The commercial printing process all begins with your design, which determines how a project is inked, printed, finished, and delivered.
[dropcap]F[/dropcap]inalizing the design for a print job is the first step in producing any kind of branded material, but you may not have a solid idea of how the project translates from your vision to the final product. Knowing how the printing process unfolds can help you understand your options and improve the quality of the finished piece. The commercial printing process brings your project to life based on decisions made regarding paper choice, color options, press type, die cuts and more.
Pre-Press Design
Before your project is set to print, you will typically be determining all of the fine details through the pre-press department of a commercial printing company. In the beginning stages, you can either supply your own design electronically or have your printing company’s graphic designer mock up the project for you. Once fonts, images, colors, and layout are determined, and a proof is approved, you will make decisions regarding paper choices, print quality, order quantity, finishing, packaging and delivery.
Paper Choices
The paper on which a design is printed has a significant impact on the final design. For example, flyers can be printed on regular-weighted paper, but a business card needs heavy card stock to make an impression. Specialty paper also comes in a variety of colors and finishes including linen, satin, and matte. Each of these finishes can be used to enhance your final marketing materials.
Print Quality: Setup and Production
Depending on whether you have chosen to run your order through a digital or offset printing process, the setup and production times vary. This is because conventional offset printers, which are better utilized for orders with large runs or unique sizing, require the setup and use of plates in order to apply the ink used in printing your project while digital printers print directly from electronic files. You can expect digital prints to be completed in a shorter time frame than conventional printing, while the added factors of cutting, binding, and packaging will definitely add time to your production schedule.
At Arkansas Graphics, Inc. our commercial printing process is facilitated by the best equipment for offset, digital, and letter press printing. For incredible digital print quality and high-definition imagery, we are the only commercial printer in Arkansas using Staccato by Kodak technology to create the best in photographic reproductions for prints that seem to leap off the page and grab consumer attention.
Finishing Touches
After printing, a finished product might require cutting, folding, or binding – this includes stitching, embossing, stamping, glosses, etc. For binding, there are a number of options for catalogs, booklets, and magazines, all of which offer different uses and have minimum page requirements. For postcards used in a <direct mail marketing project, typically printers can fit several prints per sheet, reducing paper costs. The added steps of cutting to get the right mailing size, addressing each piece, and managing PURLs, QR codes, and variable data, are also determining factors before the final product is delivered to your office or mailed to your prospective customers.
Get Started on Your Next Print Job
Before you start planning your next big print job or direct mail campaign, get in touch with Arkansas Graphics, Inc. to learn more about our commercial printing process. Our experts will walk you through the design and planning stages, the material selection process, and all the way to finishing and mailing for any project you need to print, exactly the way you envision it.
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