case if you’re printing PANTONE 186 C in your page layout, and the linked graphic specifies “Red”. You’ll end up with two red plates, one for “Red” and another for “PANTONE 186 C”.

Linked graphics: Repeat after me: “NO RGB, NO RGB, NO RGB!” Almost all digital cameras and scanners default to images captured in RGB mode. If your project will print in full CMYK color, convert the graphic to CMYK mode. RGB black will have a cyan, yellow and magenta component as well as black. Printing an RGB element’s black separation will ignore the cyan, magenta and yellow components. RGB black translates to about a 90% black for offset printing. If you’re printing a black and white photo, it will result in a duller, washed out photo. If you’re printing in color, only the black separation will print and you’ll end up with a dull, washed out black and white photo instead of color. Most printers will make the conversions for you if you only have a few photos, but large projects with many linked graphics will start costing you $$ if you don’t do it right in the first place. Furthermore, you’ll have no control over the conversion if you don’t do it yourself, and you may not like the results.

Bleeds: If you project prints to the edge of the sheet, extend your layout at least 1/8″ past the edge of your sheet. This is especially important if you’re providing print ready PDF files to your printer. The printer would have to edit your files to accommodate the bleed, or trim the job a bit smaller.

Many of these issues can be corrected by your offset printer if you’re providing the original files, linked graphics and fonts. Depending on the complexity of the corrections, you may incur extra charges. However, if you’re providing a print-ready PDF, it’s vitally important to make sure the PDF if correctly made.

Design your project with the final outcome in mind. For example, will there be a fold? Try not to place elements where the sheet will fold. If you’re designing using spot colors, try to minimize two light colors from having to trap to each other. It will result in “halos” where the two colors come together. If you’re pushing an unreasonable deadline, avoid heavy ink coverage that may take extra time to produce. The more complex the job, the longer it will take to produce, and will usually cost more.

Above all, stay in touch with your printer during the design process, don’t worry about asking questions… Your printer will appreciate that you’re making the effort to ensure a smooth process.

For more information on offset printing, click here.

This short video shows the offset printing process in a nutshell.

• After artwork is finalized, the art is sent to a platesetter where a plate is output for each color on each side of the sheet.
• The press operator starts the make-ready:

The plates are hung on the press

The press is set up for the sheet size and thickness

The ink fountains are inked up

The press operator begins to dial-in the color density required

• After the make-ready, the job is run

This is just a simple demonstration of a simple letterhead job in red ink and black ink. More complex jobs, such as those with heavy ink coverage, bleeds and more ink colors use essentially the same procedure; make-readys just take more time.

Click here to get quotes on offset printing

In general, don’t use Word files for offset printing. Microsoft never intended Word to be used for offset printing applications. Aside from quality issues, Color Word files can’t be separated into spot colors, only printed in 4 color process. If you have to use Word to create a file to send to your offset printer, here are a few things to look out for:

• If your project is going to print in one color, set up your Word file in black and white!  Your color choice can be incorporated on the press in your color choice in place of black. If you set up a color in Word, it can only be separated into the 4 primary color components: Cyan, yellow, magenta and black. For example, if you set up your word file in a medium blue. Let’s say that the blue’s color components are 80% cyan, 30% magenta, 20% black. If your offset printer uses the black separation, he/she will only get a 20% tint of what you’re expecting. Even if the cyan plate is used in this example, only 80% of solid can be achieved. Even if the job is converted to grayscale, the blue won’t translate into a solid color and you’ll have a tint instead of a solid where you expect it. Offset printers have tools to convert Word files for suitability with offset printing, but it could take some work, and it’ll cost money.
• If you want more than one color from a Word file, it’s full color or nothing! Color word files can only be printed in full 4 color process. Word is not capable of creating files that can be separated into spot colors. Given the typical quality of a file created by Word for offset printing, it’s a waste to spend on four color process printing.
• Convert your Word files to PDF before you send them to your printer. It’ll avoid unexpected formatting changes. Your offset printer won’t know if it’s what you intended.

If you want the best results for your offset printing project, use the proper tools. For page layout, the industry standards are Adobe inDesign or Quark Xpress. For vector art, it’s Adobe Illustrator, and for bitmapped files, it’s Adobe Photoshop. Sure, you can use other capable programs, but not all printing companies support them.

For more information on offset printing click here

Have you received a call from your offset printer telling you that the fonts you uploaded had a zero file size and (of course) don’t work? What’s up with that?

First of all, this happens only with PostScript fonts. TrueType and OTF fonts are immune. Like just about every commercial offset printer, yours is using an Apple Macintosh.

Mac PostScript fonts contain a “resource fork” which contains the data in the font file. When the fonts are transferred over the internet, they lose the resource fork and arrive with a zero KB font size.

The solution is to compress the font files into a zip file and then transfer the zipped file. When they get to the other end, unzipping them will create an intact font file.

Click here for commercial offset printing

What does “spot” color mean in offset printing? It means that each color in an offset print project is printed with it’s own ink. For instance, let’s say you’re printing letterhead where the logo is green and the rest of the type is black: In offset printing we would use black ink and a green ink. Offset printers use the Pantone Matching System (PMS) to mix specific ink colors.

An analogy to spot color printing would be when you’re painting your walls in your home. You decide you want s specific paint color and you go off to the paint store and they mix tints into a bucket of paint for you.

In order to achieve many colors, it’s impractical to mix an individual ink for each color. In “process” color printing, also referred to as CMYK or full color printing uses four spot colors, cyan, magenta, yellow and black, hence CMYK (yes, black is K!). In offset printing, by varying the amount of each of the four inks on a sheet of paper, just about every possible color can be achieved.

How do you decide which process to use? In general, if your offset printing project contains just a couple of colors, it would be more cost effective to print individual spot colors. A project containing color photos or many colors would be printed using the four primary ink colors, cyan, magenta, yellow and black. In general, if your project contains any more than 3 spot colors, it’s usually preferable to print CMYK.

There are other considerations of course, such as the way the artwork is constructed. Your offset printer can advise you as to what process is more cost effective for a particular job.

Get offset printing quotes

Does the prospect of having to order printing for your company seem daunting? Are you befuddled by paper weights and types? What’s a font? A reverse? Overwhelmed by the technology? Baffled by printing terms? We could go on and on.

On these pages, we will try to clear up the confusing printing process. We’ll give you the advice you need to ease your printing stress. We’ll talk about four color printing, spot color printing, file preparation, Adobe inDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop tips (as they apply to the offset printing process). We’ll touch on type considerations, and general design tips. We’ll talk about preparing PDF files so that they print correctly on a press. And lots more!

Stay tuned! Much more to come!

Click here for offset printing FAQs