Commercial Printing Help

Many people don’t realize how big the difference is between commercial printing and printing for normal people. They’ll usually just walk down to the local copy center and assume they’ll do just as good a job as anyone. That’s not the case though. The difference is huge, and so is the cost of inhouse versus commercial printing. That’s why professional jobs should be produced by professionals. That’s also why there’s a rising commercial printing growth rate. Here’s why:

First, professional jobs require a good deal of typesetting and document creation. You also need the results of your hard work to be exact. That last thing you need is for the marketing materials you created to make your company look incompetent or messy. You want them to help your company.

At some point in the future you’ll probably have some pretty tough deadlines, even if you’ve left yourself several weeks to complete the print job. So make sure you find a company that can properly handle last-minute changes and rush jobs.

Your professional print jobs should be utilizing the highest quality paper and ink out there. However, you’ll only find them with professional printing companies. Your local copy center could probably order the paper for you, but they won’t have the right ink. They also won’t have any relationships established with vendors and commercial printing equipment suppliers in order to get you the best prices. So stick with a company that has experience.

Any company that is well-established in the industry should have employees who also realize that part of their job is customer service. They need to not only provide high-quality products, but also make your experience as easy as possible throughout the entire printing process.

As you can probably tell, finding the right printing service may not be as easy as you though. It’s not like driving by and seeing a copy center that can print you off some flyers for your local garage sale. So make sure you look for a company that can work with you to create quality, professional printed products using the methods you require. Use a commercial printing dealer directory or commercial printing dealer locator if you have to. There are plenty out there. Also make sure they already have established relationships with vendors so that you can get the best prices around.

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.