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With the advanced use of computer and the Internet, new areas of works have entered into the business life. Graphic designing can be basically related to instinctual designs that come into one’s mind while designing, but now anyone who gets proper training can be successful at designing. There are some things that should be taken into consideration before starting the graphic designing work to reap great results.
A good graphic design provides traffic to your business. The first look of your business and the graphic design for it leaves an impression on the viewers, so if it looks attractive and, at the same time, genuine too, your business will definitely flourish. The cost of the design depends upon your project and the designer, because lots of areas need an artistic approach. Graphic designers usually work on projects or specific clients and so they cost according to the project (price per project or hourly) or the client. If you employ a graphic designer for your business, it might cost you a little more than if you get the work done by some service provider company. These companies provide good quality designs at an affordable rate.
What is the most important point that you look for when you are in search of a graphic designer for your business? Experience and quality are the most obvious criteria. Ask to go through their design portfolio and request a client referral list to determine their clients’ satisfaction. In addition, the designer might give you some prepared designs as to what your design will be or similar ones for you to choose from.
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Check each image for horizontal alignment. The easiest way to do this is to set a horizontal guide by dragging one out of the top ruler. Place the guide right at one of the baselines shown in the image. If the baseline is not absolutely aligned with the guide, it is better to use the rotate image command to fix it. Preferably it is better to use numerical rotations (e.g., 0.7° counter-clockwise) with a lot of trial and error
Adjust the levels of the black channel. The end goal is to get an image that has a completely white background, and very black letters. Consult the documentation for details regarding how to adjust levels for different versions of Photoshop.
- Try automatic adjustment of levels first. This will, frankly, rarely suffice.
- Adjust the left and right sliders to get a nice, clean background (without a lot of gray noise) and strong, clear letters.
Adjust the middle slider (the mid-range) to set how heavy the letters appear. The adjustment of this slider (in combination with the left and right ones) can affect whether the font ends up having a light, regular, or semi-bold weight. It can also affect how sharp corners become—heavy, black scans tend to have more rounded edges.
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- Do not create website entirely in Flash, avoiding creating sites in flash. If the situation demands, then an HTML version of the site is preferred.
- Use Flash as a support for content, not the other way around. Displaying content should be the primary objective and Flash should be used only if it is really necessary.
- Do not write text as part of the Flash file. Search engines but especially users will have trouble retrieving it.
- Use Flash wisely and in reasonable amounts. Flash can be a nice design addition without having it interfere with how users come into contact with information.
- Optimize Flash files as much as possible. Keeping size of Flash files to a minimum enables users to spend less time.
- Flash is often used because it’s visually compelling. Visually disabled users are unable to enjoy or appreciate the visuals and the animation like average people do. Special care must be taken when designing with Flash and considering accessibility issues.
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Flash has been the “releaser of energy” for all the trendy web designers on the Internet because it allowed them to express more of what they wanted to say. Soon, Flash had literally taken over thousands of websites. While Flash can be successfully used in web sites with profiles in music, multimedia, online games, interactive activities etc, on most sites Flash is used for the sake of using it and raises serious issues for users.
- Most users are still - despite what many believe - on slow Internet connections such as dial up. Flash is not bandwidth friendly and many designers do not create Flash files bearing this issue in mind. Users on slow connections have to wait a fair bit of time before the web page with Flash loads.
- There are still many users who do not have the Flash player installed and they are not willing to or don’t know how to do it.
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There are very good reasons why limiting the use of Flash is important:
1. Information embedded in Flash is often invisible to search engines
Most Internet navigators begin a web session with a search engine. Information hidden in graphics formats, such as Flash, is difficult, if not impossible, to find and process. While search engines such as Google try their best to extract links and textual content buried in Flash objects, the process is far from perfect. Sites constructed completely in Flash often offer very little textual information – consequently what information a search engine does find ranks poorly. Even sites partially constructed using Flash often “hide” their internal site links using Flash based site navigation.
2. Website reporting on Flash navigation is problematic and cumbersome
Web analytics systems help marketing professionals evaluate website visitor behavior in and around a website, providing actionable information valuable in improving a website’s business performance.
Web analytics tagging is often an after thought. Flash Action Script coding adds extra implementation cost and complexity. Flash designer(s) are often unfamiliar with web analytics requirements and thus don’t consider Flash events tagging requirements during site design. Implemented tag verification is a tedious process as it requires waiting for data to appear in the reporting system – hours or days later. Flash does not provide referrer information, making it very difficult to track navigation paths.
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As mentioned in the previous article, one of the key things to note when working for any print project is the resolution of the image. The other factor to note is color mode – specifically for all print projects, your ultimate destination would be CMYK. Why not RGB? This is because printers create colors differently on a printing press as opposed to colors on a computer screen. In Photoshop, a good way to gauge how a printed work would look like on paper is to turn on Proof Colors. If anything looks wrong or not what was intended, make the appropriate adjustments. Seek to foster a good relationship with local printers, as they will be invaluable when it comes to getting advice and ensuring a job well-printed.
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When working in Photoshop, one of the things to note before a new canvas is started would be resolution. Resolution here refers to the number of dots used in an image, per inch or what is often termed as ‘dpi’. For an image to print in good quality on paper, it needs to have at least 300 dpi. Generally, this is set as the standard and would bring about a good finish for say, a magazine. For newspapers, the dpi can be brought down an acceptable level of 200 or even 150 dpi for the same image. That’s because the quality of the print also depends on the quality of the paper being used, and the better the paper, the lesser the spread of the ink across the paper during the printing process. So generally, it is good to take note of resolution when preparing work – source images from any stock library, or the settings on the camera and the canvas in Photoshop. The finished image can always be resized downwards for lower quality prints or even screen, but it will be a headache if it needs to be enlarged.
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Choke is a term used when a printing image is slightly reduced to prevent a dark overlapped border on a lighter background.
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‘Print-ready’ refers to a graphic design file being formatted to a printer’s needs, so that the printer can make their adjustments in order to print the file appropriately. Although all printers have a pre-press department that can fine-tune files and batch up jobs to a printer, and broker/client must make sure certain actions are taken before it goes to a pre-press department.
The first action is to include “bleed” in the artwork (previously described in post http://projectcenter.wordpress.com/2007/11/01/what-is-full-bleed/), which is about 1/4″ of extra border on the background of the artwork, so that the printer can then print and cut down to size, resulting in a page where the color goes to the edge of the printed piece.
If a PDF is not being sent, but rather an EPS file, Illustrator file (AI), InDesign file (INDD) or PhotoShop file (PSD), then it is recommended that the artwork be outlined (Select > All, then Type > Create Outlines). Outlining is a function that embeds the fonts in the artwork, so that a receiver of the file does not need the incorporated fonts in order to open the file.
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As mention in a past posting (http://projectcenter.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/web-design-flash/), Flash is an animated component that is usually used as intro to a website, but can be implemented within web pages as well.
Keep in mind that entire websites can be created from the Flash software, but there are big issues with that approach. First, it means that your site will probably need more bandwidth over the internet for a viewer to load the website. Second, once the Flash website is created, it is cumbersome to make any changes at a later time. Third, if a client needs to change designers (i.e. the designer goes out of business or does not provide good customer service), the client needs to have and give access to the Flash source file. Without the source file, Flash needs to be recreated rather than revised, which increases the cost of the project.
As a suggestion, it might be a good idea to ask a prospective designer what softwares they will use to create a client website.
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Shells refer to preprinted stationery (typically business cards) that are stocked for future additional printing. As an example, a client might want to maintain a certain image for the materials, but have a lot of employees to manage.
A client like this would have shells printed, that would include images and text that would not change from piece to piece (i.e. company logo, license information, tag lines, etc.). These shells would be stocked at the printer’s facility, and when a client’s employee needs stationery, the shells are then run through the printer again, only printing the employee’s the variable info (i.e. contact information).
Some companys offer an easy way for client’s employees to add their own information online (see www.makepapereasy.com and click “Stationery Reorders”). Websites like this offer the employee and/or client a real-time visual example of the piece that are creating. Once the employee approves the online proof, printed materials are shipped directly to the client.
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Flash is a wonderful tool to make a website more attractive, but clients need to be aware that there is a cost associated to such a feature. Flash is an animated component that is usually used as intro to a website, but can be implemented within web pages as well. Here is an example of a website with Flash: http://www.cavancommercial.com/.
It is hard to say how much more Flash can cost, but it can add anywhere from 10% to 30%, depending on how much is being created.
Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.
If you are new to Design and the print industry, you may already know how frustrating it is to find the right software to keep up with the industry standards and know what each program is designed for since definitions tend to be very vague.
Adobe has long been the industry standard and become synonymous with print. While there are many programs available that offer similar features, sticking with Adobe products will ensure consistency with most print shops. That being said, knowing the differences between the programs and what they are designed for can save a lot of wasted time in preparing artwork. Below is a list of the 3 most commonly used Adobe programs as well as a brief description of each.
Adobe Illustrator:
Adobe Illustrator is a vector based program meaning it is designed to create line art graphics and drawings. It is great for creating logos, graphs, and intricate artwork with higher precision and execution than other programs. As long as the artwork was created in Illustrator (as opposed to being imported) it can be reduced/enlarged to any size without quality loss and the file will remain small. While it has some of the features that other programs have, it does not support them as well . For instance, it has effects and filters but they are much harder to manage and tend to make the file much larger than necessary. It also has type features but doesn’t support multiple pages so it is more complicated to create layouts.
Adobe Photoshop:
Adobe Photoshop is a raster based program. It is designed to apply effects and filters to existing artwork and photography. It is a very powerful program for creating realistic textures, artwork and effects and is equally as good for creating web graphics. Like Illustrator, it combines some of the features that the other programs have, but also like Illustrator, it does not support them as well. In order to achieve the quality and resolution of a vector image, the file could end up being 20x the size of a vector file, so it essential to know what the file will be used for before creating (ie; print or web). Once it has been created at a certain size, it cannot be enlarged without the quality suffering. It also does not support multiple page documents, simply because of the file size constraints.
Adobe InDesign:
Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing program which basically compiles and links artwork, graphics and text into one file. It is designed to layout single and multiple page documents for print. It has a preflight feature which diagnoses any issues you might have before sending to a printer. It also has a collect for output feature which collect all linked artwork and photos along with the file itself and fonts used into one folder. It supports style sheets, rules, page numbering, etc. As with the others, it has several outside features but does not support them as well.
In a nutshell, each program has similar features to the other programs, but is individually designed with one core function that works in tandem with the other programs. If used to their full potential, they will compliment each other rather than compete.
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Everything in the world of tradeshow displays is dependant on size, but here are some budgets numbers to work with:
$1400-$2000 for a curved display, depending on size.
$500-$1000 for the graphics of the display, depending on size.
There are also non-curved displays that start at $500.
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For those clients looking for that gold, copper or other metallic color, there is a solution. Albeit, a solution that will cost a little more and needs guidance.
MetalFX Technology (www.metal-fx.com) manufacturers a “special” ink that results in a metallic shiny look. Printers have to be licensed by MFX in order to print with their inks. Designers need to get with the licensed printer, to get the software they need to create the artwork appropriately. MFX offers samples through online request. Check them out, and ask your broker to help guide you through this process.
Note that MFX is not the only company out there providing this kind of ink. Metallics Unlimited is another brand that apparently achieves a metallic look by simply adding a silver spot color to existing inks, which may be more of a cost-effective route. The brand that is used is usually dependant on what the printers are offering.
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It is very common for clients to push for sooner-than-expected project completions. This can be directly correlated to insufficient planning, which can be directly correlated to an unintended lack of printing awareness.
Let it be known that, as a general rule of thumb, simple offset print jobs take 3-5 days to process. This 3-5 days would include the printing process and delivery, but does not include designing, prepress designing, mailing, or finishing services such as folding, binding, foiling, embossing, etc.
As for designing, there can be no general estimated time given. Each project is treated separately and requires an individual estimate. Prepress designing, which includes the proofing process, can take as little as 1 day if the proof is approved in an immediate manner.
For each finishing service provided, it is suggested to add 2 more days to the project.
For mailing services, if the mailing list is provided in a prompt manner, adding 2-3 days to your project is customary.
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Have you ever received a printed marketing piece in the mail that is specifically personalized with your name?
Welcome to Variable Data, a process by which each unit of a printed material has revelent information pertaining to each person receiving the mailing. Most commonly, the receivers name will appear in the artwork. Other examples might be birth dates, addresses, a reference code, etc.
This process is done the combination of excel spreadsheets, artwork and mailing software.
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Clients and brokers alike have probably heard the term “gang-printing”, which refers to a printing process. Years ago, printers discovered that if they took multiple jobs from different clients and ran them all at once, money would be saved because there would be better organization and less waste. By piling up the jobs and printing in batches, printers can schedule and manage more efficiently. Less paper is wasted because all the space is filled up by the different artwork projects. To summarize, the printers will take multiple projects and strategically place them in a format to fit as many jobs possible on one large sheet of paper. They then divide the projects up by cutting the sheets accordingly.
There are three main drawbacks with gang-printing:
(1) Limitations in quantity- because different clients are coming together on one print-run, clients are given specific quantity choices (i.e. 1000, 2500, 5000, etc.). In other words, it would be impossible for a printer to manage effectively and prevent waste if one client wanted 1500 units and another wanted to 2000 units.
(2) Limitations in stock- for the same reasons in point number 1, the printers will only allow for certain stock choices. This is not too big of an issue, because the printer usually provides quality stock anyway.
(3) Limitations in time- because a printer tries to fill up space, they will typically hold off on the actual printing until they get enough jobs to fill up that space.
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www.IHeartPrint.com just made mention (http://www.iheartprint.com/2008/01/03/lang_en-my-5-print-related-thoughts-for-2008-lang_en/) of ProjectCenter’s blog (projectcenter.wordpress.com), saying that that companies like ProjectCenter “are proving that it’s worth [it] to share knowledge and engage conversations”.
ProjectCenter would like to thank www.IHeartPrint.com for this compliment.
We would also like to thank others (i.e. www.unioncopy.com) that have been sharing our posts to the public. We really appreciate your help.
As always, we greatly welcome your comments on our blog, and hope you will take the time to do so.
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Learning how to use color correctly and accurately is paramount in the print and design industry. What you see on screen does not always represent what will be produced on a print press. A lot of time and resources can be waisted when color is not done properly. Below is a quick guideline for preparing color correctly and accurately for print:
The first step is to calibrate your monitor to ensure the closest representation to the printed color. While calibration tools can be expensive, there are many online techniques to achieving an accurate monitor calibration, a good starting point would be Adobe Gamma which comes with Adobe Photoshop, if you do not have access to Adobe Photoshop, try using an online monitor calibrator.
Once you have successfully calibrated your monitor, the next step would be to determine a color scheme that will work for your project. There are several publications that can assist in determining the right color for your needs. The most popular of which are part of the Pantone Color Resources series titled COLOR: messages and meanings. There are also online color generators that will aid in the choosing of a color scheme, (this is not a swatch color picker, it is simply a basic tool for getting started in determining a color scheme).
Finally, you would need to determine how many colors will be used. If you are working with line art/vector graphics (consists of solid shapes and colors), typically choosing a Pantone color swatch saves money and ensures color accuracy, you can purchase a swatch book from Pantone or request samples from your printer, keep in mind the number of colors used will determine the number of plates used on the press so for cost reduction you would want to keep your colors limited. If you are working with projects that include photographs or images with continuous tones, the most cost effective setup would be CMYK. CMYK is a color process/model involving 4 plates; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Since your monitor produces RGB values most programs will default to this color model, so when preparing artwork for print, you should always create or convert your artwork accordingly.
This is a very quick and basic guide for preparing color correctly. It’s always best to consult with your Project Center representative first before submitting any artwork.
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In the digital printing process, there is no bleed charge per side. Generally speaking, this is due to the fact that there isn’t as much manual labor involved with digital printing, as opposed to offset printing.
Once in awhile, a client will create artwork that incorporates a color they call copper. Unfortunately, copper is simply not a color and it cannot even come close to resembling the real thing, which is a material.
When an art piece is printed with copper, clients will often be disappointed in the end result- the copper color looking more like a brown color. The only true way of accomplishing a copper color on a printed piece is to incorporate foiling services. Foil is just as one would imagine- a foil material that is pressed on to a printed piece of work.
The likelihood that someone would use foil for something like a newsletter is very slim, because it can be an expensive service. Foiling is usually used for business cards, since they are smaller in size and foil sticks better to cardstock.
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If you want to move an anchor point on an object, in Illustrator, and have the lines follow without creating curves, here are the steps:
1) Create your object if you have not created one already.
2) Select the Direct Selection Tool, which the white-filled arrow from your tools palette.
3) Choose a space outside the artwork and click once. This will deselect the object.
4) Move arrow over the anchor point you want to move. A tiny square will show up indicating that you have the arrow in the right place.
5) Click and hold, and you should see the tiny square and the tail of the arrow disappear.
6) Drag anchor point where you wish to place it and release the mouse button.
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The pricing from embroidered apparel and goods is quite simple;
One portion of the price comes from that actual material you are stitching on, meaning there is a cost associated to the goods (i.e. hats, shirts, etc.). To keep costs in control on this matter, it is best to order by the dozen, and of course, the more you buy the lower the unit cost.
The other price comes from the embroidery, and that price changes according to how many stitches are needed to complete the application. To keep costs in control on this matter, keep your design as simple and small as possible. Naturally, the pricing will increase as the artwork becomes larger or more involved.
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A comment was made about the “print feature that allows me to create one business card and print it 12 up wihtout having to make more then one” in Microsoft Publisher.
The commenter is absolutely right, but it is important to understand the appropriate audiences when comparing any Microsoft (i.e. Publisher, PowerPoint, etc.) and Adobe (i.e. PhotoShop, Illustrator, InDesign) graphic products.
Microsoft products are specifically geared towards the consumer sector of business, allowing people who have little to no experience in graphic design a chance to create materials for themselves. They are incredibly simple to use and output.
Adobe products are geared specifically to the business community, where limitations are few as long as you know and understand how to utilize the program. There is a larger learning curve in understanding these products, and sometimes education or training is needed.
These different sectors don’t necessarily work well together, and that is the reason for the last posting. In other words, it is often that a consumer with an MS creation will expect the same results when delivering that creation to a business with Adobe. Although it can be done, it is a challenge to overcome, because the programs don’t talk to each other well. It is very common to have to completely recreate a graphic project in order to take a job to print.
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ProjectCenter is starting a marketing campaign to increase revenue. The campaign is to last 6 months and is focused on businesses within a 2-mile radius of our main location. Currently, the mediums we already have in place are: face-to-face sales visits, emails, postcard direct mailings, transit shelter advertising and bus bench advertising.
We are accepting comments as to what other mediums, or marketing ideas, might help us with the above mentioned criteria. We welcome your feedback.
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Here is an association that print brokers can take advantage of:
The Printing Brokerage/Buyers Association International
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It is amazing, disappointing and quite revealing, when end-users have a negative opinion about print brokering. More specifically, when the end-user has the notion that somehow prices are higher when doing business via a broker, which is testament to how much they truly know about the business. To explain……
How many times has anyone heard someone say ‘I hate my health insurance person. He/She charges too much because he’s/she’s a broker. I order straight from the insurance provider’, or ‘I hate my mortgage person, because he’s/she’s a broker. I go straight to the underwriter for my deals’. Let us even get more ridiculous: ‘I hate my grocery store. I buy my toilet paper straight from the manufacturer’.
The common theme here is that people think that they are somehow being charged more because of that addition layer of service. The fact is that printers offer special pricing to brokers that end-users cannot typically access. Printers would rather that brokers handle the consultation and customer service, so that they can concentrate on what they are good at: printing. This is common practice, an it will never go away.
This structure of business is no different than any other business out there. Looking at the tech industry, there’s always a manufacturer, then a distributor and then a reseller/VAR. Looking at something as simple as soda, there’s the maker and distributor, and then the store and vending machine (do people really get pissed about putting .50 in a vending machine?). Some of the biggest print companies out there (i.e. names that rhyme with Blinko’s and AltaTraffic) are print brokers! Amusingly, graphic design companies like to denounce brokers, simply because they are considered competitors in the print space, but it is very common for them to broker out their design work to freelance designers (it gets incredibly tiring to witness people wasting their energy trying to spread guilt and negativity, when the industry really needs to come together)!
Printing brokering is a legitimate business. It is up to the end-user to decide who they find best to deal with.
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Full bleed refers to printed artwork extending all the way to the edge of a hard copy material (i.e. paper). In other words, no blank border exists on the printed piece.
This effect is usually accomplished by printing artwork larger than the intended size, and then cutting the material down to size.
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1) Select the Pen Tool, and create a series of anchors by clicking in or around the portion of the image/object that you want to keep. When you click the with the pen tool, it creates an anchor, and when another anchor is created, a line path will be created between the 2 anchor points, and so on. Continue this process until you get back to the original anchor point.
2) Use the Select Tool, and select both the portion you want to keep and the portion you want to cut (does not have to be perfect selection), by clicking and holding and dragging the selection box across both portions.
3) Press Ctrl and X, which is the cutting feature. Of course, there are about 2 other ways to do the same action.
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A client came to ProjectCenter for greeting cards, but was intent on differentiating themselves from the competition. Not a bad idea by any means, but there was an issue when coupling the artwork and the stock that was chosen- the client had a photo that they wanted printed on linen cardstock.
Photography, photographed artwork, or scanned artwork are detailed and need to be as crisp as possible, in order to deliver quality work. Lots of effort goes into photography or the creation of artwork, so it is crucial that these formats go to print in the correct manner.
Here is the issue: Regular paper is not suitable for high quality images. This is due to the fact that when the ink makes contact, it soaks into the paper and slightly bleeds. For example, try dabbing a drop of water on to paper. The water soaks in and spreads out. Because of this, images become slightly tainted, and all the work put into the original piece is wasted.
This is why high quality images are normally seen on coated paper or coated cardstock. In these cases, the ink lays on top of the paper, creating more of a pure transfer.
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For those clients that definately know that they have long-lasting marketing materials (i.e. brochures, etc.), that will not need changes, then ordering large quantities is not a bad idea.
There are 2 ways where money is saved with such logic. First, printing prices always go down per unit when the transaction is larger. This is mostly due to the fact that set up charges become absorbed as more units are printed. Second, buying stock limits a client’s ability to make unneeded changes in the artwork, because orders will naturally be requested less often. Most clients do not realize that for every change that is made on graphic art, a fee design fee is incurred.
It is understood that a client would want to order as little as possible when there is a short-term project involved, or the material is in a testing phase, but bigger transactions should be considered for those items that remain consistant.
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Often, a print supplier finds themselves inadvertently put in the position of making decisions for clients. There are many decisions that could be made along the process of printing, from the designing of the artwork to the printing of the product, etc.
Some suppliers make the unfortunate choice not to ‘bother’ their clients with options. This is, of course, a big mistake. When making decisions for the client, the supplier heightens the risk of customer dissatisfaction.
Word to the wise: Put the burden on the clients’ shoulders. Provide proofs. It gives them more control, and they will most likely be satisfied. Even if they are not satisfied, they will at least know that it was their decision that led to the unfortunate outcome.
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Mail marketing has become a common business practice to promote products and services. These mailing tips will improve your results:
1) Create a targeted mailing list that includes the group most likely to buy your products or services.
2) Design the marketing product with the goal of creating an emotional reaction. People buy based on emotion and shop based on logic (warning: too many facts and figures may prevent a response to your piece).
3) Design the marketing product with an action item, such as ‘Call us at 602-252-6655′, or ’Check out our website at www.makepapereasy.com’, etc.
4) Create the marketing product to be quick to read, with a clear message.
5) Time your mail to arrive on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, which are the lightest mail days (less competition).
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Once in awhile, a client will create artwork that incorporates a color called gold. Unfortunately, gold is simply not a color and it cannot even come close to resembling the real thing, which is a material.
When an art piece is printed with gold, clients will often be disappointed in the end result- the gold color looking more like a mustard color. The only true way of accomplishing a gold color on a printed piece is to incorporate foiling. Foil is just as one would imagine- a foil material that is pressed on to a printed piece of work.
The likelihood that someone would use foil for something like a newsletter is very slim, because it can be an expensive service. Foiling is usually used for business cards, since they are smaller in size and foil sticks better to cardstock.
Contact us at questions@makepapereasy.com.
When artwork goes all the way to the edge of a document, it is called a full-bleed piece. Full-bleed product in the world of the offset printing industry is very common, because the tools and machinery are made to accommodate this task.
The method by which this is accomplished is by making the artwork slighty bigger than the actual size. This slightly oversized artwork is then printed on oversized paper, and then the piece is cut down to actual size, leaving no border.
Unlike offset printing, copiers are not necessarily made to handle full-bleed projects. Yes, it can be done by printing on an oversized piece of paper and cutting it down, but a problem still exists. Copiers have what is known as a registration, which is a calculation as to where the artwork is placed on the page. Unfortunately, this registration changes all the time, because of the way a copier is made. The combination of rollers, drums, page thickness, paper stock and temparature all contribute to where the artwork lands on the page, which can slightly change with each and every page. So, when one goes to print on the other side of a double-sided project, they will find that the two pieces of artwork are not exactly lined up front to back.
When this issue happens, a client needs to accept the shortcomings of a copy job, or move the project to the offset printing option. There really are no other alternatives.
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Some clients disregard the chargeability of design services. This could be due to the fact that designing is not necessarily a tangible item. Or maybe clients expect the costs to be rolled into the price of the product.
In any case, graphic design is not a free, unless you have family member willing to do so. Graphic design takes time, takes experience (i.e. portfolio), and requires quality communication. This service lives and breathes by the logic, ‘you get what you pay for’. If a service provider does not charge much for design work, then they probably do not have the experience or resources they need. More than that, if a client decides to be cheap about design work, good designers will ultimately put those projects on a ’back-burner’, and/or not spend a lot of quality time on the creation, and/or allow only a certain numbers of changes, etc.
It’s unfortunate that these actions can happen, but it is the truth. Maintaining competitiveness is absolutely appropriate, but trying to get away with something for nothing in the design world is ridiculous and can be deemed disrespectful.
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Clients will sometimes become very impatient about having to approve artwork (proofs) before sending the project to print. This mainly because the client does not allow themselves enough time for the proofing process. With proofing included in a project, there is no such thing as 48-hour printing.
Everyone loses when there isn’t a proofing process in place. The clients are at risk of getting a product that is not to their standards, and the printer is at risk of losing money and/or losing a client.
It is highly suggested that if a client does not want to go through a proofing process, a printer should create a waiver form for clients to sign.
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Most people start off in the design world using Microsoft Publisher, but they soon find out the limitations of the product. One of the most prevalent limitations is the fact that Publisher cannot support full-bleed artwork.
Full-bleed is a term used when the artwork goes all the way to the edge of the page (no border). Publisher is incapable of supporting this function, because it only designs within certain sizes, and a designer needs oversize artwork slightly in order for printer to cut it back down, to give the product the full bleed effect.
Furthermore, virtually no one in the print industry uses Publisher anymore. Adobe products are the norm. If a printer has Publisher, it will typically be for the use of converting the file to an Adobe format.
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A Vector file is an Adobe product file format, such as .pdf (Acrobat), .ai (Illustrator), psd (Photoshop), .eps (works across all Adobe products), etc.
A Bitmap file is normally what you would see in Microsoft products such as Word and Publisher, such as .bmp, .png, .jpg and so on.
Often, a client will be their own designer, but creates art in a Bitmap format. Unfortunately, that can be compared to a professional baseball player showing up with an aluminum softball bat. In this baseball scenario, the result is obvious, but how does that relate to graphic art? Well, an aluminum bat might hit the ball but it is just not the right tool for the job, and the same applies to graphic software products.
The big deal is this: you cannot enlarge Bitmap files without ruining the graphic quality of the work, whereas you can enlarge Vector files as large you need them to be with absolutely no negative impact.
That said, a printer should not be expected to print quality product if Bitmap artwork has been provided, especially if the artwork needs to be altered in any way.
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It is very common in our industry to see clients that have elaborate graphic design work for their materials, as an attempt to differentiate themselves. Although, it looks ‘great on paper’, it can be horrible to clients’ bottom lines.
ProjectCenter currently has a job for business cards that is going end up costing the client nearly $1.00 per card (1000 units = $1000). That is NOT good, and the client was upset when they discovered that they had taken been down a rathole in their design work. Some of aspets of the job were the client’s fault, such as wanting their cards laminated. Where the big money came into play was the color selection that the client made with the graphic artist. The colors were so out of the normal selection, that the client was forced to do Pantone Match when they went to print.
Pantone Match is function by which the client chooses a color on a color swatch, and each color is numbered. That number gets presented to the printer, and they manually match the color before the printer sends the job to press. Logically, if they manually match colors, or even if they have to simply switch to this special color, then the printer charges more for that service. Normally, we could have sent a job like this one to digital print, costing far less in the process, but that job ended up becoming what is known as a “Spot Color” project, which is charged per color. Also, Spot Color has other charges, such as “Close Registration”. Close Registration is where the 2, 3, or 4 colors on an art piece touch each other. Printers have to process these jobs one color at a time, meaning they print one color, and then run the product through again and again for each color they add. In order for the project to look good, they must line up the job perfectly so colors that are supposed to touch each other do not overlap in the process. If there is an overlap, the project gets thrown in the garbage and they start over from square one.
Had the designer known about the print aspect of their business, they could have consulted their client of the cost they were going to bear by having special colors, etc. By not consulting the client, they made themselves look insuffient, and that is a shame because the artwork itself was rather nice looking.
Consider this: Either work with a designer who is also a print broker, or make sure to run graphic art ideas by a print broker before closing on an art project. Look at this way: I make no business decisions without talking with my lawyer AND my CPA, because they will probably have two different answers. If I only talked to one of the two, I would end up doing something wrong, costing me time and money.
So utilize your resources!
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