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Tips Your Friendly Printer Doesn't Want You to Know
(...and a few he wishes you did!) It is wonderful when you can have all of your files prepared and ready to hand over to the printer. Make sure you've used a program your printer uses so there won't be a problem actually opening your files. Make sure you have included the fonts used in your file. If you composed head-lines with 'Twinkeedee Narrow Condensed,' include it separately so your printer can install it. (Just because it came with your program doesn't mean everyone has it.) If you have photos, use high resolution photos and convert them to .TIF files. A 72dpi image might look great on your screen, but won't work as well as you think when it goes to press. If the project is single or spot-color, the photo should be converted to a B&W halftone instead of RGB or CMYK. If the project is full color, the photo needs to be CMYK. If your printer is using IBM-based equipment, don't give him a project done or saved in MAC format, unless you know he can convert it. Setting up your own artwork can save you considerable money-- as long as you do it right. It is best to speak with the printer prior to even beginning so that you know you are giving him a finished product. (More and more people are doing their own artwork these days, but realize that you are cutting the printer out of a good portion of the profit from your order, so don't expect him to spend all day showing you how to do it.) Always provide a print-out of what is in the file so that what you think you are giving him is the same as what he gets when he opens your file. There are lots of other little things you should know and will learn in setting up your own artwork. Those indicated above are among the most common problems. Most printers are using programs such as Adobe PageMaker or Quark. If you want to set your project up in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher, Printshop Deluxe or other lower-end graphics program, make darn sure that your printer either has and uses that program routinely or you know how to convert your artwork for off-site printing. I get called on to bail out a local printer on occasion because someone composed a flyer or brochure in a two-bit cheapo program and expected the printer to fly to the press
with it. There is a reason the high-end professional programs cost hundreds of dollars, and those are what the professionals are using. If you plan on doing all of your own artwork, GREAT! You'll save a LOT of money doing it. They are expensive, but easily pay for themselves after a few projects. I suggest sticking with Adobe's graphics products. If your printer wants you to see and sign off on a proof, do it. Take it back to the office and pore over it and have two or three others look at it after you do, then do it again. Pay particular attention to the obvious things like your phone, fax, address, web address,
e-mail and so on. These things are most often glossed over. Check the spelling and triple check it. Make sure the colors are correct and the images are correct. When you proof something, it is your responsibility to say, “Go! Everything is perfect!” or not. I did a campaign flyer for a guy running for mayor in a small city. I really liked the guy. We were doing a nice 2-color job, 5 or 10 thousand on expensive coated paper. He proofed the job, signed off, we ran it, he took it… and brought it back. His wife found a typo. He demanded that we re-print the job at our expense after HE proofed it and signed off that EVERYTHING was perfect-- but now he wasn't taking responsibility for his own approval. His excuse? “You know I can't spell!!” Needless to say, any respect I had for this politician went right out the window. He won the election by the way, and the financial state of that particular city is a testament to this type of 'responsibility.' You want an ally in your printer. Don't pull the kind of stunt the mayor did in the tip above. I don't think anything ticks a printer off more than someone approving a job, and then unjustly ripping the work apart after it is done. Some people will do that just to get a discount-- you know, try to make the printer feel guilty. If you approve something and find an error after the work is complete, take your lumps and be responsible. Your printer will be MORE RESPONSIVE in wanting to HELP you if you own up to it rather than insisting it was the fault of the printer when really it was your own. In fact, if it looks good, TELL HIM! Another way to get a printer to love you is to pick up your printing when you say you are going to. I just grate when a guy tells me he needs this or that job ABSOLUTELY TOMORROW!!!
and comes in a week or two later after I moved heaven and earth to get his work done on time. Paying on time goes a long way too. Printers LOVE people they don't have to chase. Be a good customer and get it back in service. Printers talk to each other, by the way. It's a fairly tight community… First, printers need regular customers, and regular customers who aren't unreasonably demanding and pay on time are the best. Your printer will be more prone to moving heaven and earth for you those times when you REALLY need it when you are this type of customer. Get to know your printer's lead times. Always ask. Sometimes he has a ton of work and other times he's slow. Make sure you allow enough time to properly get your work done. There are corners that can be cut and they don't always work out. If your job hasn't had sufficient time to dry before it is run through the folder, the whole job could be ruined just to meet your deadline. This is one of many ways an order can be messed up, so give yourself time, give your printer ample time, and create a good relationship. Printers try pretty hard to standardize their pricing, and believe me, there are tons of little costs involved in this business. Please don't make a fool of yourself by walking in to a shop and saying, “I'll give you ALL of my business if you cut that quote in half.” Printers hear that crap all day long. When someone says that to a printer, bells and alarms go
off! When I hear that, I double the price just to get that clown out of my face. I know, for starters, he's pulled that line on everyone in town, or he will and I'm just the first. Second-- more than likely, 'all his business' translates to a couple of orders for 500 business cards over the next two years. On the other hand, the person who walks in and tells me they run 50,000 flyers every week might get me to sharpen my pencil. If a person walks in and tells me they run a half million full color catalogs every month, well, he will not only have my VERY BEST price and full attention, I'll introduce him to my daughter and loan him the keys to the Porsche! Talk to your printer about your project. Tell him or her just what it is you plan to do with your brochures or how you are going to disseminate your flyers. Maybe you are doing an employee manual and want to hand-write on all the little tab inserts. Your printer has seen tons of these jobs and has seen them handled successfully (and unsuccessfully), so he or she just might have some useful pointers to share about layout or mailing or a crew that hand-delivers flyers door-door. If it is going in the mail, maybe the mailing is big enough to quit using the volunteers for slapping labels on your bulk mail, get the addresses printed right on the envelope, and manage When you want to send your project out for bids, type the entire job description up on one single sheet and describe the project in detail as close as you possibly can. Indicate the quantity(s), paper stock (be as specific as possible) ink colors and whether they must be PMS matches, any folding, perforating, stitching (stapling), whether there are any bleeds, close registration, hairline registration-- everything you can think of-- because, if you want a proper comparison from printer to printer, give them all the same details, including a request for production time. Then take that one sheet and fax it to the printers on your list. Indicate that you want your quote faxed back (so you have a written record). You will be amazed at the difference in pricing and you'll begin to discern which printers you should select to bid on the various types of work you need done. You won't be bothering the 4-color shops with your index-tabbed 'orientation manuals' meant for the copy shops. Also, watch to see how long it takes a shop to get back with you with your quote. I have seen it range from hours to days and even weeks! I had one guy call and ask about the quote he gave me (that took 2 weeks to get) and I'd long since ordered the work done! They all say they are full service, but they aren't. They think they need to put that in their ads to build your confidence and compete with the competition. Printers THINK they need to be full service in order to survive. Fact is, printers, after a while, will generally tend to specialize in certain types of work anyway, whether it be letterpress, short-run 4 color, envelopes, wide format, thermography, or whatever. But most will swear they are full service unless they specifically state otherwise and are sharp enough to focus on a specialty. Most printers are like your general practitioner medical doctor. They have 'specialists' they deal with, only they don't send you there-- they send your work there and mark it up. It behooves you to learn who the 'specialists' are and deal with them when you have that type of work. Generally, you'll get a much nicer product, faster, and at an appropriate price than from a printer trying to bang out your full color brochures out back on his old AB Dick. Some can do it, but most are not doing that type of work on a consistent basis to really crank out quality, consistent service on that type of work. I'm sure I'll get a lot of flack about that last statement, but after thirty years in the business, I hold true to that opinion and see it across all sorts of industries. First off, don't wait a week or two to check it over. Look at it immediately and don't gauge the results by the top sheets in the box. The crew will always put the best on top-- every time! Dig down, pull out some samples, and pore over them. Check for consistency in the product, dirt, hickeys, lousy folds… Call your rep's attention to it immediately and don't buy some lame excuse. If they messed up, they messed up and should take responsibility for it-- but take the time right then and there to inspect it. If it's a bad job, the printer should take responsibility for it. Keep calm and demand it or simply walk out and leave it (don't forget your files). Often, however, a mistake is livable and your printer might cut something off your bill for the error if you can deal with it. Be fair, negotiate, live and learn. The LAST thing the printer wants to do is re-print your job-- believe me! But, he will always have your respect if you just go sit down in the corner and pore over the finished product like your really do care. I used to do some expensive menus for a restaurant run by an old Swiss couple. I would deliver them to their HOME, where they would sit me in the far corner of their expensive kitchen while they would analyze the finished pieces with a fine tooth comb for 45 minutes. To say I would 'sweat bullets' would be an understatement. They never found anything wrong and always cut a check before I left, but you know darn well that I was
examining them at the press, checking every little detail while they where churning off the press and before they ever left my shop from there on out! If the printer messes up but makes it right, try him again. If
he messes up the second time, you should be looking elsewhere. My office is based in Corning, New York, I ship all over the county, and am still able to stay competitive in the marketplace. I still solve problems, too. If you have a question, want a quote or have a story to tell, feel free to phone me at 607-962-7412 (speak to a human) or write
tom@mizar5.com. |
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