How to Install a BIG Banner

This video is a bit tedious but it is also intresting to know how large format printing is done. This is good to know as it is something I have proposed in my brief, as a part of th advertisment of the event and zine.

Spacy Magazines

http://www.behance.net/gallery/IL-Istruzioni-per-luso/1191341

Much more spacy than the last post, again different to the last post I'm not 100% on the layout of this magazine but the content/imagery is much more in keeping with what I want to prosuce, I think I would be more inclined to use photography but it is still useful to look at.

This magazine looks great the gloss stock makes the shine of the space suit and space look amazing. this is perhaps what I would make if my intesions where to make a high end book or magaize surrounding space but I still enjoy the layout and techneques used and they could be related in some way to the zine I will produce.

 

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Omni-Magazine/239597

Omni Magazine

'Omni is a publication designed to update the scientific community in Australia. Omni is a visual publication that aims to gel image and fact to make an effective informative document.'

The layout, content and general ideas behind this magazine marry up with what I would like to produce, there are of course differences in the content, but the way the images are layed out and text is added is somthing I would like to explore, thie large imagerey as seen in many of the images I have posted and with the space theme, and I'm not so bothered about the scientific community in Austrailia.  

 Although not magazines I like the old space imagery in the back ground and I am enjoying the forground font. I also like the use of Neil Armstrongs famous quote, I think quotes would work well in my publication. 

Magazine Research

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Page-01-10/791530

Although not space related, I really like the layout design of this particular magazine. The large images with the writing over the top instead of perhaps a more convensional format with the images and text seperation. The front covers to the magazines are also somthing I would like to explore within my own work, having a single image with a title and maybe only a couple of tag lines.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/VOLTA/338033

The stock used on this particular piece is somthing I would definatly consider within my own work, the magazine is small and concise and the non gloss finish, works really well, I will have to experiment with different paper stocks to get the best result with the magazine I wish to make.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/LING/599399

This magazine is just another good example of layout design, somthing it shares with the other images is the large scale pictures, I think this will be particularly relevant to my project as there are so many great images taken from space that It would look amazing in a magazine. 

How Magazine Printing Works

Binding Guide

What's inside

The guides include information on the following binding types:

Saddle stitch 
Loop stitch 
Stab stitch
 Perfect bound
 Singer sewn
 Case bound 
PUR bound
 Screw bound 
Comb bound 
Spiral bound
 Wire bound 
Tape bound

Paper Sizes

Why use a spot colour?

There's a couple of situations where you might use a Pantone or spot colour. One option costs a little more and the other costs a lot less. 

Adding a Pantone colour to your normal CMYK is a great way of achieving colours which simply are not possible with 4 colour process printing. The example above from the Print Handbook is a great example of this. The Pantone here is a vibrant red which simply wasn't possible using just CMYK inks.

It's also possible to use a metallic or fluorescent ink which CMYK can get nowhere near in impact. It's a great way of adding an extra little something to your project.

Adding an extra colour is not as expensive as you might expect either. Here's a quote from Centreprint for printing 10,000 leaflets. In CMYK they'll cost £317. To add a spot colour would cost an extra £38. Not bad at all. 

One colour job

If you or your client are on a tight budget then using a Pantone spot colour for a one colour job can be a great way to save money. The same specification as the above quote, but this time printed with just one colour would cost £158.

http://printhandbook.com/design-resources/spot-colours.php 

Inside a Comersial Printer

Print Craft Tour from Design Trust for Public Space on Vimeo.

Choosing the best file type for print

What does the file need to do?

Is your file going straight to the printers? Or is just getting imported into another file, which is then going to the printers. This answer will affect how you choose to save your file.

Files for your printers

Ultimately your best option is to ask your printers how they like to receive their files. The likelihood is they will want PDFs. When we at The Media Collective work with Centreprint we send almost all our files as PDFs. They have the latest kit to handle the latest PDFs.

However, sometimes we do send files in their native form. For example, the Print Handbook was sent as a PDF and a packaged Indesign folder. This tends to be how we work with them on more complicated jobs. It helps if anything needs tweaking their end.

If your printers do want a PDF, ask them what type or version. There are many different types of PDF and some printers will have issues with certain ones so just ask. 

Files for your printers: Ask them but probably PDFs or native Creative Suite files (.ai, .psd, .indd)
Vectors: EPSs, PDFs and AIs
Bitmaps: TIFFs, PSDs and sometimes JPEGs

http://printhandbook.com/design-resources/file-types.php

7 Things to know about print

Colour Modes

CMYK RGB Hexachrome Spot Colour PMS (pantone matching system)

Formats

Standard ISO Tabloid
Broadsheet
Berliner (in between the size of broadsheet and tabloid)
Envelope 'C' Sizes

 

The difference between A ad SRA ...

The 'A' format is the standard paper size used through out the world it is common and used almost every where, it is standardised therefore perfect for mass disstribution on a small or large scale this makes it perfect when thinking about print.

SRA is a larger version of the 'A' size it is the actual paper printers use, when printing a document the printers cannot print to the edge of the paper, it is simply impossible. But some print jobs require a completly printed surface, thus SRA. This paper size is generally 12mm by 15mm bigger than standard A size paper this accounts for what is known as the bleed which allows the printer to effectivly print over the full A sized area and then you can tim the excess.

 

 

Stock

Stock weight is mesured in GSM grams per square meter, therefore the weight of the paper is deturminded by the weight of one square meter.

These are examples of different kinds of stock:

Finish - gloss / silk / matte / coated / uncoated  Laid or Wove - is the way that paper is created Boards and Carton - carton is when one side is grey and the other is plain white. Plastics and Acetate - this can create some more experimental ways of designing.

Artwork

Document set up (CMYK)
File format and fonts 
Spellcheck 
Colour specification 
Print marks
Mock ups 
Proof, when working for comercial print your printer should make you a digital version the proof this will either be high or low resolution depending on the kind of quality required, the idea of the proof it to make any corrections and to highlight any wrong colours of anything else that is incorrect with the artwork.

All the Print Processes

Lithography  Gravure
Screen Print
Flexography
Pad Print
Six Colour Process
Laminate - Gloss / Matte
Foil Blocking 
Emboss / De-boss
Spot UV Varnish 

 

Cost

 
 

Costing will vary from printer to printer it is essential to obtain multipul like for like quotes to get the best price available but at the hightest quality. prices will vary depending on the amount you order long print runs will generally cost less than short ones, as there is always going to be a charge for setting up the plates.  Its is also important to get your quotes before talking to your client as they will ask 'How much?' and you would look rather silly not knowing. another aspect that must be remembered is that any alterations after the proof has been ok'd will be chharged extra so it pays to be thorough and make sure your client is happy. 

Pantone Swatch Book 

There are several Pantone books solid coated, solid uncoated... etc. They all refer to different colours and the different books refer to the different stocks and finishes of the paper. the pantone book will never look the same as the image on screen even if they are infact the same swatch colour this is why it is handy to have a swatch book for referance to the actual colour that will be printed and what it will look like.

Binding

There are many types of binding mehtdos some cheap some expensive and all used for different purposes, low end printing for cheap or free books, to highend printing and binding for more expensive books like hard back novels or somthing of that nature.


Case Binding 
Otter Binding 
Cui Binding 
Pur Binding 
Swiss Binding 
Flexi Binding
Thread Binding
Burst Binding
Case Binding
Purfect Binding

Colour systems for the print process

Key aspects of digital Colour theory

Print v Screen (subtractive v additive)
Colour systems
Assigning colour to a digital document

Subtractive colours (print)

The more colours you layer on top of each other the less light is
reflected - colours are subtracted so it becomes darker until you end up with black.
Subtractive colour is what happens when you mix paint, print a picture, or highlight a word on a page.

Aditive Colurs (scrren)

The exact reverse of Subtractive colour, the more colours you mix the lighter it becomes.
Additive colour occurs with televisions, computer monitors and all screen based images.

Colour systems

CMYK (print) vs RGB (screen)

RGB has a wider more viberant rande of colours that it can produce on screen where as CMYK cannot produce such a range that is why a photograph or picture may not print on a four coulur printer as viberant asthe original picture. The image above shows the different coour systems an the coulours that can be produced within them, the image below shows an RGB colour gradient and the CMYK equivlant, you can see clearly the difference in vibrancy. 

CMYK is the colour system used when printing, there are four plates, or four coulr seperations Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, these four colours mixed make the veriety of colours you see when printing as shown in this picture of the angle of the north.

When printing in CMYK the printer uses a series of dots layerd over one an other to create the final image, on low quality print jobs this is quite visable on more high quality printing it is very difficult to see even with a loupe. 

Colour Systems 

Terminology 

CMYK (cyan/magenta/yellow/key black – 4 colour process) Subtractive.
This is used in the most common printed process called litho or offset litho RGB (red/green/blue – screen based) Additive.

Greyscale (Black and white continuous tone and any shade of grey, such as a black and white photograph)

Duotone (when a continuous tone image is printed in 2 or more spot colours – this term is also generally used when describing tri and quadtones.

Spot colour (one or more specially mixed colours as opposed as a result of a CMYK or RGB mix)

Mono (like greyscale but with a coloured ink, ie: one colour and percentage tints of that colour, plus the colour of the material it’s printed on)

Definitions 

• CMYK DEFINITION: Stands for "Cyan Magenta Yellow Key Black." These are the four basic colors used for printing color images. Unlike RGB (red, green, blue), which is used for creating images on your computer screen,

• CMYK colors are "subtractive." This means the colors get darker as you blend them together. Since RGB colors are used for light, not pigments, the colors grow brighter as you blend them or increase their intensity.

• SPOT COLOUR Print technicians around the world use the term spot colour to mean any colour generated by a non-standard offset ink; such as metallic, fluorescent, spot varnish, or custom hand-mixed inks. (as opposed to obtaining a colour by via mix of cmyk)

• GREYSCALE One colour black and all the shades of grey through to white (black and white photography is grey scale)

• MONOCHROME (mono)Monochromatic colours are all the colours of a single hue derived from one colour and extended using the shades,tones and tints of that colour.

• HALFTONE This is a mechanical process (as opposed to chemical) for converting tonal values into a series of dots that although solid dots, when printed give the impression of continuous tone

Stock Considerations