Note to Printer: Sometimes working with artists can be difficult at best. We have found that this piece, along with the included quote from Bob Gans has helped us a great deal when working with artists. You can pull this file into your word processor and modify it as you see fit. I have attempted to pull out the reference to our particular company by changing the copy from "The Printer" (our name) to "your printer", "the printer", etc. This file is in ASCII text and the filename is ARTIST.TXT. OF INTEREST TO COMMERCIAL ARTISTS Your printer is capable of producing virtually any type of job that involves ink on paper. Most commercial artists that we have worked with in the past are capable of producing virtually any type of art that is conceivable. The situations in need of a solution arise when an artist designs a job which is to be printed without considering who is going to do the printing; what pre-press processes are going to be used; what type of press the job is going to be printed on; what type of bindery equipment is required; what paper stock is most readily available to the printer who is going to print the job; and, if the customer was referred to the artist by the printer; is the job designed so that it can be produced within the price range quoted by that printer. Commercial art schools do a superb job in training their students how to produce top quality artwork, but for the most part all commercial art schools fall short in training their students how to produce art that can be produced in the most economical manner. The artist simply designs the job with no consideration as to whether the design can be produced economically (or can be produced at all) by the printer who is going to print the job. It is not uncommon for the case to be that the first time the printer is brought into the picture is after the art has been created. This can be devastating to the customers budget if the customer had planned to have his simple brochure printed on a small press, only to find that the artist created a piece with 100% ink coverage in a size that left no gripper, and with $200 worth of composite camera work. Budget: If printing cost is not a problem for the customer then none of the below guidelines need be followed. However, you can save the customer a significant amount of money on the total project by considering the following guidelines. Please note that some of these guidelines are general and some relate specifically to our company. If another printer is to be used, the artist needs to consult with that printer to determine his most economical guidelines. Also, we are not locked into these guidelines. These are strictly guidelines to assist the artist in producing work that can be produced most economically by us. Paper Specs: Mazimum sheet size is 13 3/8" by 17 1/2". Minimum sheet size is 3 1/2" x 5". Paper thickness - .0016" to .012". The paper merchants we normally purchase from are Olmsted Kirk Paper, Waco, and Nationwide Paper, Houston. Virtually any paper stock is available within a day. If you specify a paper stock, also give the name of the paper merchant. Important note - keep in mind the grain direction of the paper stock if specifying other than cut sizes. Contact our office for a parent sheet size and grain direction to enable you to make the best use of the paper cut. One piece designed 1.5" wider than another could conceivable use twice as much paper - depending upon the parent size of the sheet. If you are specifying an envelope out of a special paper, keep in mind that the customer will be paying for the custom envelopes in multiples of full cartons - normally 2,500 to 5,000. This can be expensive if only 500 or so are required. Printing Area: Maximum printing area is 12" x 16 13/16". Gripper Margin: A margin of 3/16" on the 12" side of the paper is required. Ink: We maintain an inventory of over 40 standard ink colors. In addition, we can mix any one of over 500 Pantone colors. The use of one of our standard colors will result in a savings over the specially mixed colors unless the quantity is large. Color charts of both standard colors and specially mixed colors are available. Matching Ink Color: Herewith is a quote from a piece written by one of this country's best known experts on ink, Bob Gans, President, Gans Ink, Los Angeles, California. "Color matching has become one of the most lively subjects discussed among forumlators during the past decade and promises to become the major activity of quality-control laboratories in the printing ink and protective coatings industry. As a stimulus to the scientific considerations of this problem, came the recognition of metamerism as a stumbling block to accurate color matching and the application of spectrophotometric analyzers to solve this problem. "But the most difficult color matching problems which persist in the printing industry are those which require the reproduction of an agency's art-work into a finished print, on a running press. So complicated can this be, that art directors are convinced that printers are either color-blind, stupid, or Philistines, to whom color fidelity has no meaning. This is an unfair judgment based on the ignorance of what is involved in matching color copy. "When the artist has prepared an acceptable design, the agency production men have the responsibility of reproducing the design in the final product. The printing salesman may be requested to bring in proofs of part or all of the job. These proofs will be prepared in the quickest and most economical way, and will be hand-tailored to match in color for the client's approval. The client having seen the job in what he believes to be finished form may be terribly shocked when the job is delivered in commercial form. He phones the printer to determine why the original color copy wasn't matched. Let us try to unravle the mystery. "First of all, the artist may have worked with a palette of exotic paint colors to obtain the effect desired, not considering that if the product is going to be exposed to considerable outdoor light, there are very few brilliant pigments available that can meet these conditions without fading. Then again the artist may expect that a 4-color process should faithfully reproduce his flesh tones and his subtle shadings - but it doesn't. "In preparing the customer proofs, careful color matching and printing on a proof press may give sharp detail, color fidelity, exact registration and high finish for pleasing results but on a running press trapping is wet-on-wet and pressure from succeeding stations squeezes out the dot pattern, strengthens the depth of the first, second and third down inks, changes the color balance (which had warmed the cockles of the artist's heart) and produces an entirely different result than the hand-made proofs. "Recognizing that salesmen are not to be trusted, that printers are incompetent and that pressmen are fools, the fussy client insists that the agency's art-director be present at the press run to approve color. Assuming that the customer is important enough, the press run is attended by the artist, salesman, pressroom superintendent, printing ink service man and at least two kibitzers. The plates (which may have been previously color proofed on a one-color-press) are mounted, makeready adjustments are completed and the press turns over to produce a first proof. Everything is wrong: the fleshtones are salmony, the shadows are too blue, the tones are fuzzy. Adjustments are made to reduce or increase the amount of ink being carried, and the press turns over to produce another proof. Still wrong, but in different ways. "After two hours of ink and press adjustments (at $275/hour for the press), and concessions by the artist that correction of every detail may not be feasible, the press pulls up with a proof that the artist may be willing to accept. Up to this point the press has not exceeded 30 feet per minute. With color approved the pressman begins the run 100 fpm, 200 fpm, soon 600 fpm; and pulls a proof for the artist. Horrors! Everything is out of balance; colors, tones, everything. Stop the press. The press superintendent explains about ink transfer, tack, etc...all the artist wants is Excedrin - he has a headache. "He would like to know why the plates were made to give a good color match on the proofing press, instead of being made to work on the running press. Someone mentions cost of press time, makeready, transparencies, urgency for color proofs, etc... He mumbles about remaking the plates, pulling the job, rejecting the run, until someone reminds him that the job must be delivered next Tuesday, and what he is recommending will take three weeks. He swears that he will never give the printer another dime's worth of business; but in his heart he knows the next printer will do the same. "Is color matching difficult? "Not when you read the ads for digital computers and other very sophisticated and expensive related equipment. Let them try it on a press run and they will end up like everyone else - pulling selective proofs when you accidently get a color match. That, friend, is how it is in the real world." Ink Coverage: For a job that is to be produced in the most economical manner, ink coverage is a major consideration. A short run (up to 50,000 copies or so) of an 11" x 17" or smaller sheet can normally be produced on a small press with as great a quality as can be produced on a larger press - if there are no large solids. If there are large halftones, solids or screens, the job may have to be run much slower on the small press, or on a larger press at a significantly higher rate. As a rule of thumb, for the most economical production keep the solids to the minimum you can to maintain the integrity of the design. The amount of solid alone on a job can mean as much as 300 to 400% additional cost over that same job designed with a smaller amount of solid because of the cost of the ink and the size press it must run on. Get with your printer if you have any questions. Illustrations: Always use pen and ink rather than shaded pencil drawings or "washes" unless there is a good reason for doing otherwise. Make your shadings on the pen and ink with hashes for the most economical production. Pencil drawings and washes require special handling as halftones and can do several things - first, they will increase the cost of the pre-press work required and secondly, they may require that a negative and plate be used when the job could have been run as a direct image plate job. Finally, as with the matching of ink, there is a pretty good chance that you won't get exactly what you had envisioned. Halftones: Unless otherwise specified, we will will use a 120 line screen on uncoated stock and a 133 line screen for halftones that are to be printed on coated stock. Stats/Negatives: The maximum size film and state material we normally stock is 12" x 18". Larger sizes are available on special order. We can reduce to 20% or enlarge to 1,000% in one shot. Copy Size: The maximum copy size we can shoot in one shot is 20" x 26". Camera Ready Copy: If you are to produce camera ready copy for your customer, that means that the job should be just that -camera ready. All copy should be in place; windows should be cut for halftones; ruby should be cut for drop-outs; overlays should have accurate register marks; all trim, fold, perf and scores should be accurately marked; illustrations should be to size and in place (or scaled with windows where they strip in); color marked on overlays; etc. any of this work that is not done will have to be billed as additional charges. Type: We have the largest type library in East Texas, and one of the largest in the state. While we do not have a style book available for distribution, we do have one you can look through in our office. Copyfitting information is available on any of these faces upon request. All you need do is specify style, size, line length, leading, etc. and we will provide you with the waxed galley type. Be certain to note any white space addition, reduction or special kerning. Galley type will be billed to the artist unless other arrangements are made. Boards: Most commercial artists use heavy artboard "because everybody else does". Why not use 100# index or a heavy ledger. It takes ink well, it is not too opaque to be seen through on a light table, it is easier to handle and store, and it is much cheaper. We use 110# index for most of our paste ups. It is not practical to gang line shots when some are on heavy board and others on a lighter stock. Trim/Registration Marks: We can't emphasize enough the importance of accurate trim and registration marks. If the job is to be printed on oversize stock and trimmed, place registration marks in an area that will print, but be trimmed after printing - generally within 1.2" outside of the trim area. Standard Cut Paper Sizes: Savings can be made by designing the product to fit a standard cut paper. the most economical press sheets for The Printer are 11" x 17" and 8 1/2" x 11". As an example, out of a 23" x 35" parent size, we can get 8 pieces 8 1/2" x 11" but only 5 pieces 9" x 12". From that same piece, we can get 4 pieces 11" x 17" but only 2 pieces 12" x 18". If the job is designed as an 8 1/2" x 14", we can get only 6 pieces out. Remember that if the finished piece is to bleed, it must be printed on a larger sheet and be trimmed after printing. Also, remember that gripper margin. If gripper margin is not allowed, we have only two alternatives - reduce the copy to allow for margin or print on oversize stock. Multi Color Work: As with anything else, time is money. A multi color job with hairline registration takes more pre-press preparation and normally must be run slower on the press. For the most economical production, design the job where it doesn't have hairline registration in several different areas on the piece. If color is to fill an outlined area, make that outline as bold as you can without detracting from the job. Filling an area outlined by a hairline rule takes longer than filling an area outlined by a 1 or 2 point rule. If you find that you are losing the integrity of the job by using a wider rule, by all means use the hairline - just understand that the cost will be higher. In Closing: If budget is no problem with your customer and turn around time is not critical, let yourself go and design to your heart's content. The quality (and price) of the end product is directly related to the art provided and its complexity, but the same job can be effectively designed in many different ways. Work with your printer to determine a happy medium considering both design and cost of production. The goal of both artist and printer should be to produce the best possible end product at the most economical price. We have filled a niche in this area that until we opened was not available in this area. We produce quality and fast turn-around quick printing from camera ready copy in black or colored ink using direct image platemaking techniques. We also produce much of the higher quality commercial work that has traditionally been an area limited to the larger commercial printers. Copyright 1989, C.D. "Cy" Stapleton, Lufkin, Texas