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Luke O’BrienGraphic Design BA (Hons.)

OUGD201

Contents

Introduction to PrintDesign for PrintColour Systems

FormatsArtwork

StockPrint Process

FinishingProofCost

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Printing is the technique of making

an impression on paper (or on other

substances such as vellum) from inked

type (or as the techniques developed,

from plates, blocks, or cylinders).

From this type, the most important

aspect of printing is that it permits a

large number of copies to be made from

each setting of type.

During the period from the invention

of printing in Europe until 1700, most

books were printed on wooden printing

presses, using metal type.

Offset printing is a widely used printing

technique where the inked image is

transferred (or “offset”) from a plate to

a rubber blanket, then to the printing

surface.

When used in combination with the

lithographic process, which is based on

the repulsion of oil and water.

The offset technique employs a flat

(planographic) image carrier on which

the image to be printed obtains ink from

ink rollers, while the non-printing area

attracts a film of water, keeping the non-

printing areas ink-free.

Types of printing include:

Lithography

Flexography

Rotogravure

Pad Printing

Screen Printing

Digital Ink-jet

Introduction to Print

Images :Team Print

When designing for print you always

need to know what the end printed

product is going to be and also what you

want to achieve.

All the way from start to finish you have

to specify what you want to your client

and the printer.

Find out the client deadline and work

backwards. Find out delivery time, print

time, work out how long it will take

you to design and also allow time for

mistakes and proofing.

Keep a good professional working

relationship with your printer, get to

know them and ask questions they are

the experts on print and you are the

expert on design keep it that way.

Knowing what you want the final

deliverable to be is key to printing.

Design For Print

Colour works differently for print than

it does for screen. This is to do with

the amount of colours ink printing

processes can produce compared to

that of the colours that a screen which

uses light can produce.

Colours for print are generally created

through CMYK but other colours and

various other finishes such as spot

varnish can be applied.

A notable colour system for print is

PANTONE.

The Pantone Matching System or PMS

is a colour system that uses separately

mixed inks to achieve colours that are

outside that of CMYK, these are called

spot colours.

Colours such as fluorescent or metallic

can be achieved in print through

Pantones.

Colour Systems

The ISO paper size concept

In the ISO paper size system, the height-

to-width ratio of all pages is the square

root of two (1.4142 : 1).

In other words, the width and the height

of a page relate to each other like the

side and the diagonal of a square.

This aspect ratio is especially convenient

for A paper size. If you put two such

pages next to each other, or equivalently

cut one parallel to its shorter side into

two equal pieces, then the resulting

page will have again the same width/

height ratio.

Untrimmed paper formats, all A and

B series formats described so far are

trimmed paper end sizes, i.e. these are

the dimensions of the paper delivered

to the user or reader.

Other ISO standards define the format

series RA and SRA for untrimmed

raw paper, where SRA stands for

“supplementary raw format A”

(“secondaries Reformat A”).

These formats are only slightly larger

than the corresponding A series

formats. Sheets in these formats will be

cut to the end format after binding.

The ISO RA0 format has an area of 1.05

m² and the ISO SRA0 format has an area

of 1.15 m².

These formats also follow the sqrt(2)-

ratio and half-area rule, but the

dimensions of the start format have

been rounded to the full centimeter.

Note that other regions have different

paper sizes and bear this in mind during

a job if it has to work internationally.

Also note that if you are designing for

a specific purpose such as a mail shot

then look into specific sizes for post to

make life easier.

Formats

The most important thing about

designing for print is preparing your

artwork so that you know exactly what

you are going to get when it comes out

the other end of the litho printer!

Check the following and make sure you

know everything about your design:

Final Printed Size

Colours

Stocks

-weights (gsm)

-colours

- fisnish

-gloss

-matte

-coated

-uncoated

-silk

- laid or woven

- boards & cartons

- plastics and acetates

CMYK colour profile

(write down colour values for reference)

Specify spot colours

Fonts (make sure usage is legal)

Spell check

Printers Marks

Preflight check

(make sure everything is checked right

before printing)

Mock ups need to be made to show

client and also for your own reference

Proof

Sign off work with client.

Artwork

Stock refers to the material that is to

be printed on. This is not as much a tip

but a consideration that has to be taken

into account before you begin the print

process.

Factors for consideration can include

how heavy it is measured by the grams

per square metre or gsm, how eco

friendly it may be, if its coated or un

coated paper, and how much it is.

If your clever about stock you can use

it to your advantage by using coloured

stock you can then maybe limit your

printing plates to one or two spot

colours to achieve a certain result.

Generation press found this so

important to their re brand that they

had their own unique coloured stock

created by a colour paper technician

called Barry.

Stock

It is important to know the right print

process to choose for your job, a good

dialogue with your printer will help with

this but knowing this shows that you

take pride in knowing how things work

and what is appropriate for your job

both in the results and cost.

Rotary Printing

In this process the image printing plates

are wrapped around a cylinder. This

is an automated print process and the

material to be printed can be sheet fed

or on a roll.

Offset Lithography (planographic)

Etched aluminium plates wrapped

around a cylinder transfer ink to an

‘offset’ rubber blanket roller and then

to print surface. Sheet fed or Web fed.

This process is one of the most common

forms of commercial printing.

Rotogravure (intaglio)

Copper plates (with mirror image)

transfer ink directly to print surface,

usually on rolls.

Advantage, plates are more durable and

so are good for long print runs. This is

used for things that need a deep colour

and publications that need to last longer.

Flexography (relief)

A positive, mirror image rubber polymer

plate, on a cylinder, transfers ‘sticky’ ink

Print Process

directly to print surface. Usually roll

feed. This is mainly used for printing on

packaging and is of a low quality.

Digital Printing

The reproduction of images by

translating the digital code direct from

a computer to a material without an

intermediate physical process.

Ideally suited to short run or specials on a range of print media from paper to metal.

Screen PrintA print making technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink blocking stencil. Used for prints such as direct on to CD’s.

Pad PrintingA printing process that can transfer a 2D image to a 3D surface. The advantage of this is that your printing surface does not have to be flat it can be curved.

There are also types of speciality prints and print finishes you can consider for your print job. These include things like spot varnish, foil blocking, embossing / debossing and laminating.

Print finishing can be the key stage to

finalising your printed resolution.

It can range from anything that helps

to finish off the work, the final stages

of bringing together all the printed

material to bind, cut, fold, crease, stitch

or package your work.

This is an important consideration

because the way you finish a print job

can have a big effect on its cost and

ultimately the quality of the finished

job.

Always look at different kinds of

outcomes and resolutions exploring

different types of printing and print

finishes. This is very important for good

practice as a designer.

Finishing

Proofing is very self explanatory but it

is a very important part of designing for

print, you need to make sure everything

is spelt correctly, you need to get hold

of a printers proof to check for errors

and also to see how the final result will

come out.

It is important that you show this to a

client and get it signed off by them, a

problem with the print discovered after

printing is going to cost you money and

the printers time. If the work is signed

off and there is an error it is on the fault

of the client but and you should help to

rectify it.

Costing is also a very important part of

being a professional designer for print.

Get a quote early on.

Have an identical specification for

three printers and have them give you

estimates so you have something to

work to.

Learn roughly what things cost so you

can take this into account when pitching

ideas and working to a budget.

Understand viable minimum quantities

from your printers so you can get an

idea of the smallest and most viable

quantity this can then be built upon.

Find out if there are any hidden extra

fees such as authors corrections.

Delivery cost.

Proofing & Costing