There are certain issues you should take care of so you make the most of your print budget. Your graphic designer and printer can always help with this.

1. Escoge el mejor método de impresión para tu proyecto

Hoy en día, el offset ya no es la única opción. La impresión digital ha avanzado en calidad y ciertamente ha demostrado sus ventajas en los tiempos de entrega. Generalmente, los tirajes cortos (1 a 1000) son buenos candidatos para impresión digital. Los tiros cortos o de una sola ocasión, como menús o algunos materiales de apoyo para ventas son buenas opciones para prensas digitales. Otra ventaja de la impresión digital es la posibilidad de datos variables. Por otra parte, en los tirajes largos o formatos mayores, así como usando colores directos, el offset es todavía la mejor opción.

1. Choose the best printing method for your project

Nowadays, offset printing is no longer the only option available. Digital printing has advanced in quality and certainly it has demonstrated its advantages with time response. Generally, short print runs (1 to 1000) are good candidates for digital printing. Shorter and one time runs, such as menus or sales aid materials, are also good options for digital press. Other advantage of digital printing is when variable printing data is required. On the other hand, large printing runs, larger formats and direct color prints are still best produced with offset.

2. El tamaño de papel es importante para reducir costos

Tu diseñador gráfico y el impresor pueden sugerirte el mejor tamaño para tu proyecto, tomando en cuenta los tamaños disponibles en los pliegos usados por las imprentas. El tamaño final de tu pieza, debe tomar ventaja del tamaño de los pliegos para que no haya desperdicios innecesarios que resulten en mayores costos para tí. Los tamaños inusuales casi siempre incrementan los costos.

2. The size of the paper is important to reduce costs

Your graphic designer should be able to suggest the best size for your project, taking into consideration the size of extended paper used by commercial printers. Your final piece should take advantage of the size of those extended paper so there is no unnecessary waste resulting in a higher cost for you. Odd sizes will almost always increase the cost.

3. Las fotografías deben tener la calidad necesaria para impresión

Muy a menudo, la calidad de las fotos es algo que se pasa por alto, mayormente debido a cuestión de presupuesto. Si ya estás invirtiendo en impresión, la fotografía es algo en lo que no te arrepentirás de haber invertido. Una sola mala fotografía puede arruinar toda una pieza.

3. The photographs must have printing quality

Very often, photo quality is overlooked, mostly due to budget issues. If you are already investing in printing, photography is something you will not regret on investing. A single bad photo can bring down the quality of an entire piece.

4. La revisión de un texto debe hacerse por más de una persona

No importa cuantas veces leas un texto, siempre existe la posiblidad de que omitas corregir el mismo error una y otra vez. Entre más personas lean tu texto será mejor. Una vez que el trabajo está impreso no pueden hacerse cambios. Estos errores pueden costar mucho dinero. Recuerda que un corrector ortográfico no encontrará todos los errores en el texto, como los errores que forman otras palabras válidas.

4. Proof-reading of the job, should be done by more than one person

No matter how many times you proof-read text, there is always the possibility of missing the same error every time. The more people that proof your job the better. Once it is printed there is no chance for correction. This mistakes can be very costly. Keep in mind that a spell checker will not find all the errors in your text such as misspellings that form other valid words.

5. Un “dummy” o maqueta y las pruebas de color te ahorrarán tiempo y dinero

Un dummy, junto con las pruebas de color, proporcionadas por tu impresor, te darán la idea más cercana al producto final. Con estas piezas tienes la oportunidad final para hacer cambios o correcciones. También te mostrarán el doblez y orden final de las páginas.

5. A“dummy” and color proofs will always save you time and money

A dummy, together with the color proofs, provided by the printer, will give you the closest idea of the final product. With these pieces, you have a final opportunity to make any changes or correct missed errors. They will also show the proper folding and order of the pages.

6. Considera cuidadosamente la cantidad que necesitarás

Siempre es mejor tener algún sobrante que tener que imprimir un segundo tiraje más corto que será considerablemente más caro.

6. Carefully consider the quantity you will need

It is always better to have spare pieces than having to print a shorter second run that will cost considerably more.

7. Considera la opacidad del papel

Un papel muy delgado puede causar que el texto y las imágenes se transparenten a través del papel. Esto puede ser aceptable en un periódico o algunas revistas, pero en un folleto rack o un folleto para grupos o convenciones resulta muy desagradable. Escoje un gramaje adecuado (aprox. 150gsm+). No tendrás problemas de transparencia y los colores resultarán más brillantes.

7. Consider the paper opacity

A very thin paper can cause text and images to be seen on the other side of the paper. This might be accepted in a newspaper or certain magazines, but you do not want a rack or meeting brochure to have the same effect. Choose an appropriate weight of paper stock (approx. 150gsm+). You will have no see-through problems and the colors will print more brilliantly.

8 Toma en cuenta la calidad del papel

Un folleto de ventas puede ser la única oportunidad de causar una buena impresión, en todos los sentidos. Un papel muy barato dará pobres resultados. Muchas veces un poco extra en el presupuesto te dará mucho a cambio.

8. Paper quality is important

A sales brochure might be the only opportunity to give a good impression, in every way. Cheap paper will give poor results. Sometimes a little extra will take you a lot further.

9. Impresiones en paquete pueden ahorrarte dinero

Cuando tienes varios proyectos de impresión es mejor tratar de mandarlos a prensa al mismo tiempo. Esto te dará una ventaja de negociación y hará a tu impresor muy feliz.

9. Combo printing can save money

When you have several printing projects it is always better to try to send them to press at the same time. This will give you a negotiation advantage and your printer will be happier.

10. El tiempo siempre es importante

En impresión como en muchas industrias, el tiempo es valioso. Los proyectos con limitaciones de tiempo pueden resultar en mayores costos. Los impresores deben pagar turnos extras o mover la programación de otros trabajos.

Las temporadas son también importantes. Dependiendo de tu ubicación y tipo de industria, hay temporadas en el año en las que la demanda de impresión aumenta,. Por otro lado hay temporadas bajas en las que tu impresor tiene menos trabajo. Habla con él y es muy probable que puedas obtener mejores precios si aprovechas imprimir en etas temporadas.

10. Timing is always important

In printing as in many industries time is a commodity. Projects with time constraints will result in higher costs. Printers have to pay extra shifts or push other client jobs over.

Seasons are also important. Depending on your location or your kind of business there are times of the year where the demand of printing materials spikes. On the other hand, there are time windows throughout the year where printing jobs are slow. Ask your printer when he is less busy, it is very likely you can get a better quote if you print in this slow seasons.

En resumen

Un consejo valioso es preguntar a tu diseñador gráfico y al impresor cómo bajar costos. Ellos son los expertos.

Proporciona la mayor información posible así como tus futuros planes de imprenta. Seguramente podrás ahorrar tiempo y dinero si puedes desarrollar un programa de impresos a largo plazo.

Tu impresor agradecerá si tus trabajos pueden programarse con anticipación. Un cliente que necesita un trabajo -para ayer- nunca será algo que tu impresor agradezca.

Summing-up

A valuable advice is to ask your graphic designer and your printer on how to save costs. They know best.

Provide them with as much information as possible, and about your future print plans, too. You will certainly save time and money if you can make a long term printing program.

Your printer will thank you if jobs can be scheduled in advance. A client needing a job for yesterday, is something your printer will hardly appreciate.

The book Beneath the Surface has been awarded with the Best Book Design Award by a! Diseño Magazine. Thanks to a! Diseño for the recognition, it motivates me to go on further with my passion for design.

You can see more of his work at:  burdu976.com

Upside-down jellyfish, Cassiopea xamachana, Cancun Mexico, Caribbean Sea.

An amazing photograph of my friend Javier Sandoval. Included in his recent book: ”Beneath the Surface” Underwater Portrait of the Mexican Caribbean, which I had the privilege to design.

Winner of the “BEST BOOK DESIGN 2011 AWARD” Silver mention by a! Diseño magazine.

Background.

Looking for a designer is not that different than looking for an architect or a lawyer. Background and experience will tell you a lot about what you will get for your investment.

You should know that, a degree in Graphic Design takes 4 years or more of college studies to obtain, and that field experience adds up making the difference on the quality of the professional. Accomplished designers will own a degree and proven experience.

You can get a very good idea of the quality of the designer if you take a look on his or hers portfolio. This will give you a sense of the kind of work he has developed, and the type of clients he has worked with. Client testimonials are also helpful on knowing how it would be like to work with your prospect.

Know what you want.

Be specific on what your needs are. Graphic design has a wide range of specific skills. Designers can specialize in different areas such as illustration, brand identity, packaging, animation, editorial design, etc. Knowing what you need will help you find the exact designer for your venture.

Be clear.

State what are you willing to invest in your project and the time frame for it. This is the best way to get the best designers available for your budget and deadline.

Customer service.

This can make the difference from a success and total failure. Knowing that the designer is really paying attention to detail and managing the process properly, will take you to a safe conclusion of your plan.

Exercise your creative thought.

Design is not a science, although a careful methodology should be followed, it is still a creative process. Sometimes a struck of genius comes to your brain, and you can find an immediate solution, but most of the time a proper result is obtained through hard work. So be patient and let creativity flow.

I really hope these ideas will help you in your search. Thank you for reading this article.

Photo: stockxchange VI

As you can see on this video of Discovery Channel’s Mega structures, Jason deCaires Taylor -the artist behind the MUSA project- has developed an amazing concept that is worth visiting.

I have been a graphic designer for more than 20 years. During all that time, technology has made our job a lot easier. Maybe new graphic designer generations take for granted all the tools we have nowadays to perform our craft, but back in the day -not than long ago anyway- producing a print ready original, was much more complicated than a few clicks on a computer keyboard.

I chose this theme for my first post because all of this makes me love my job even more every day. There is always something to learn, every project is different, every client presents a different challenge.

But back into the theme… I would like to point out to all of you that hadn’t have to go through the cut and paste process, all that it took to produce a print ready art work. After you had designed, sketched and presented a hand-made dummy to your client for approval, the pain started. Setting type implied you had counted all the characters in your text; for this you needed tables that indicated how many characters there were on a typed text for a certain kind of typewriter. Picas, points, Ms was the every day language. Once you had that total amount, you would need to convert that number into lines of text of the required font; Helvetica for example.

You needed another set of tables with the typographic factor for that exact font and size, knowing in the end, how many lines of text would you get for a certain line width of Helvetica regular 10/12. There was a very little margin for error here. And mistakes or changes were expensive and certainly time consuming.

All the text went to the typesetting company where someone would type it and gave you back, stripes of photographic paper – it smelled awful by the way – with your text in a single and long column. This would normally take one day.

Once you had this material ready, cutting and pasting was in order. All the pieces should be mounted on a white cardboard: Photos, illustration, all of this previously airbrushed and hand-made. Then the text would be cut out from the column and pasted to the cardboard.

This was not a simple process. You had to trace guidelines with a blue pencil – so they wound not be seen by the mechanic cameras- and cut the block of text with xacto knives.

The pasting was a craft by itself and often a mess. You could use wax with instruments developed specially for the task, or glue spray. Once you managed to paste everything into place, imagine what would happen if you suddenly discovered you had missed a comma, or a word was misspelled, or worst:  that your client had changed his mind and had changed half the text. All of the process would have to be repeated all over again. Once pasting and cutting was finished, the client usually had to sign for final approval, and you all know what that means: One more chance to make “just one more little change”.

But we knew no other way. That was just the way it was. So when you presented a comp or a dummy to your client, you had to be sure that everything was as perfect as it could be. Design was more of a planning process than today, when you can think along as you produce.

For those wandering how old am I, let me tell you that computer desktop publishing was available back then, it was just not the standard. Only very few New York advertising agencies had it. Everything developed very fast though. All these systems were available for all rather soon.

The next time you drag a blue guide to your Photoshop or Illustrator artboard, remember all the amazing technology that lets you to do so, instead of tracing it with a blue pencil, enabling you to work more creatively and freely in this great profession of ours!

Photograph 1 origin  Photograph 2 & 3 origin