Your Frequently Asked Questions Answered

What's the difference between lithographic and digital printing?

The difference is lithographic printing uses ink, digital printing mostly uses toner. A job printed lithographically is produced on a printing press, while digital printing is done on a copier or printer. When someone says that a job will be printed digitally, it's just a fancy term for copying. Digital doesn't mean the quality is better, in fact it's usually worse. Most copiers are capable of producing excellent quality, however I am yet to find a copier that matches the quality of a printing press. Like most printing companies, we have a colour copier for short runs, but I always like to show my customers the difference in quality and the best option for their printing job.

How do I know if my printing job is produced digitally?

I can usually tell straight away, but there are a few tell tale signs. Unlike presses, some copiers have an unstable registration system. This means that the image position can move between sheets. Also, if the copier isn't calibrated regularly, the result can be unrealistic or overly bright colours. Also the heating process of copiers can sometimes warp the printed sheet making it curly.

The best way to avoid disappointment is to always ask this question. Will my job be printed on a press or a copier?

Why is the price of 1,000 business cards not double the price of 500?

When you order 500 business cards, standard costs such as artwork, printing plates and press set up charges are the same as 1,000 cards. Therefore, the only price difference between 500 and 1,000 business cards is the cost of the extra card and a small amount of labour. The same principle applies to most printing jobs.

What is the difference between CMYK and RGB?

CMYK and RGB are terms used to describe the colour makeup of photos or images. RGB stands for Red, Green, Blue. CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key (black). Computer monitors emit colour as RGB, while printers use the CMYK process. CMYK is also referred to as four colour process which is the most commonly used printing method worldwide. When images are downloaded from the internet in RGB, the colour can look washed out and faded when printed. This problem can be partly resolved by converting all RGB images to CMYK before printing using a graphic arts program like Photoshop or Illustrator. Some colours in RGB are impossible to reproduce in CMYK. The computer just chooses the closest possible colour match and unfortunately this can be vastly different to the original colour. To make things more complicated, your computer monitor will most likely emit colour differently to mine, which makes it virtually impossible to match colour by eye. Colour conversion problems are very common in printing so when designing your own artwork, make sure you choose all your colours in CMYK format from the start.

What's the problem with designing a job in Microsoft Publisher?

No problem, if you're planning to print garage sale leaflets, party invitations or school assignments at home. However, if you want to design a leaflet or business card for a commercial printer to use, forget it. Microsoft programs such as Publisher and Word don't have the extra features that are required for professional print production, and were never designed for this purpose. This is reflected in the price you pay for the software. Colours in Publisher and Word files are always RGB (web colour), but printing companies use the CMYK format (four colour process). Templates are usually the wrong size (eg American letter instead of A4), with fold and trim lines in the wrong place, while images and fonts are low in resolution. These problems all result in a poor quality print job. When we receive Publisher or Word files, it's usually faster to re-design the job than to fix the file and in most cases the problems can't be fixed. To save a lot of time, money and frustration my advice is to let us do the artwork using our professional graphic arts programs. After all, I'm not a mechanic so I don't service my own car.

What is the best format to supply my logos?

Generally speaking, EPS and PDF files are the best quality. JPEG and GIF files are usually  internet quality and are unsuitable for print production. Always remember that if a file is created at low resolution, increasing the resolution afterwards does nothing.

Why is it important that I see a proof before printing?

Anyone who types on a regular basis will understand how easy it is to make a typing error? This happens frequently when designing a print job. In fact with printing, one thing occurs almost as much as typing errors, and that's customers not finding them. This is the reason why we insist you see a proof before we proceed with printing. Believe it or not, I once had a client who missed the incorrect spelling of their name on a business card and I've lost track of how many people have missed an incorrect phone number. The best advice I can give is to take your time and read everything thoroughly. Asking a friend to read the proof will also minimise the chance of errors slipping through.

Does my ABN need to be printed on my business card?

No. Many people have it, but there's no legal requirement to do so. By law, The Australian Tax Office requires you to have your ABN on letterheads, with compliments slips and tax invoices.

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