In the design and print industries one of the most common colour printing presses is CMYK. These initials stand for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. So why does K represent black I hear you ask. There are many theories as to why and this is the one we go with. K stands for Key. CMKY is a subtractive colour process. In theory the C, M and Y colours can produce all the colours including black – but in reality without perfect dyes and substrates it doesn’t work. Adding black as a KEY colour improves contrast, detail, adds depth and produces a better appearing print.

We construct digital artwork for print so the printer can use it without editing or conversion. We create it using the the CMYK colours throughout. Using the same colour system as the printing press assures that the printed document appears as intended. CMYK files can look different on-screen to RGB files (red, green, blue). RGB is used for on-screen applications because the gamut of colours that can be reproduced using CMYK is less that that of RGB files.

PANTONE®

Pantone® produce and manufacture colour swatches. The swatches for design for print show the designer/client how the colours will appear when printed. Pantone® use a numbering system for their colour swatches. The number allow user anywhere to refer to the swatches for accurate colour matching. The swatches show the colours printed onto coated and uncoated paper as well as spot colour or CMYK colour alternatives. Spot colours and their CMYK conversion often give a different result though this depends on the colour and the paper type.

SPOT COLOURS

Solid colours that are printed independently of CMYK colours. Their advantage is that they allow precise colour matching. Spot colours are useful for corporate print when brand consistency is very important. The same pantone colour may look different in spot colour and CMYK print. Different substrates – most commonly coated or uncoated papers will also produce colour differences. Follow brand guidelines carefully to get the best results. Use spot colours alongside CMYK, or for art prints and poster work, they may be used on their own. For art prints, single or multiple spot colours produce solid dense accurate colour reproduction. Metallic and fluorescent colours are also specified using the Pantone® system.

Digital artwork sent to a printer must be constructed in a precise way. This will avoid problems down the line. Problems with the file when it is with the printer can be expensive. All the many (sometimes hundreds) of individual files that make up the artwork should be of the correct CMYK format. Images must be of a minimal resolution. 300dpi CMYK is ideal. Don’t enlarge images of on the page unless they are of high enough resolution.

SET UP

Get off to a good start by using professional software. Make sure your document’s colour space is CMYK (not RGB). When you import a logo or image file check that it is of the correct type and format. If the company specifies spot colours for their logo then the attached logo files have to reflect this.

Another important part when creating a design for print artwork is to ensure the document contains all the relevant printers’ marks. What we mean by this are the various marks (trim/crop, bleed and fold marks) that help instruct the printer when they process the printed sheets for print finishing. Bleed marks make sure that any part of the design that touches the edge of the artwork, extends beyond the finished dimensions of the page. When trimming the printed sheet to the correct dimensions it won’t have nasty white edges. Without bleed this can happen even with just a slight misalignment of the trimming process. Allowing for bleed is vital to achieving a good finish to your design for print.

Proof copies are sent back and forth between the client and the designer. These proofs determine any grammatical mistakes, typos and spelling as well as the overall flow of the language used. Simultaneously we undertake the graphical prepress proofreading which involves looking at it’s visual appearance. We will look at type spacing, text hyphenation at the end of lines as well as the length of lines. Consistency and uniformity is key. When it comes to line lengths so we pay close attention to sentence breaks. This helps reading and understanding.

The designers job is to create fabulous design for print that takes account of every aspect of the project and brand. The finished job won’t be as intended though, until all the technicalities have to be sorted first.

There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of different papers on offer. These range from basic papers produced in vast quantity for everyday print projects. Hand made papers for very special projects are at the other end of the scale. The comparative prices are also at different ends of the scale. The vast majority of projects use standard coated and uncoated papers of varying qualities. Many different weights of paper are available from tissue thin to board weights.

PAPER TYPES

There are lots of different types of paper. The most common types are ‘art’ paper that is coated and ‘offset’ paper that is uncoated. Uncoated papers have a rough typical papery finish. Uncoated paper can be manufactured with various effects including wove (smooth), laid (textured lines in the paper) or linen (fine embossed surface texture). Art paper coating is normally clay.  Art paper is offered in matt, satin and gloss varieties. The surface of all three is smooth. The clay coating reduces ink absorption and offers a sharper image and brighter colours. The type of paper and finish is taken into account when creating design for print. Coated and uncoated papers each give a very different tactile experience.

What is it?

Lithographic print is a process by which a printing plate that has has a negative image on it is covered with ink. The ink doesn’t stick to the non image ares because these have a repellent coating. The printing plate is rolled across the paper transferring the image to the paper. Aluminium, paper, mylar or polyester are be used to make printing plates.

What’s it good for?

Litho printing is very good for printing medium to large quantities of prints very quickly, to a high quality and at relatively low cost. Used for all manner of print projects. Brochure printing through to high-end packaging. The cost to set up may make it uneconomic for smaller print runs and in these situations digital print often provides the best solution.

Print finishing includes all the processes that the printed sheets go through once the ink has dried in order to turn them into the finished product. The list is long and generally each requires its own production process. In conclusion, some are done in combination through the use of automation.

Varnishing – matt,
gloss, glitter

UV varnishing

Laminating – matt;
gloss; textured, soft touch

Foil stamping

Embossing and debossing

Die stamping

Forme cutting