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Less stress on the press
 A
quick glance at the calendar tells you that tomorrow’s press
day. The new catalog is your most important print job of the year and
you want it done right. But, it’s been several years since you’ve
personally been at a press check. Your head’s spinning faster than
an ink roller. What do you look for? How do you use this press check
to produce a quality product?
Successful press checks are born the day the whole project starts. Here
are several tips to help you in the planning process as well as at the
printer.
Before press day--
- Get the printer involved in the project from the start and communicate
your objectives. That way he knows what you are trying to accomplish
and can recommend and plan for the right paper, the right inks, the
right press, and even the right pressman.
- Proof thoroughly before press day. It's hard to concentrate on press
output when distracted by typos.
- If possible, do your color proofing under the same light that your
printer will be using at the press run.
- If you wear glasses or contacts, make sure they are untinted. The
tinting will distort the colors.
At the press run--
- Take everything with you: previous samples, proofs, original artwork.
- Remember the untinted glasses or contact lenses.
- Establish your priorities and objectives (corporate color, president's
photo, varnish, etc.) and communicate these to the printer. Alert
the printer to any special concerns or problems that you may have had
on
previous printings.
- Think of your printer as a partner.
- Establish the correct lines of communication -- direct to the pressman
or the foreman or through your account representative. This may take
some experience with the printer and some observation of the situation.
- Rely on the printer's expertise. Identify your concerns (too red),
let the printer determine whether to reduce the red ink or increase
the black.
- Concentrate on the priorities you established earlier.
- Remember that wet ink looks different than dry ink.
- The actual press run is likely to look different from your earlier
proofs.
- Watch for overall ink coverage, color rendition, consistency (beginning,
middle, end of run), bleed through, moires, blotchiness, blackness
of type, ink coverage at the edges, crispness of halftones, ink smearing.
- Adjustments to the color of a chart will also affect the color of
the photo that is directionally aligned with it. Remember your priorities.
- Most presses require some running time before the adjustments are
zeroed in. Be patient.
- Remember, it's always a compromise.
Michael T. Brandt
June 1999
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