The Nuts and Bolts of Printing

Most articles about postcard design and creation deal with the artistic and marketing decisions that go into the making of a great card...this is not one of those articles. What we are dealing with here are the nuts and bolts of making a good final product. How to speed it along at the printer and how to help get it into the mail-stream faster.

When artwork is sent to a printer the majority - by far - of the time that a card spends at said printer is in Prepress. Prepress is the magical place at any printing company that has 15 computers to every one person and where your artwork, files, concepts and designs are digitally prepared to go to the printing presses. If there is an error with your file or a question about the workability of a design, Prepress is where you want to catch it because once ink goes on paper it is too late. Here are some tips to help flow your artwork through Prepress without them calling you with questions.

1. Make sure that you use High Resolution artwork. I suggest 300 dpi or better to make sure that your printed artwork does not come out pixilated. Nothing looks worse and stands out more than when you have low resolution artwork next to high resolution artwork - it makes the whole piece look bad. Never use artwork that you have copied from your computer without checking to see how many dpi it is, web artwork can still look great at a low resolution but if you try to use that same artwork in print it, will look bad. Also, if you do download high resolution artwork make sure that there are no copyright issues with it. There are several great online companies where you can buy royalty free artwork.

2. Be sure to add a Bleed. This may be the biggest bugaboo that a Prepress department will see - a card may be meticulously designed but the artist forgot to add a bleed onto the card. A Bleed is a printing term that refers to the area that goes beyond the edge of a printed piece. It is needed in both cutting (to make sure there isn't a white border) and to aid the Prepress department in fixing any design inconsistencies. The typical bleed is 1/8th of an inch around all four sides. For example if you wanted a 4"x6" Postcard, the artwork that you would send in with a bleed would be 4.25"x6.25".

3. Use a Print Optimized PDF file. If you are sure that your file is correct - you have checked for spelling and checked the phone numbers and all the information on the card, then use this format to send your file. A helpful hint is to have someone else check your information if you designed the card - you can't be objective after working on a card for an extended period of time. A Print Optimized (Please note that this is the second time I have mention Print Optimized, it is one of the options you have when saving a file and if you do not select this option you will be sending junk to your printer) file locks down the artwork for the printer. The benefit of a PDF file is that the Printer won't be able to accidentally alter your file. The bad news about a PDF file is that if you decide you did make a mistake when you look at the proof, the printer will more than likely have to send you the file back for whatever change you want - costing you time and money.

4. Send your Native Files. When you do have a change on your Print Optimized PDF, if you have sent the Native Files (the file on which you designed your artwork) the printing company can make any changes for you. It is quicker this way and since printing companies charge you every time they touch a job you might as well have them make any small changes. Just make sure that the printing company you are working with knows not to touch these files unless there is a problem.

5. Get a hard copy Proof for color critical jobs. When you send your artwork into a printer, the colors you see on your monitor will not match up exactly to what is printed. Your monitor works on a RGB (3 color) system. Printers use CMYK (4 color) to print your card. They should be close but if you have a specific shade of magenta that brands your organization, spend the extra time and money to get a hard copy Proof. If you don't, not only will you be unhappy with the outcome but you will still have to pay for the job.

The Address Area on a mail piece is typically just a blank space with a permit so not much thought is given to how to design it. It is actually quite simple to design, just have 2.5 inches in height by 4.25 inches in width of blank space (that means no permit info in this area) on the bottom right hand corner of the mailer and you should be fine. You may need more space if you have a lot of address information or a special code but 2.5x4.25 should be plenty of space for your Mailhouse to address your mail piece. Just remember to add your permit or return address information above that space.

Folded Mailers. There is just one simple rule for folded mailers, make sure the piece is designed so that the fold of the piece is at the bottom and the opening is at the top. You do not have to design a piece this way but if you don't then your Mailhouse will have to use extra tabs (wafer seals) to make sure your piece meets USPS standards and this will cost you money.

One last piece of advice is to use thick cardstock when printing a postcard. I recommend using 14pt stock (which is the standard sheet at Gage Press) since it has a good "feel" to it - it isn't thin or flimsy.

For more information, visit our website: http://www.gagepress.com/