UberTech
Well-known member
Hello,
Im putting a web page together to help my customers help there customers. So far this is what I have compiled. I look forward to your comments/criticism/additions.
Digital printing is a fast cost effective and efficient way to print your documents. For all it’s benefits and technology digital printing cannot account for poorly designed files or bad layout. Here are a few tips to make sure that you get what you expecting from your files.
Avoid large areas of solid colour.
Large flat areas of colour can look appealing on the designer’s screen but they are extremely hard for a digital printer to produce consistently and evenly. If you design must incorporate large areas of solid colours try and incorporate a pattern within the colour to disguise any imperfections.
Use high resolution (but not too high!) images.
Images that may look great on your monitor may not translate to sharp images when printing. The screen you preview on has a resolution around 72dpi where the typical laser printer prints at 600dpi. When that image is stretched out across a sheet of paper it will look blocky and unappealing. Graphics for a website are not good for printing. On the flip side of this digital camera resolutions have increased markedly of the years. Digital cameras can now produce images suitable for large posters but these are not practical for A4 or even A3 documents as most of the resolution goes to waste. You may reduce the image on the screen by dragging it down on your screen but the original file size is still remains producing large files requiring unwarranted processing.
Don’t scan images from magazines or publications.
Aside from the copyright obligations most magazines are printed using a screening effect. This will produce an unsightly moiré effect when it comes to printing off a digital printer.
Use spot colours.
Picking a random colour off a screen is not an effective way of producing a consistent colour and corporate identity. All digital printers will interpret a colour mix differently (even the same model). If you use spot colours from a swatch regardless of who you send this to it should print the same colour. Some spot colours are unachievable on some machines so check with your printer that the colour you want is within range.
Avoid using process grey.
Process grey is a way of creating a grey colour using all four colours (CMYK) Usually this will be an equal mix of each to produce a neutral colour. This rarely works and certainly differs between digital printing machines. This is due to paper stock, calibration of the device, service of the device or even the colour of the light bulbs in the room you are standing in. Process grey is more appealing than just a grey made from black but it is a fine art for a printer to get it correct every time.
Understand what bleed is.
Your file may be a full size A4 print. You want no white border around the edge so you design a page that is A4 in size. Great work! Well no, not really. When it comes to trimming this down to size (as no digital printer prints edge to edge) the trimmer has no room for error and you will probably end up with a slight white margin. This is because even the best printer may move a fraction of a millimetre during printing. The best way to avoid this is to add bleed to you document. Basically this means create your document 3-5mm larger around each edge. This does no mean magnify your document by a couple of percent it means add extra area that will be trimmed of. Leave text or images that you want in the finished document within your trim size.
Invest in a good Distiller.
A distiller converts documents that you have into a PDF. A PDF is like the US dollar, everyone accepts it. If your file is in PDF form and what you see on your screen is what you expect to see then chances are pretty good that it will print the same. Files produced in CSX, corel draw, office or any application for that matter may not render the same at your print service provider. Whether it is missing fonts, images or formatting this will add time and frustration to your printing experience. If you send a lot of files out for printing your single best investment is a good distiller.
Use practical font sizes.
Designers have a habit of designing for style rather than practicality. I have had several conversations with regards to the size and clarity of small fonts. Typically these revolve around a font that is illegible to a vast majority of the public regardless of how clear a printer prints it.
Don’t convert RGB files.
Your print provider has spent a lot of money on a computer to convert all the RGB files for you. These conversions should happen at the very last stage of printing so you should leave your original files as they are. Alternatively if you are creating a document from scratch, create it CMYK where possible.
Don’t use transparencies over spot colours (at the moment).
Print engine suppliers are playing catch-up at the moment with the latest postscript so you may see a white box beneath these elements see here for some tips.
InDesignSecrets » Blog Archive » Eliminating the White Box Effect
Im putting a web page together to help my customers help there customers. So far this is what I have compiled. I look forward to your comments/criticism/additions.
Digital printing is a fast cost effective and efficient way to print your documents. For all it’s benefits and technology digital printing cannot account for poorly designed files or bad layout. Here are a few tips to make sure that you get what you expecting from your files.
Avoid large areas of solid colour.
Large flat areas of colour can look appealing on the designer’s screen but they are extremely hard for a digital printer to produce consistently and evenly. If you design must incorporate large areas of solid colours try and incorporate a pattern within the colour to disguise any imperfections.
Use high resolution (but not too high!) images.
Images that may look great on your monitor may not translate to sharp images when printing. The screen you preview on has a resolution around 72dpi where the typical laser printer prints at 600dpi. When that image is stretched out across a sheet of paper it will look blocky and unappealing. Graphics for a website are not good for printing. On the flip side of this digital camera resolutions have increased markedly of the years. Digital cameras can now produce images suitable for large posters but these are not practical for A4 or even A3 documents as most of the resolution goes to waste. You may reduce the image on the screen by dragging it down on your screen but the original file size is still remains producing large files requiring unwarranted processing.
Don’t scan images from magazines or publications.
Aside from the copyright obligations most magazines are printed using a screening effect. This will produce an unsightly moiré effect when it comes to printing off a digital printer.
Use spot colours.
Picking a random colour off a screen is not an effective way of producing a consistent colour and corporate identity. All digital printers will interpret a colour mix differently (even the same model). If you use spot colours from a swatch regardless of who you send this to it should print the same colour. Some spot colours are unachievable on some machines so check with your printer that the colour you want is within range.
Avoid using process grey.
Process grey is a way of creating a grey colour using all four colours (CMYK) Usually this will be an equal mix of each to produce a neutral colour. This rarely works and certainly differs between digital printing machines. This is due to paper stock, calibration of the device, service of the device or even the colour of the light bulbs in the room you are standing in. Process grey is more appealing than just a grey made from black but it is a fine art for a printer to get it correct every time.
Understand what bleed is.
Your file may be a full size A4 print. You want no white border around the edge so you design a page that is A4 in size. Great work! Well no, not really. When it comes to trimming this down to size (as no digital printer prints edge to edge) the trimmer has no room for error and you will probably end up with a slight white margin. This is because even the best printer may move a fraction of a millimetre during printing. The best way to avoid this is to add bleed to you document. Basically this means create your document 3-5mm larger around each edge. This does no mean magnify your document by a couple of percent it means add extra area that will be trimmed of. Leave text or images that you want in the finished document within your trim size.
Invest in a good Distiller.
A distiller converts documents that you have into a PDF. A PDF is like the US dollar, everyone accepts it. If your file is in PDF form and what you see on your screen is what you expect to see then chances are pretty good that it will print the same. Files produced in CSX, corel draw, office or any application for that matter may not render the same at your print service provider. Whether it is missing fonts, images or formatting this will add time and frustration to your printing experience. If you send a lot of files out for printing your single best investment is a good distiller.
Use practical font sizes.
Designers have a habit of designing for style rather than practicality. I have had several conversations with regards to the size and clarity of small fonts. Typically these revolve around a font that is illegible to a vast majority of the public regardless of how clear a printer prints it.
Don’t convert RGB files.
Your print provider has spent a lot of money on a computer to convert all the RGB files for you. These conversions should happen at the very last stage of printing so you should leave your original files as they are. Alternatively if you are creating a document from scratch, create it CMYK where possible.
Don’t use transparencies over spot colours (at the moment).
Print engine suppliers are playing catch-up at the moment with the latest postscript so you may see a white box beneath these elements see here for some tips.
InDesignSecrets » Blog Archive » Eliminating the White Box Effect
