PRINTING FAQ:

What is Digital Printing?
Digital printing is a process of printing using, primarily, technology. Laser printing (the most commonly used form) uses an electrostatic process to attract toner particles to the sheet of paper and a heat source activates the chemicals in the toner to bond with the paper. Its cost per copy is more expensive than printing on a printing press but it’s cost for the first copy (set-up) is far less than a printing press. It is ideally suited for variable data printing or shorter run print jobs. The majority of commercial digital printing devices are designed to print an area of 13”x19” or smaller. Of course there are common and specialized exceptions to this rule. There are far to many to discuss in the context of this summary.

What is Press Printing?
A Printing Press is a mechanical process, utilizing technology and artistry, to create printed material. Typically it takes from 30 minutes to 3 hours+ to set-up a press for printing. Presses tend to run at around 7,000 to 10,000+ impressions per hour (multiple common items ganged up on a sheet improve this figure). Presses come in many size configurations. A press can run 1up to thousands up, depending on the item and the press. This allows a press to be efficient when larger quantities of an item are required. Most presses do not allow for variable data or variable image printing (other than versions). Again, there are exceptions to this.

What do the numeric terms used to represent colour deposit in printing mean?
• 4/4 means colour on both sides
• 4/2 means two spot colour s over four colour process or four spot colours.
• 4/1 means one colour one side and four colour the other (full or 4 spot colours) 
• 1/1 means black and white both sides
• 4/0 means four colour one side and nothing on the reverse

When looking at the dimensions of a print piece, what do the dimensions in the equation mean?
The first dimension 8.5”x11” means the length and the second 8.5”x11” means the height of the piece.

What is the difference between landscape and portrait?
Landscape means the document is longer from left to right and shorter top to bottom. Portrait means the document is shorter left to right and longer top to bottom:

Are there standard sizes for print jobs?
Business Cards - 2”x3.5” 
Letterhead - 8.5”x11”
Business Envelopes - 4.125”x9.5”
Flyers - 8.5”x11”
Tri-fold Brochures – 8.5”x11”
Post-Cards – 4”x6” or 5”x7”

These are just some of the common sizes for print jobs. Customized sizes are also used for projects however a custom size can waste resources and increase price and environmental impact.

Why is it beneficial to print in large quantities?
It is beneficial to print a job in a large quantity because the per piece price amount gets smaller. Also the initial machine set-up is more worthwhile to pay once instead of each time you need printing.

Which print jobs are best printed on a coated stock and which on an uncoated stock?
Coated paper is best used for business cards for durability, postcards, Thank you/birthday/holiday cards, magazines, baseball cards and book covers. A glossy stock gives a crisper image and is best for durability although not a good choice for something that is to be written on.

Uncoated paper is used for letterhead, forms, writing pads and envelopes. Due to its absorbency, images and text printed on uncoated stock tend to print softer than on coated paper.

What is the difference between cover weight and text weight?
Cover weight is a thicker and more sturdy paper used for presentation folders, postcards, etc. and business cards and text weight is a more opaque paper used for brochures, letterhead, envelopes, flyers, posters, etc.

Why is there a 10% increase if a document bleeds?
A document that bleeds has to be printed on a larger paper size then the document in order to get a clean cut with the colour “bleeding” to the complete edge therefore the 10% increase is needed for the upgrade of paper size.

Can you print a slide from a Power Point presentation?
You can print a slide from a Power Point presentation but it will not print clearly because of the size, image quality and some fonts and images do not transfer into printer print programs.

Can you print magnets on a Xerox printer?
There is a type of paper that comes with a magnetic section the size of a business card (3”x2.5”) that has a safety strip behind the magnetic area that allows it to go through the printer. The magnets come on 8.5”x11” sheets. They are great promotional tool as they can be printed on with an advertisement on the entire page and the magnet at the bottom that is removable from the page.

Why can it be more effective to store your printing and paper stock at a print shop?
A print shop has climate-controlled storage, which is important for paper. Too much or too little moisture can warp the paper. Too much curl creates curl and too little creates static.

How many “over-prints” should be provided from a printer to a MSP (Mail Service Provider)?
3% overage or 200, (whichever number is greater) on a print job allows for set-up of folders, inserters, creasers and perforators, etc. To set up these machines and line up the images on the page there needs to be the exact document that was printed.

Is there a benefit to printing black and white photos on a colour printer?
In most cases printing black and white photos on a coloured printer can make the pixels of the images stand out more and become bolder. The black and white printer emulates half tones by using screening technology, where as the colour printer is printing the actual half tones, which appear in more detail. This is comparable to looking at the same photograph in newspaper and a magazine.

What does 2-up mean?
2 up means that there are 2 unique impressions on one sheet of paper.

What do CMYK colours mean?
C = Cyan
M = Magenta
Y = Yellow
K = Black

When designing something for a post production process, such a mailing, what is the most used form of measurement?
Designers and other people in the print world usually like to measure in inches.

Why is printing images off the Internet not recommended?
Images on the Internet are usually 72% resolution. It is usually preferred that an image is 300% resolution. Anything less then 300% usually becomes distorted, fuzzy and unclear.

What is a saddle stitch?
A saddle stitch is when staples are placed exactly on the binding (crease) of a booklet.

What is perfect Binding?
Perfect binding is a method of bookbinding where a flexible adhesive attaches a paper cover to the spine of the assembled signatures is called perfect binding . Paperback novels are one example of perfect binding. Variations of perfect binding are where the cover is glued only to the side of the spine and allow the book to lay-flat.