Seven Tips for a Perfect Printed Piece
As you may or may not know, there is no such thing as a “perfect” printed piece (that was just to catch your attention) but these seven tips will help you get closer in the end. The bindery end, that is. I talked to some local bindery experts, and here is what they recommend:
1. If your piece is going to have crossovers, meaning an image and or text is going to cross over to the next signature, it would be wise to find out from your printing company where the guide and gripper will be located and keep your cross over as close to that area as possible.
The guide and gripper is the area of the press sheet that will experience the least amount of paper stretch and press bounce. Also, stay far away from splitting a word in half from one page to the next signature.
2. Always include at least a 1/16″ bleed on simple trim jobs and 1/8″ on others. Bleed is where an image runs off the page. When your piece is printed, it is impossible to make every sheet align perfectly to one another in a pile, due to variance in sheet size and variance in print position on the sheet. When it comes to cutting the pile, adding the correct bleed will make sure the entire job will appear to be lined up perfectly.
3. If you are sending a file that is going to have a diecut, put the dieline on a separate layer in your file. This way the printer can turn that layer off before it goes to print. Also, if you get a proof and the dieline is printed on it, be sure to let your printer know that it does not print. Sounds obvious, right? Don’t chance it!
4. There are a lot of very cool stocks out there, but before you go crazy, make sure the stock you choose can hold up to what you want it to do. Some stocks may be too thick to have multiple folds, some might not be able to be UV coated, some might take days to dry and should be aqueous coated to keep the bindery equipment from damaging the sheet.
5. When designing a multiple page document that is going to be saddle-stitched, understand the term binderies refer to as creep. Creep is just what it is called, the inside pages or signatures creep away from the spine, due to the increased thickness at the spine by multiple layers of paper.
This causes text and images on the inside spreads to be pushed out and cut off. To compensate for creep, gradually narrow the gutter margins on each page starting on the outside pages and finishing on the inside spread. The amount of ‘creep’ to compensate for can best be determined by building (or having your bindery build) a ‘dummy’ from the same stock on which the job will be printed. You can then measure the exact amount of creep and compensate for it accordingly.
6. When you submit a job to your printing company, provide a finished example and write notes on it. Try to imagine the job from beginning to end as if you are seeing it for the first time. If it does not have page numbers, pencil them in on your sample. Show it to one of your coworkers to see if they understand how it binds.
7. When you are at the concept stage, call the bindery and let them know what you are thinking about creating. They will guide you on how to accomplish your task. They may even make suggestions on how to keep your costs down.
If you skip this step, something that was once simple and easy to produce on high-speed equipment might have to be done by hand, which will bump up your cost and turnaround time. Plus, by communicating to them, you are getting them to buy into completing your masterpiece.
I know after reading these seven suggestions, you are still going to create a piece that will stretch the limits. Undoubtedly your printing and bindery company will hate it, but it will be the example they’ll enter into an awards competition down the road.
Don’t let these tips hold you back either. Just keep the communication going between you, your printer and bindery house so everyone can work together to achieve your “perfect” piece.
(C) 2007 Cathy Skoglund. Reprinted with permission. This article originally appeared in the Southwest Graphics Magazine.
Cathy Skoglund is the manager of Operations and Business Development for Graphic Information Solutions at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.
This article was last modified on January 9, 2022
This article was first published on March 26, 2008
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