CreativePro Forum

Return to Member Forum

• Author
  Posts
• • October 22, 2012 at 11:13 am #63426
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Hi all,

    I was wondering if someone could recommend a good offset printer they've worked with or received positive feedback about. We've tried a few already and the service has been quite disappointing. We're trying to find someone that can exert the attention to detail the book demands – it's published by a small independent publisher who's spent a lot of time preparing it for print.

    So, if anyone can guide us to a good book printer that offers high quality, good service and a good selection of paper stock, that would be great and we're all ears. The location would ideally be Mid-West or East Coast USA.

    Happy to receive suggestions here or on a personal message.

    Thanks in advance!

    Marina

  • October 24, 2012 at 8:30 am #63439
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    We've had good luck with Ripon Printing (which used to be Sells printing). We haven't done books with them, but they printed out InDesignSecrets keyboard shortcuts posters.

  • October 24, 2012 at 9:48 am #63443
    Marina Michaels

    Member

    I'm in the process of getting quotes from various printers myself. I found some very useful information at Aeonix.com.

    1. First, here is a fairly large list of printers in the U.S.:

    https://www.aeonix.com/bookprnt.htm

    You can download and search the list; in my case, I searched for printers who were listed as offering digital services and who were located in California (and who did their work in-house instead of sending it offshore). You might need to double-check information; I found a few typos in email addresses and such.

    2. After finding printers I wanted to check out, I used the following page at the same site as a resource when constructing my RFQ.

    https://www.aeonix.com/aeonixRFQ.htm

    I highly recommend that you ask for paper samples from printers before you make a final decision. For example, I had initially asked for quotes for 60# text (paper stock), but realized that for the project I am working on, 80# or even 100# text is going to be better.

    Also, out of my selections, Dome Printing (Domeprinting.com) in Sacramento, California, has impressed me the most.

  • October 24, 2012 at 10:30 am #63445
    Shawn Girsberger

    Member

    I have worked with Patterson Printing in Benton Harbor, MI for over 15 years, solely doing book work. They are excellent. Contact Pamela Thames, Patterson Printing, 1550 Territorial Road, Benton Harbor, MI 49022-1937, phone 800-848-8826 ext. 542, fax 269-925-6057.

    I can't help but ask what you mean when you say that the publisher has spent a lot of time preparing the book for print. Is it press-ready PDFs? Native files? Camera ready art? These kinds of things affect pricing, just like paper stock, quantity, cover, binding, and shipping do. The publisher I work with on projects that go to this printer is also a small independent publisher, with regular print runs of about 1,000 for his first editions. But a larger publisher handles his marketing and distribution.

  • October 25, 2012 at 9:43 pm #63458
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Hello everyone, and thanks for your very helpful replies.

    David, thanks for the Ripon tip, we hadn't come across their name before but will investigate based on your recommendation and their helpful web site.

    Shawn, thanks for your tip also, which we'll also look into asap. Our book is very large (600 pages), required a lot of editing and presented a lot of design challenges, but is now perfectly standard in terms of press-ready PDFs etc.

    I'd be curious to know the larger publisher distributing your smaller publisher's work. If you wanted to share this information you could post the name here or send it to me in a personal message if you prefer. If you thought your own publisher might share, privately and confidentially, a few things like the terms they negotiated we would be very grateful to be put in touch with them.

    In regard to your question, what I simply meant was that the publisher who is also the translator of the book has spent a lot of time working on its actual content. The book is already ready and laid out. The only thing lacking is the printer.

    Marina, thanks for the aeonix list, which we found, but if we hadn't your tip would have been a lifesaver. Here's one in return in case you're interested, a smaller list of mostly smaller printers for mostly art books:

    https://print-resources.tumblr.com/page/8

    The funny thing about the aeonix list, though, is that the sense of stumbling on the Count of Monte Cristo's treasure fades a bit when some of the quotes start coming in: a few grossly inflated, a few people kind enough to write and say they aren't equipped for your job, a few who clearly aren't but quote you anyway, a few who don't reply, etc. Also, companies are merging, closing down, noving to China, losing business to China.

    Not just paper samples but printing samples and a thorough understanding of the process and any hidden costs are a couple of things people like us should watch out for. Some printers will clearly say anything; on the topic of sheet vs web printing alone, for example, I've been told this week that “sheet fed is only for art books” and “sheet fed will double your cost”; etc. By web printers, obviously.

    We're on the east coast so probably looking at different printers than you, so good luck. (100 lb paper for the entire book?)
  • October 30, 2012 at 9:18 am #63467
    CanBooks

    Participant

    I have had good luck working with Firessens. https://www.friesens.com/.  They print in Canada but have regional reps across the USA. I would consider them among the best in North America, so if you are looking for that little bit of extra professionalism give them a try. Email or call Doug Symington at 204-324-6401 or dougs@friesens.com.

    Dan Gibson, CanBooks, (a small independant publisher)

  • November 1, 2012 at 11:18 am #63480
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Hi Dan, lovely, thanks very much for that. Will surely try. Luckily though I think there're already two “good-looking” contenders. Many thanks – to you and everyone else. Perhaps all these wonderful tips will in the future be of use to someone else too.

  • November 1, 2012 at 12:15 pm #63481
    spoocobra

    Member

    Hi muzunova,

    I think I may be of help and service to your needs. I have been doing pre-press for 17+ years for Universal Printing Company.

    I have a lot of experience in this area and would recommend Universal Printing located in Saint Louis, Missouri. Universal Printing is a commercial printer with heat set web and sheet fed printing capabilities. A key part of your project is the binding. Not just anyone can put a 600 page book together. Universal has the experience and the capabilities in-house. We work with all the top publishers including Random House, Simon & Shuster, Hyperion, Barnes & Noble, Penguin, Scholastic, etc.

    If the quality of your finished product is important you want a printer like Universal. Their attention to detail and use of current technology makes the entire process consistent and predictable. We have five and six color presses that produce the highest quality with a variety of in-line coating options [UV/Aqueous/Varnish].

  • November 5, 2012 at 11:32 am #63500
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Hi spoocobra and thanks very much for your recommendation and for stepping in! It's certainly not often a publisher has a pre-press person on the line. Could I ask you a question? For another project our printer is reluctant to print a few pages in our book with an Indesign stroke value of 0.03 point.

    Would there be a technial reason for this do you think or are they maybe just keeping things easy? Any thoughts would be most welcome.

  • November 5, 2012 at 11:32 am #63501
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Hi spoocobra and thanks very much for your recommendation and for stepping in! It's certainly not often a publisher has a pre-press person on the line. Could I ask you a question? For another project our printer is reluctant to print a few pages in our book with an Indesign stroke value of 0.03 point.

    Would there be a technial reason for this do you think or are they maybe just keeping things easy? Any thoughts would be most welcome.

  • November 5, 2012 at 5:28 pm #63505
    spoocobra

    Member

    Thanks muzunova, as for me, what can I say I just love design and learning, and keeping up with the latest technologies and helping people out where I can. I have noticed that while someone may be a great designer, when it comes to Press Ready files some have no clue and I enjoy helping out where I can.

    As for you question, is that a typo? 0.03pt stroke? If what you typed is correct well anything that small is well kinda useless in my opinion.

    I don't believe you will even be able to see it. It most likely creates trap issues for the printer along with registration problems if it's more than just a single solid color (eg: 100% black, cyan, etc…) or even reverse out (white over color).

    I don't even know if you could hold that on a digital press it being viewable or registration wise. Our rule of thumb for the longest time was .5pt and above, and for awhile we had to change all “hairline” strokes to .5pt. Of course there are some exceptions where smaller than .5pt are acceptable and now able to do because of press and prepress technologies.

    In my opinion I feel they have legitimate concerns of even being able to see it along with being able hold that .03pt stroke while keeping up quality work along with the trap and registration issues it may create. So in my opinion it's fear of being able to see it along with the other points (bad pun lol) I mentioned.

    I hope that helps answer your question anything else ask away. But most of all I would love to know why or would even love to see that file as why you would even use .03pt of a stroke.

  • November 6, 2012 at 1:44 am #63507
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Thanks very much for that, spoocobra. You're indeed very helpful; as you have probably realised by now, we're sort of novices in this and are learning each day.

    Yes, well, that wasn't a typo. What we have are two very light semi-bold strokes – 0.03 pt and 0.1 pt, respectively. They are applied to the names in two indexes to make the names stand out (but not too much! just almost imperceptibly) from the rest of the indexes. We've tested it on digital print outs and it is visible! Just visible enough to make the names stand out without that being in any way obtrusive. It's just 100% solid black.

  • November 6, 2012 at 3:25 pm #63519
    spoocobra

    Member

    Oh ok I was thinking you had them around a box or something. Sounds like you are doing the old quark trick where if you didn't have a italic or bold type you just used the “faux” bold or italic. That makes sense on what you are doing and I don't see why that would be a problem for a printer really.

    I am guessing they run your pdf's through a pre-flight program and that's how it got caught I am guessing. I did some test on 18pt helvetica regular with the pt stroke you mentioned, exported to PDF using our settings we recommend for our customers and what we use ourself. Everything came out ok, you could barely see the stroke (i did yellow fill & black stroke) when leaving type normal but when I created “outlines” of the type in InD then exported to pdf you could really see more of a difference.

    So in my opinion either way (outline vs non-outlined) if both the type fill and stroke are the same color the printer should have no difference and really won't be able to tell that you did that without running it through a preflight checklist.

    Hope that helps you out.

    B.T.W I wouldn't say your novices by any means. You all seem to be knowlegeable to me and that is what makes for a great end product.

    Like I said any q's feel free to pick my feeble little brain and I'll help out where and when I can.

  • November 7, 2012 at 2:03 pm #63527
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Yes, indeed, a trick you could call it. We didn't have bold for that font and, in fact, didn't want a very obtrusive bold, just a very slight and non-attention-grabbing semi-bold. We played a lot with the weight of the stroke – it is indeed a uniform black, both the fill and the stroke. And it seems exporting to PDF doesn't give you a very good indication to how the printed page would look. Not when dealing with such small values at least. Even the final exported strokes look quite visible in a PDF file but you have to print them out to really see the effect. A semi-bold stroke that looks thick in a PDF file prints barely visibly. So, I suppose that's in part due to the capabilities of either Adobe, or screen viewing…

    We had read previously that this is something that people do sometimes, when lacking a bold say. So, we didn't believe it would be such a problem. Surely a preflight checklist could be reviewed and things like this accounted for and adjusted in prepress? So we thought. And it's refreshing to hear you think the same.

    Thanks again, for your assistance and for your kind words. And for your not at all feeble brain! What a pity we can't think of another question now! :)

    Thanks and best wishes,

    Marina

  • November 26, 2012 at 1:53 am #63622
    christysinha

    Participant

    An offset press is a classy printing machine designed to create fine quality reproductions. Offset presses are used almost completely in print shops. The working of a best offset presses is like that first of all an image from a camera is reproduced on the paper or metal plate then the plate image is transferred to a rubberized blanket on a cylinder.

    Offset printing process

  • April 2, 2013 at 8:24 pm #64544
    printwaiter

    Member

    Prima Printing Waiter is an export company and a serious provider of printing services for several years. With the most sophisticated technology and expert professionals, We are able to print all kinds you require on the paper.

    We have our own factory, advanced printing equipments and supportive facilities that could present our print of the best quality to the world. Our long-term staff is knowledgeabel, experienced and friendly. We are ready to answer your questions and be of assistance with all our honesty and sincerity.

  • April 3, 2013 at 9:37 am #64549
    Marina Michaels

    Member

    This is a late followup to my earlier post. I used Dome Printing in Sacramento, California for our printing job. Of the printers we contacted, they were the only ones who fully understood what I was talking about (one printer asked why I wanted to know what the spine width would be for my given page count at a given paper weight, then offered to charge me $50 to make up a blank book with that page count so that I could see for myself).

    Dome's prices were also the best of the printer quotes I got, and the quality of their work was excellent.

• Author
  Posts