027. Printing Tips with Martin from Fine Print, Stockport (Interview)

We managed to get Martin Livingstone from Fine Print in Stockport to talk to us about his tips to do with printing.

What’s the best way to supply artwork to a printer?

Hi-resolution PDF’s with bleed and crop marks (cutting guides) – book & brochure work – always single pages, never printers pairs. We can also accept Quark or InDesign files but its always best to convert into a Hi-res PDF with fonts embedded if you are using a non-standard font. Vector images where possible if you need to blow your artwork up to a large scale

What does resolution and DPI mean?

The resolution being the quality of the image Hi/Low resolution (you can see these settings in a quality camera) you will use far less memory when you shoot at a lower resolution. Camera phones although they look great on the screen will not always enlarge to a large size due to lower than required ‘resolution’ – you can generally see by the size of your email attachment in MB if you have a low or hi-resolution image.

DPI is dots per inch – the dots making up the image – Cyan/Magenta/Yellow and black dots make up the images you see in print.

Low res would be 72dpi and 300 DPI is generally regarded as the standard for hi-res print images. Your PC screen will probably be 96dpi which looks great but will not print hi-res images.

Why does my document need a bleed?

Bleed is where an image or print runs off the edge/s of a sheet – When trimming if there is any movement you will be left with a white edge.  3mm minimum bleed is recommended.

Can a finish like Matt Lamination affect the colours on a print?

Matt or gloss lamination does have a slight but minimal effect on the colour of the print- this is due to the film absorbing and reflecting light in different amounts. Colour will appear to change under different lighting conditions – It will look a slightly different colour under office lights compared to outdoor natural daylight.  This is true of any coloured material be it Print, Carpets, paint or wallpaper etc.

If you are struggling with your print design and would like to look at a  Manchester Graphic Design Agency then feel free to contact us about a potential project, we’re always here to help. If you are looking to get print created we highly recommend Martin at Fine Print, Stockport.