How does your shop make mock-ups?

[nj_printer]

For our four color work, we usually provide Kodak Matchprint inkjet proofs and a b/w mock-up to show folds and/or page order. I've been making the b/w mockups by printing to a copier and finishing it by hand. Our copier is not dead on with duplexing, often one side is slightly off in one axis. Almost all of our clients are fine with this, but currently we have a more demanding client and I need to reevaluate our process.

What do other shops do to make mock-ups? What equip do you use?

FYI - We are a small commercial shop. My b/w mock-ups are usually on 50#, not job stock and we have canon copiers in-house.

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[BrentHals]

Depending on your volume one of the Canon production imagePRESSes will hold much better duplexing registration than any other digital machine with greater color accuracy as well. Since you're already using Canon anyway it may be the path of least resistance.

 

[TigerPress]

We make imposition proofs from the signature (imposed flat) on an Epson 10000. We use standard 70# offset and cut back the ink about 50% to minimize show through. The Epson registers pretty good (say +/- 1/16 over a 40" press sheet), but you do have to adjust it about once per week.

 

[bgardner]

Where I work Now, We use RAMpage Systems and the ROOM Workflow (Rip Once Output Many). After we make Page EPS files out of our single Pages, We RIP them through RAMpage and then impose our press sheets in PREPS, then we rip the imposition through rampage and now the imposition for our press sheet is "Locked in" into RAMpage. For Full Color Work (we have a 28" 4 color and 28" 5 Color Komori) We print out a High Resolution Color Match Print on our Epson 10600 on EFI Best Color Proofing Paper - That shows our clients what there colors will look like, then in the same epson printer, we load in our Digitial Dylux Proofing Paper, and Reprint the same imposed press sheet in full color just at a lower resolution, if the job is 2 sided, we print each side on its own sheet, take the first sheet, tape it down once its straight onto a light table, then take the other side and line up the crops and Reg marks so they are perfectly backed up, and then tape them together with a double sided tape gun - then after that all you have to do is cut everything out on the crops, its perfectly backed up, show it flat, fold it do whatever the finishing of the job requires and show your mock ups that way, did i confuse anyone??

 

[Zippy]

We make imposition proofs from the signature (imposed flat) on an Epson 10000. We use standard 70# offset and cut back the ink about 50% to minimize show through. The Epson registers pretty good (say +/- 1/16 over a 40" press sheet), but you do have to adjust it about once per week.

We use a similar system through an Epson 9800 setup for sheet only and run at 360dpi - 70% ink weight - 90gsm laser stock at press sheet size.

Works very well and you don't have to spend $40,000 on a Spinjet which is a very expensive yet labour saving device that attaches to the front of an HP Plotter and automatically backs up sheets from roll stock.

We used to do reduced or deimpossed pages to a Xerox DC1250 but recieved to many complaints regarding backup and size of pages, so now we use the plotter, with great results.

We run 3 x 9800 Epson Plotters: 2 for High Res colour proofs (Press Proofs) and 1 for the Low Res Mockups.

Hope this helps °¿°