Commercial Printing Help

The type of paper you choose to print your project on has a number of key terms: brightness, weight, and coating. Each of them describe different aspects of the paper and will help you decide what kind of paper you should use for your specific project. Choosing the proper paper can be a daunting task if you’re really serious about what you’re printing. Here’s a bit of information to help you make the decision:

Brightness

In the world of commercial printing, “brightness” refers to how much light is reflected off of the paper. Brightness values range on a scale from 0-100, 100 being the brightest. The important thing to remember is that the brightness mainly affects the vibrancy of your colors. And DO NOT confuse brightness with whiteness. Whiteness refers to the shade (cream, beige, gray) of the paper and has little or nothing to do with the brightness. So just ask yourself – how bright do I want my colors to be?

Weight

The weight of paper is based on how much 500 sheets of paper weighs in pounds. If 500 sheets of paper weighs 80 pounds, then the paper would be referred to as 80# paper. Even though this may seem quite precise, it’s still not an exact science. You’ll still need to treat weight as a rough estimate until you are able to actually examine the paper yourself. For example, 80# paper is a pretty standard paper for flyers or brochures. But just because that’s the standard, it might not be right for your project. Be sure and ask your printer and by all means – ask for paper samples.

Coating

Coating or coated paper refers to a film that is put on the paper that improves or negates how light reflects off the paper. The coating can be applied either on both sides or only on one side of the paper. A very common type of coating is gloss, or glossy paper. It’s used for pictures and any other graphics that you really want to stand out. A matte coating will do the opposite – it will make the image more dull and stand out less.

Now that you’ve got a better idea of brightness, weight and coating, you should be a little better equipped to deal with the commercial printing today.

Going from the do-it-yourself ink jet printing process to the commercial printing process can be quite an intimidating experience and quite a challenge if you’re not prepared. You’re probably comfortable with the equipment you’ve been using, and can even get pretty good results from it. But now it’s time to turn your work over to the professionals.

The printing industry has a language of its own, with its own lingo. This short guide will help you with the basics and hopefully make the transition a little easier:

RGB vs CMYK

RGB stands for the colors red, green, and blue. This is a reference to the primary colors of light. Computer monitors, TV screens and projectors display images in RGB color mode.

CMYK stands for the colors cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (K). This is a reference to the primary colors of pigment or ink. Most of the time, when something is printed professionally, it is probably printed in CMYK color mode.

An important fact to remember is that these two formats are NOT compatible with each other. In order to go from your computer monitor to paper, or vice versa, the original color mode must be converted to the other.

Image Resolution

This is a term you’re probably familiar with. Image resolution is how many dots per inch make up an image, whether on your monitor or on paper. Both computer displays and printers display or create images by reproducing colors one tiny dot at a time. These are pixels on your monitor, or dots on a printed piece. Computers display images at around 72 dots per inch (dpi), while professionally created prints are produced at much higher quality, at 300 dpi or greater.

Why is this important to remember? Because you could not take a small image off the internet, enlarge it on your computer, and attempt to print it. You’d end up with a very fuzzy and distorted image that lacked any sense of clarity. For the best results, you’d want to prepare your file at an original color depth of 300 dpi. You probably don’t need to go any higher than 300 dpi, and if you can avoid it, you shouldn’t go any lower than 150 dpi.

Bleed

A bleed is the area around the edges of your page that will probably be cut off. Why might you want to include a bleed? If you want your pictures or graphics to go all the way to the edge of the paper, you’re going to need a bleed. There’s probably no company out there that can cut each paper exactly right every time. So you’ll want to include about a 1/8” to 1/4″ bleed around the edges. Ensure that no important or relevant text or graphics is included in this area. Before “going to press,” you’ll probably want to ask your printing company how much bleed would be acceptable

There’s a lot more to learn in the world of commercial printing, but these printing basics should give you a pretty good start.