How to Get it Printed, Printing Desktop Images, layout, and design imposition, print finishing.

Our goal is to provide each and every client with complete satisfaction. This is done by constantly exceeding the expectations by providing outstanding levels of added value service combined with industry leading value for money. After creating a project you'll want to get the best output whether you use your desktop printer or commercial printing services.There are many ways to get it printed and ideally you will have decided on a printing method prior to starting the design project.

Digital / Desktop Printing: Desktop printing is important to desktop publishing. It was primarily the introduction of both the Apple LaserWriter, a PostScript desktop printer, and PageMaker for the Mac that kicked off the desktop publishing revolution. Inkjet and laser printers are the most common type of desktop printers and are generally used for personal small volume printing and proofing.
Offset Lithography: Offset lithography is the most commonly used commercial printing process for the bulk of desktop publishing on paper. Offset lithography is used on both sheet-fed and web offset presses. The three primary differences in offset printing and desktop printing (such as inkjet and laser) are the colors of ink and the way the ink is placed on the paper as well as the type of machinery used to accomplish the task.
Laser / Digital Printers: Speed and lower operation costs make laser printers attractive to many businesses. Colour lasers can be found at service bureaus and printers and are often used to produce high-resolution colour digital proofs. Adobe PostScript capabilities found in many laser printers make them popular with graphic designers and desktop publishers who often utilize EPS images and PostScript files.

Scanning & Image Discipline
Designing is only part of the challenge
Most people these days have their own scanning equipment and do a fair job. However, for quality, or jobs involving color transparencies, we recommend having No Duff Stuff's scanning department scan and colour correct your images for you.
Help the scanner do the job right
Indicate where photos will be placed, and cropped by using FPO scans in the layouts instead of final scans. (FPO is "for position only.") Place a white-filled text block label over each one with "FPO" marked clearly - then "group" the label to the photo.
If you attempt to do your own scanning and color correction, make sure you know and understand exactly what your printer needs.
Scan images at maximum resolution possible at 100% then resize and resample. Rotation, Crop, and Scale must be exact. Use a resolution at least 2.5 times (250%) the line-screen your printer will use. (Read our scanning help page for some detailed tips for this.) Understand HOW to use your scanner. Above all: Let your printer separate all color images. If you do it yourself, then you MUST have your printer instruct you on setting up your own CMYK separation set-up. Always remember that the monitor only approximates photo appearance. Proof carefully. If you do not have colour laser proofing in house, then utilise Adobe Acrobat to produce a .pdf file and print that file at your local service bureau. You should have a good idea on how you are doing BEFORE the job goes to the printer. In most cases, it's most recommended to have the printer proof it for you. They will analyze it and point out trouble areas.

Page Layout
Eventhough the printing world has almost completely converted to electronic transmission and pre-press, there are still certain rules and protocols to which your pages must adhere. Learn these and make sure they are correct on every job you send.
1. Bleeds: If any item on your page touches the edge of the final printed sheet, your art should extend .125" (one eighth to a pica) beyond the edge of the paper. Any graphics that will bleed must have extra, non-critical image area on the edge that will bleed. If it is an electronic file, the bleed area must be provided for in the page set-up. It is impossible to have a letter-size page bleed if the page set-up indicates an 8.5 x 11 page.
2. Folds: Fold marks are dotted lines. They should be indicated just outside the edge of the final paper edges, and beyond the bleed indication. Make sure they line up, and are positioned correctly on the paper. Rule of thumb: Print your project with fold lines running the full page, then fold the dummy to confirm that they are positioned correctly. Such safeguards are often omitted, and the results disappointing. We see many 3-folds which were designed to be folded evenly. This is incorrect. One panel should be slightly smaller. The more panels, the more leeway must be allowed for paper-folding. Ask your printer representative for a dummy. They will provide one. (Remove the fold lines before going to print.)
3. Bindery Operations: any physical modifications that are to be performed on the sheet after printing must be indicated. Always make a "dummy" which is a prototype of the final piece, completely folded, stitched and finished just as if it were printed. This will help you identify many potential problem areas. Again, ask your printer representative. If the project has critical folds, scores or other off-press operations the printer will be happy to provide a mock-up. Many times for jobs that are weight sensitive, the paper mill will provide cut, stitched or folded dummies of different paper weights. This is particularly important when mailing is involved.
4. Gutters: extra care must be given to gutters where a project is to be saddle stitched. (Folded, then stitched through the center fold) Allow extra space for readability -- the more pages you have the deeper the gutter needs to be. Ask your printer for guidelines. Many paper companies have a design support department and will be happy to make you a stapled/stitched dummy sample of your completed book, on the paper you intend to use. Ask your printer.
5. Imposition: This is the way the pages will be arranged on the master press sheets the printer will send through the printing press.This is also very important in regards to simple jobs like post cards, brochures, tents and other single-sheet projects that are to be backed-up. Make sure you print both sides of the project, then assemble the pieces to make sure everything fits. We've seen many brochures, flyers and post cards where the second side is upside-down. It's a common mistake, particularly when using work-and-turn or work-n-flop techniques.
Ask your printer to help. They can see that you avoid problems later when any problem is an expensive one.

Page Crafting & Assembly
Designing is only part of the challenge
Today's printing projects can become extremely complicated. It's your job to make sure the complication does not get in the way of efficient procedure.
Keep your files clean and simple.
Remove anything on the pasteboard in the final version.
Remove all text holders, and unused objects on the pages. (We've seen many white squares on printed jobs that turned out to be a "hidden" picture block which imaged as an opaque block because the person forgot to delete it!)
Delete everything that shouldn't print. Don't just put a patch cover over it -- these things have a way of moving or getting "sent-behind" at the most inopportune times.
Carefully scrutinize your colour palettes (or resources) and remove unused colors. If you specified a color, then changed your mind, the color is still there and can potentially image a separate piece of film in some situations. (They also make the file size larger for no reason.)
Remove unused Style sheets, master pages and fonts from the final file
Beware of long paths in vector files. Clean up the stray anchor points as best as you can. Some plug-ins and filter utility programs are available which remove unnecessary anchor points. Use them. Use the path splitting function. If you don't know how, refer to your manual or ask the printer. Always ask yourself if there is a simpler way to do something, or if you've put something on the page which is not essential.