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- Work Closely With Us
Check with our representatives before you start designing. They can help you find the best formats, type styles, paper types, and ink colors. If you're not sure what you like, browse through our samples for ideas. Then our representatives can help you find creative ways to achieve the desired results.
- Prepare Artwork Carefully
Many customers come to us with art they think is camera-ready, but isn't. To make sure this doesn't happen to you, ask our representatives exactly what is needed. Keep in mind that putting your material on a disk doesn't automatically make it camera-ready. Camera-ready artwork that pre-press personnel can scan from directly to make a negative or plate. When preparing a disk, make sure it contains your fonts, graphics and type specifications. We can give you a checklist of all necessary items. Reviewing the checklist will help you submit a disk that is complete and can often save you money and time in composition. When preparing camera-ready art without a computer, keep a translucent blue pencil close. This will allow you to indicate crop marks and make other important notes without them appearing on your printed piece. Discuss your design in advance. Find out how long it will take to get everything done. Then assign dates to each item. This will help you stay on target with your deadlines. Remember to allow time for proofing.
- Use Clip Art & Illustrations
Rather than photographs which require halftones, consider using clip art or illustrations. Using these gives you thousands of images to choose from. Best or all, you won't have to worry about quality, because it will always be consistent. Photos on the other hand, can vary depending on the quality of the photo, the amount of light, etc.
- Group Pantone® Ink Jobs Together
Many companies use printed envelopes, business cards, and letterhead that are printed in the same colors on the same type of paper. Yet, few print these items at the same time. By printing these at the same time, you save the cost of several ink washes.
- Order in Quantity
Many customers wonder why there is so little difference in cost between 250 and 500 or 500 and 1000 business cards. The reason is fixed costs. Fixed (onetime) printing costs include ink wash up, aligning the paper and press, and the time to the first good quality sheet printed. Since the press is then set up, it takes little more time to run an additional 250 or 500 impressions.
- Choose Screens Over a 2nd or 3rd Color
Instead of using a second or third color, apply screens to one or two colors. By applying screens you can make your piece look like it has several more colors. For example, if you used a reflex blue as your base color, you could screen back your working in blue so that it was closer to a sky blue. You can create some very dramatic effects using this technique, however, you must be careful that only the bolder types get screened back so that your piece remains legible. For more information about screens, talk to our customer service representatives.
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