Salt Gain

If a recipe calls for a measuring of salt, very rarely is it ever a good idea to add all of it in the beginning.  Cooking is a delicate process that requires continual attention and tasting along the way.  Adding too much salt to a recipe is an easy way to overpower a dish and unfortunately, you can't take that salt away.

When you cook, you should salt as you go.  If you finish cooking and your dish isn't just right, then you can add salt to achieve the desired taste.  Simply put, salt is much easier to add than to take away.

The same can be said of ink.  Primarily due to dot gain, ink is easier to add than take away.  Dot gain is the phenomenon that is caused by halftone dots increasing in size during the printing process.  A nice, round dot will grow on press as it is transferred to paper and the result can be an average 15% growth of the dot causing the dot to look darker than expected. 

Unfortunately dot gain is unavoidable so printers must compensate by creating curves in prepress that eliminate the effects of dot gain.  Because dot gain is greater in the midtone values (around a 50% tint) and less in the extremes (5-10% tint or 90-100% tint) a tint reduction on a linear curve is needed to lower midtone plate values.  Simply put, you can't just lower the ink densities on press if the midtones are too dark as this would also result in the dark image areas to look light and faded.  So to achieve the optimal printed image it becomes necessary to remove enough dot on the front end to compensate for the dot returning during the printing process.

Master Sommeliers of Printing

A sommelier is a trained expert on everything to do with wine. They are extremely knowledgeable individuals that understand all aspects of taste and how these tastes will pair with an entire menu of food. Among other things, a sommelier might build a wine list for a restaurant, create suggestions for wines that complement particular foods and assign wine ratings.

Any person who has a great deal of expertise on wine can become a certified sommelier but only a small number of individuals can claim the title of Master Sommelier. Master Sommeliers have gone through years of rigorous training and these individuals can claim the right as masters of their trade.

Just as the case with a sommelier, any person with a great deal of expertise in printing can become a certified commercial printer however only a small number of printers can claim the title of master. Master certification in the printing industry is conducted by IDEAlliance and G7 Master & Expert certifications are given to those small few who can prove they are masters of the print trade.

G7 Master Printers are able to ensure the highest level of color match consistency from proofing to printing. This standard means the company uses the most modern technology and techniques as it applies to proofing, printing and color calibration controls. G7 Experts are individuals that are deemed as master specialists in color management, proofing, plate making and printing of all varieties. To put it simply, a G7 certificate deems you an expert on all things color as it relates to printing.

Does this mean that non-G7 printers aren't good at color management? Absolutely not as many printers have a number of practices and procedures in place to ensure their proofs match what prints and that color remains consistent from press to press. You can still rely on the expertise of a non-G7 certified printer as after all, this is what they do for a living! In addition, there are numerous other certifications available that prove a printer has high-quality control standards.

I am still of the belief that the most successful printers will always be the ones that place the client first, care and are passionate about the work they do (master certified or not). It's just like walking into an established wine store and seeking out the expertise of the owner. It's highly unlikely they are a Master Sommelier but these people have the knowledge and resources to guide you into a purchase you'll be happy with to ensure you return in the future. However, there is something to be said for the printer that takes the time to go through the certification process to prove they are masters of their trade.

Related Links and References:
Guild of Sommeliers
International Sommelier Guild
Court of Master Sommeliers
Sommelier Facts on Wikipedia
IDEAlliance
ColorWiki
G7:  What is it - and Why Should Print Customers Care?

Designing for Digital Printing - Part 2: Design Stage

Avoid large solids on the fold marks to reduce the noticeability of cracking. Heavy ink coverage
along the spine/fold is important for thicker stocks, especially in instances with toner-based digital printing. Toner sits on top of a sheet and doesn’t absorb into the paper. When the paper folds, the fibers pull apart at the fold (crack) and while all printing can show the presence of cracking, toner-based print projects will magnify the problem.

Solids and gradients can be especially problematic when printing digitally and are prone to banding. Avoid large solids and tints in your document by adding filters that add additional noise and texture to help ensure a smooth and even finish. Try to break up solids with photos and other design elements to eliminate any streaking. When designing a gradient, the move needs to be greater on a digital press for it to be noticeable. You might not even identify a 10% to 30% gradient but a 10% to 70% will start to give the effect you desire. In general, avoid long gradients with small, light color changes.

Create smart files. The digital press will most likely print in CMYK so design your file in CMYK. RGB has a greater color gamut and those RGB colors you see on your screen may not be possible to reproduce in the CMYK color gamut. In addition, to ensure good print resolution, create and save images at 300 ppi (pixels per inch). Also, when saving your files, quality PDF’s generated in the proper settings are best for digital printing.

Does your design incorporate variable elements? When designing multiple versions, create a common design and have a few select areas that will be interchangeable with unique content depending on the specific audience. Also, if the variable element you design is to be determined by a field in a spreadsheet, proof and test the longest word (highest number of characters) in the database field to ensure that it fits properly within your design.

Designing for Digital Printing - Part 1: Pre-Design Stage

Choose the printer, then design. Chances are, each printer can provide you a list (and samples) of digital paper stocks they commonly run that work well for their particular presses. These may be different from printer to printer so it is important to know what stock works well for your printer. 

What type of color reproduction can you expect? Can your printer provide you with a digital chart or samples that indicate how PMS colors will print digitally once processed out?

What are the font limitations?  Depending on your printer’s device capabilities, they might run into issues when printing small fonts.

Choose the paper.  Ask the printer for digital paper samples ahead of time. When you spec paper, don’t think in terms of #3’s or #2 grades, think in terms of digital grades. Your printer should be able to provide you with digital paper samples of various finishes, weights and sizes.

Estimate before designing.  If you have a rough idea of your project (size, quantity, color, etc) talk to a printer and have them give you a rough estimate for how it will be produced. Is it more efficient for them to produce the project digitally or offset? Do they recommend any sizes that are close to your estimate but offer greater efficiencies?

Find the grain.  In your printer’s estimate, which direction will the grain run?   Paper that folds against the grain will crack easier than paper that folds with the grain direction. The ideal grain direction should be parallel to your fold.

What is the Expiration Date for Paper?

Sell By ...

Just about every food and beverage product you buy has an expiration date. The sell by date is the point of no return, where the perceived quality and safety of the product can not be guaranteed.  Often times when this date has passed, the physical and sensory properties of the food change.  An odor is present, mold is detected or the food/beverage changes color.  As food and beverage consumers, we watch these dates closely and we expect and prepare to replace items as needed.  These dates make our lives easier.

The luxury of an expiration date is not available however in printing.  When your looking through a paper swatch book, you won't see an expiration date.  You will however see key terms that give you an idea of the durability and lifespan that you can expect from the paper.  Have you ever noticed when a paper is identified as acid-free or archival?  This is the paper's way of providing you with an expiration date.

Acid-free paper eliminates the lignin and active acid pulp (aluminum sulfates) during the processing.  Lignin is found in wood and when exposed to light and oxygen, it will cause the paper to turn yellow and deteriorate.  The components of paper naturally contain cellulose fibers that produce acid so it is impossible to create an ageless paper.  Acid decay can completely breakdown paper over time by deteriorating fibers.  However paper made acid-free, will at least slow down the eventual deterioration process.

Expires 08/10/2532

When an alkaline reserve is added in the paper production process, it will further strengthen the papers ability to fight off naturally occurring acid that forms from the cellulose fibers.  This alkaline reserve acts as another protective agent or buffer in the fight against acids.  When a paper is alkaline, you can expect an average life expectancy of a few hundred years.  Depending on the grade of the paper this can vary from 100-1000 years.

Archival paper is also used to identify paper based on a strict set of standards from ANSI.  It means that not only is the paper acid-free with large amounts of alkaline reserves, it is also durable enough to be used for printed items with potential significant historical value to them.  Archival paper is considered such because it isn't made from wood-based pulp that contains lignin.

So when you're searching through paper books for your next potential print project and you see that a paper is acid-free and archival, expect it to at least withstand the remainder of your lifetime.

The Art of Printing

Art, in its many forms, has a number of definitions and meanings. Often the result of a human's ability to produce work that evokes emotion and heightens our senses, art in all its beauty, is still in the eye of the beholder. Art is completely subjective which makes us appreciate it when it actually moves us.

One of the most famous cookbooks of all time is Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Julia Child, 1961). An appropriate title as french cooking and all cooking in general is a complete art form. There are subtleties and techniques to cooking and the required knowledge needed to perform and output great meals is art in all its forms.

While we can appreciate the art put into great cooking, we also have to accept that humans have their own unique tastes when it comes to what they eat. Just because a chef puts his heart and soul into a meal and uses all his or her talents to create a masterful representation of the recipe, it does not mean his customer will appreciate any bit of the result. Our senses are a curious thing and art will fall victim to this.

The art of printing certainly falls victim to individual human senses and perception of beauty. Aesthetic judgement by the printer is a delicate balance of perception, preference, skill and knowledge. The reproduction of color and design is art. While completely in the eye of the beholder, a printed piece can powerfully affect our senses.

When thinking of the art of printing, appreciate the skill and craftsmanship that goes into it. Ink on paper, a simple concept, creates subjective beauty. Printing is never perfect as that would suggest that we as humans are all the same. Printing reminds us that we are not the same as art should never aim to achieve the exact human response in all of us. The art of printing should only aim to be appreciated for what it is, something that influences each of our own, unique, individual human senses.

Proofing

When you make bread, one of the first steps is proofing the yeast. You do this to ensure the yeast is active (or living) and thus will enable the bread to rise. If the yeast is dead, your bread will not rise and the finished product will resemble a rock. To proof yeast you dissolve in warm water (not too hot as yeast dies at 140 degrees), mix with a pinch of sugar and wait a few minutes for the yeast to foam up. If the mixture is foamy, you know your yeast is active and ready to be used. However, if after 5-10 minutes nothing happens, then your yeast is probably a dud.

There are no guarantees with yeast, and you must proof to ensure everything is going to turn out right. The same holds true in printing. When submitting artwork to a printer, they will proof your files to ensure everything is going to print like your intended design. When receiving the proof, it is then YOUR responsibility to make sure everything looks right. I don’t mean to be harsh by putting the blame solely on you if something is wrong with the proof and you don’t catch the mistake, but the reality is that many printers view a signed off proof the same as a contract. Hence the commonly used term “contract proof” that specifies that you think everything is okay to print. Hopefully you have a true partnership with your printer, where they will also look for issues with files and proofs to ensure all is okay. However, not giving a proof the respect it deserves can seriously cost you some big time bucks.

Why do I stress the importance of a proof, or better yet what can go wrong with a proof? Just ask any printer and they can give you a laundry list of potential issues. For example, your document may have missing fonts and images or low-resolution images. Text may not flow properly causing layout issues (Google “prepress reflow”). The color might not look the same as it does on your monitor. Images on the edge of the trim may be missing bleed (additional image needed to ensure the image runs off the edge of the sheet if small printing, binding and trimming variations occur). If you are uncertain of everything you should look for when deciding whether to approve or not, ask your print sales rep, their prepress manager or search the web.

Why do things go wrong with a proof when there was nothing wrong with the files sent to the printer? To put it simply, the printer changes your file. They have to put it in a format that their equipment can read. When this change occurs, ironically known as RIP, formatting related issues can cause unexpected changes (especially with un-preferred file formats). The printer does this because files come in so many different formats and platforms but the plate processors or digital presses can only read the file in one common language. You can save yourself some pain by finding out what types of files the printer prefers to work with and then design your files in those formats. However, even if you design your document in a preferred format, issues can still occur.

In the new age of printing, where every print project started today needed to ship yesterday, it is certainly easy to quickly scan through a proof to get the project into production right away. Working with multiple customers though, I have personally seen and dealt with the pain of what happens when errors are not caught in the proofing process. A circle of blame ensues where the result is everyone loses.

Reflex Blueberries

Would you eat blueberries while wearing an expensive white shirt or dress? Sure they may taste great, but they are exceedingly messy and stain everything they come in contact with. This is a characteristic similar to the rubbing results found in the printing of pantone color Reflex Blue. Reflex Blue is very common, as it is used to build a number of different PMS colors. However, the chemical properties of Reflex Blue make it difficult to dry on paper. Some printers will say it never completely dries, but despite this here are a few things you can do to eliminate issues if you must work with Reflex Blue:

• Do not design Reflex Blue where it will come in contact with other white space on your print project. Reflex Blue will rub if not dry and your clean white area will have blue marks all over it.
• If working with a coated sheet, aqueous coat Reflex Blue to help seal and dry it faster.
• Give your printer a few extra days to allow Reflex Blue to properly dry (ironically enough blueberries take longer to dry and dehydrate than almost any other fruit).

Also, before heading to press, be willing to compromise on color. Reflex Blue has been known to look slightly different on every single print run. This is because the chemicals it contains react with other chemicals in the printing and coating process. If you can accept that every single print run might have slightly different factors influencing it, then be willing to accept that Reflex Blue might look slightly different in appearance. Does every blueberry look the same? No, there are subtle differences in shape, color and acidity that distinguish each one you eat. Sometimes when you eat blueberries they appear to be a vibrant blue and sometimes they look bluish-purple. Expect the same with Reflex Blue. Yes, even in printing where color reproduction is a science, a Blue can look Purple!