Real World Print Production

Your first contact at the printing company will probably be with a salesperson. The ideal salesperson asks questions about your expectations for the job, advises you of any potential problems if your job contains some challenging aspects such as special stock or fancy finishing requirements, and gives you a realistic idea of the outcome. The salesperson will gather your initial information and will provide you with an estimate of job costs and a proposed timeline for the steps along the way. Those steps will include such events as when your files must be submitted, when you can expect the first proofs, when the press run will take place, and when the final job will be delivered. Finally, the salesperson will hand you and your job off to a customer service representative (CSR).

If you're fortunate, your CSR will be an experienced print professional who can give you some insight into your job's special needs. If you find yourself dealing with someone who seems to know less about the print process than you do, you might try diplomatically to expand your list of contacts at the printing company. A few print service providers frown on allowing customers to talk to production personnel, but it really does make life easier for everyone if you can deal with knowledgeable operators. Your salesman may be able to smooth the way if necessary. But speaking as a production person, I'll volunteer that most production personnel welcome a customer who's interested in providing a job that's not a nightmare. But there's a fine line between being a conscientious client and being a pest. You, of course, would never cross that line. You shouldn't call the prepress department unnecessarily (they'll start hiding from you), and it's important that you keep the CSR in the loop if you are allowed to contact production staff directly. The CSR is the common contact point for jobs, and is expected to know everything about a job, so don't forget to inform the CSR if anything about the job needs to be changed.

In your initial conversations with the CSR, make sure they're aware of any special issues with your job. Here are a few topics you may need to discuss:

• Unusual stock. Substrates such as metallic stock or paper with pronounced texture or of unusually thick (or thin) weight may require additional time to order, and may also dictate which press will be used for the job.

• Special mixed inks. If you need something beyond what's available in the Pantone, Toyo, or other swatch libraries, you may want to see ink draw-down samples on the final stock. A draw-down sample is created by spreading a thin coating of the desired ink on the intended stock to present a realistic preview of how the ink will look on press.

• Varnishes or other coatings. Special add-ons such as spot varnishes, aqueous coatings, or scratch-off spots require planning.

• Custom finishing. Operations such as perforation, die cutting, embossing, foil stamping, or unusual folds require advance planning and equipment setup. Since custom finishing can take extra time, adequate time must be included in the schedule for the job. Complicated folding may also require modifications to the standard configurations of the folding equipment to ensure that the folds occur in the proper manner. See Chapter 3, "Binding and Finishing," for more information on finishing processes.

• Unusual content. If you require special print add-ons such as customized content for variable data printing (VDP) or custom addressing, it may be necessary to add time for programming and acquisition of data such as mailing list files.

For your sanityand theirsmake sure you obtain the following crucial information:

• A detailed schedule that includes dates for intermediate events such as random proofs, page proofs, bluelines, and any press checks. Yes, the final delivery date is important, but unless you're aware of all the intermediate dates, you'll jeopardize the final goal.

• Contact information for all the people who are (or should be) familiar with your job, including the salesman, the CSR, and any prepress staff you've been told you can call with questions. Make sure that they know how to contact you if questions arise. And keep in mind that printing plants often operate 24 hours a day. You may not be accustomed to phone calls after midnight, but if your job is on a tight schedule and there's a problem during night shift, your phone may ring. This prospect alone may be a strong incentive to check your job thoroughly before you submit it.