Notes on The Use of Print in Marketing
These notes are designed to accompany lectures and workshops given by Iain Lanyon, particularly the Theatrical Management Association's Essentials of Marketing Course held each Autumn at the Druidstone Hotel near Haverfordwest.
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND EMAIL
Imagine you were a touring company that had just received some fantastic
photos of your latest production that you had to send out to venues and
the media. In the past we ordered loads of prints or copy transparencies,
carefully captioned each one and sent them through the post, making sure
to retain the originals.
Now we have emails and attachments and life has suddenly become easier
1. We have a new generation of digital cameras that give as good quality
as traditional 35mm (35mm is reckoned to be approx the same as 7 million
pixels, but digital images don't have film grain to degrade the image,
so even a 4 mega pixel digital camera can give a crisp A5 image you can
enlarge to A4 without much loss of quality)
2. We have good quality scanners at less than £100 (Scanning the
photo will give you a digital version of it, though scanning a print will
not give you quite as good quality as an original digital image of the
same size taken with a digital camera)
3. We can compress these digital images and send a selection to hundreds
of people at the same time
BUT
(there's always a but)
Get it wrong and you might as well have photocopied your original print,
folded it 3 times and posted it.
So here are some Frequently Asked Questions;
The newspaper tells me the image I sent them is 72dpi and they need 300dpi.
But it's HUGE. What's their problem??
Digital cameras are set up to take images at a certain resolution - usually
72dpi (dots per inch) because this is right for viewing on computer monitors.
But the printed media needs much higher quality and the techie people
seem to have given a general instruction to staff that images will be
rejected unless they are 300dpi. This is a simple resizing that can be
done in Photoshop and many other photo editing software. A 4mega pixel
camera will give an 80cm image at 72dpi, which can be resized to 20cm
at 300dpi. Don't argue with them - if you want your photos published,
change them to 300dpi !
I couldn't find the original photo, so I told them
to take it from our website. They say that's not good enough quality because
it's 72dpi, so I Enlarged it in photoshop and sent it. They're still being
fussy...What's their problem??
When websites are designed, images are used at 72dpi and ultra compressed
(as a jpeg, pronounced Jay-peg) to maybe a twentieth of their original
size. This compression is done by taking areas of the same colour - a
dark background for example - and giving abbreviated digital information
for that section. But the higher the compression the more this "resampling"
damages the image. JPEG is a "lossy" compression method, which
means that if you compress an image you lose parts of the information
of the original photo. Compress it really small and you'll destroy the
image. Enlarging this up again doesn't improve matters - you'll simply
be sending a useless image that also takes ages to download at the other
end.
My printers say they need photos as a 300dpi CMYK
tiff with no LZW or a CMYK eps with no jpg compression. What's their problem??
Printers use patterns of dots of 4 'process' colour inks to attempt to
reproduce the millions of colours of an original photo. These inks are
Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (black changed to 'K' presumably so we
don't confuse it with blue). Computers use Red Green and Blue lights (hence
RGB colours) and though there is software to convert from RGB to CMYK
the result can be very disappointing. Blues go very muddy and all those
bright greens and cerise end up very dull.
Also, the computer software they use might not be able to process compressed
images - both eps with jpeg compression and jpeg itself and even sometimes
tiff images with LZW compression can cause problems, though increasingly
new software can process ('rip') these compressed images OK.
Technically you should make sure you always have a large original image,
converted to CMYK and saved in tiff format (tiff = tagged image format)
with the title indicating it is the original. This will give you huge
images and many people simply save images as RGB and maximum quality jpeg
CMYK images are bigger that RGB because of the extra colour channel, so
if you want to compress an image for email it's best to convert it to
CMYK, check the colours, then convert it back to RGB before sending. Then
you can do the RGB jpg version at different sizes. Always save the images
as maximum or at least high quality. Never go for low quality jpeg compression
just to save a bit of time while emailing it. And always try to do your
resizing from the master version - doing a smaller size high quality compression
of another high quality compression will reduce the quality even more.
Indicate on each version what you've done to the image or you'll get confused.
And never delete the original number if it's an original digital photo
- the photographer will need that number as a reference:
Here is the system I use starting with the CMYK master tiff and indicating
how the image size gets smaller as the dimensions decrease and the compression
goes from maximum quality to high quality:
RSC-Summertime-1358-master.tiff
15.5mb as a 20cm CMYK image with no LZW compression or
8.4mb with LZW compression
RSC-Summertime-1358-20cm-rgb.jpg
1.7mb - if maximum quality compression
RSC-Summertime-1358-20cm-rgb.jpg
536k - if high quality compression
RSC-Summertime-1358-10cm-rgb.jpg
228k - if high quality compression
RSC-Summertime-1358-WEB.jpg
25k - web quality only - 5cm image with low quality compression
The temptation is huge - but if you're sending out an image that is less
than 300k, the chances are that the print media won't use it.
A design studio has phoned to say the attachment
I sent them didn't arrive, though the email did. But I know I sent it
- it was called logo.tiff. What's their problem??
Firstly, different computer ISP servers use different forms of encoding
for sending and receiving attachments. If an attachment goes missing,
I usually change my encoding from Apple Double (which despite the name
is cross-platform for Mac and PC) to windows/mime format and send it again.
Secondly, if you really are sending out logos called logo.tiff, you deserve
them to go missing! - I get sent 100 logos a year with that title. Give
it a name and date eg SalisburyPlayhouse-logo2003.tif
Now they've got the logo and they say it's too poor
quality - but it's 300dpi. What's their problem??
Best quality logos are done in vector format - a method of saving drawn
image information. Common software drawing programmes are Illustrator
and Freehand. When these logos are saved as an eps (encapsulated postscript)
they are perfect quality whatever the size they are enlarged to - yet
they only take up around 50k space. However, If you're sending a logo
that's been scanned in (or drawn in Quark Express and then turned into
a photoshop eps) you'll have a pixellated logo with jagged edges. You
won't be able to see these jagged edges if the logo is kept large, so
the solution is often to change it into lines only (bitmap) from 'greyscale'
but at the same time increase the resolution to 1200dpi to hide the jagged
pixels.
PRINTED AND DIGITAL PROOFS
Listed here with the most expensive and accurate at the top.
1. Traditionally, special one-off 'Machine-proofs' or 'Wet proofs' are
provided from the final plates. These will look identical to the final
printed job, but are expensive (approx £30 - £40 per colour)
and author's corrections are charged extra - So this will mean making
new plates.
2. A common compromise for four colour process work is 'cromalin' or 'matchprint'
proofs. These are produced from the final films, so they are a guarantee
that the content is accurate. They are also a very accurate guide for
the weight of type and quite a good guide for strength of tint and colours,
though the glossy finish will make colours look brighter than the final
result (unless you are printing on card and adding a gloss varnish). Blacks
appear very dense, and it can be a shock to see your finished print with
dark grey where the black should be - designers should where possible
put a tint of cyan behind the black to avoid this. Ask your printer what
other inconsistencies you should be looking out for.
3. Dye Sub/Inkjet proofs - eg Scitex Iris Inkjet, Rainbow or Epson give
a good idea of final colours, though some are not accurate on small type.
Because these proofs can be produced direct from computer generated A/W
without outputting films, it is much cheaper to make corrections than
with cromalin proofs. They do not, however, guarantee that all your copy
will be there on your final printed brochure, and the colour accuracy
is dependent on the way the printer's computer has been set up. Dye Sub,laser
and inkjet proofs have the added advantage that they are on thin enough
paper to be folded to give a realistic dummy of the final brochure.
4. Colour laser proofs can also give some idea of the finished result,
but again do not guarantee accuracy of colour or copy. Type can appear
bolder than the finished print.
5. PDFproofs using Adobe Acrobat software are becoming the most common
way of designer's showing colour visuals before hard copies are outputted.
The PDF files can be emailed and read on any computer, using Adobe's free
Acrobat Reader Software. The software is also included on the free CDs
in monthly computer magazines. No guarantee of colour or copy.
6. If you've seen a proof other than a Cromalin or Matchprint and can't
afford a wet proof, you may be concerned about last minute mistakes cropping
up. You have a few options:
(a) Ask the printer to email you a corrected pdf file so that you can
check that the corrections have been done; or
(b) Ask for mono laser proofs. For absolute guarantee that the changes
have been done, ask for
(c) An 'ozalid'- a large blueprint from each film. or
(d) See the filmwork or plates before they are on machine. or (e) See
the job 'on machine' (ie while it is being printed). But at this stage
you can only change the ink colours unless you get new plates made. This
is very much a last resort option.
DECIDING
ON WHICH PAPER TO USE
The better the coating on a paper, the brighter any ink on the paper will
look. But the process used to coat raw paper makes coated paper feel thinner
than uncoated paper of the same weight. Glossy 'art' paper feels thinner
than 'matt' coated paper. Recommended weights for paper therefore increase
when coated:
(Weights are given as grammes per square metre or 'gsm')
60 gsm: Uncoated newsprint
100 gsm: Thick uncoated or adequate recycled paper. Quite thin matt coated
paper. flimsy art paper (glossy).
115 gsm: Adequate matt coated cartridge or good weight recycled paper.
Quite thin art paper.
130 gsm: Good quality matt coated and art papers.
170gsm: Heavy matt coated and art papers. (folds may need to be pre-creased)
200gsm: Thin card (folds will need to be pre-creased)
350gsm: The thickest card for Offset Litho machines
Exceptions: Some papers will feel thicker than the weight and coating
would suggest. They are said to 'bulk up well'. Solution? Ask to see paper
samples, preferably already printed. Paper merchants can supply these
direct, or get them from your printer. Keep a box of different printed
and unprinted examples.
HINTS ON PAPER
USE
1. For smaller leaflets, eg A4 or less, or for short runs, increasing
the weight of your paper can be an inexpensive way of improving the quality
of your print. Going from 115gsm to 135gsm might add less than £30
to the cost of 10,000 1/3 A4 leaflets.
PAPER PRICES
nb these are bulk purchase prices obtained from a printer who buys £15,000
of the same brand paper each month. Recommended retail prices are up to
4 times higher!
1000 SRA2 sheets of matt Art paper:
115gsm 1000 sheets £28
130gsm 1000 sheets £32
150gsm 1000 sheets £37
170gsm 1000 sheets £42
250gsm card 1000 sheets £64
400gsm card 1000 sheets £78
From 1 sheet of SRA2 paper you can print:
1 x A2 poster or
2 x A3 posters
4 x A4 leaflets
6 x 2/3 A4 leaflets
8 x A5 leaflets
12 x 1/3 A4 leaflets
16 x A6 cards
1 x 24 page 1/3 A4 stitched booklet
1 x 16 page A5 stitched programme
If you were printing 100,000 24 page 1/3 A4 booklets, 115gsm would be
thick enough paper for the job because the fold and bulk of the 24 pages
adds strength. However, the cost of increasing to 135gsm would be £38.50
- £30 = £8 (cost difference per 1000 sheets) X 100 = £800.
You should talk to your printer about possible paper cost increases and
take advice about saving money by ordering your paper in bulk.
2. Specifying a particular brand (e.g.'Conqueror') usually costs you more
than any equivalent that the printer has in stock. Ordering small quantities
of special papers is often not possible.
3. Photocopying and Instant Print need to use the more absorbent papers.
But these papers give the ink a flat finish, so compensate by using brightly
coloured papers or inks. Cheaper pastel papers rarely give a pleasing
result.
4. When you are next at your Printer, see if he/she has any special papers
in stock you might have at a discount. There may even be occasional opportunities
for you to print small leaflets or cards on the same plate as a larger
job.
5. Odd-shaped leaflets and posters may look fun and original, but often
end up costing more than expected because of consequent wasted paper.
Make sure you know the paper size your printer prints on, and have a sheet
of it in front of you when calculating the size of your leaflet / poster.
A printer using A2 paper will charge the same for a 594mm x 210mm poster
as for a conventional A3 poster shape of 420mm x 297mm. But if you are
sending to a venue for them to overprint, they will probably want a size
that will fit into their photocopier. Efficient usage is even more crucial
when printing on card. If you print a folder with a large pocket the cost
is likely to be £100 - £200 more than a folder with a 2 or
3 inch flap folding in from the side. This is because your printer could
print two folders on every sheet of card if you were prepared to accept
the glued-flap version rather than the fancy pocket. Or you can buy stick
on transparent corner pockets.
6. If printing a single sheet A5 or even 2/3 A4 leaflet folded to 1/3
A4, be wary of using paper lighter than 115gsm. 135gsm - 150gsm is best
if the leaflet needs to stand up in leaflet racks. Conversely, a stapled
("stitched") 1/3 A4 brochure has enough strength through the
folding to allow you to use 115gsm or even 100 gsm paper.
7. Consider printing some of your posters on to thin card for Front of
House and window displays. Your printer can simply print the card posters
at the end of a normal run, and at very little extra cost. 8. If you are
a touring company, find out how the venues overprint your posters and
leaflets. It is very common now to use a photocopier or 'instant press'.
Neither process likes glossy art papers or odd sizes.
9. Recycled paper is improving in quality all the time and getting cheaper.
Why not ask your printer about recycled paper? You can get a list of manufacturers
from Friends of the Earth in London. Or call Paperback on 020 7729 1382
(8 Coronet Street, N1) for samples and price lists of papers and office
stationery; Conservation papers - (01703) 668611 - do a creamy white recycled
paper, while Croxley do a High White recycled
PAPER SIZES
N.B: 'SRA 2' is the sheet size most printers buy. They then print on to
the smaller A2 area and trim the paper down after printing. This way they
can achieve 'bleeding off', i.e. ink going right to the edge of the paper.
A1 size 594 x 841mm or 23.5 x 33 inches
SRA2 size 450 x 640mm or 17.75 x 25.25 inches
A2 size 420 x 594 mm or 16.5 x 23.5 inches
A3 size 297 x 420 mm or 11.75 x 16.5 inches
A4 size 297 x 210 mm 0r 11.75 x 8.25 inches
2/3 A4 size 198 x 210 mm or 7.88 x 8.25 inches
A5 size 148 x 210 mm or 5.88 x 8.25 inches
NOTES
ON INKS
Before computerised artwork took over from pasted up boards, Artwork (A/W)
for printing had to be provided in black or red. No other colour could
be picked up by your printer's camera to create a piece of film and eventually
transfer the image on to a metal plate ready for inking.
Pantone Colours
Whether or not the final film has been achieved by hand or by computer,
once the image is on the plate, this plate can be inked in any colour.
The usual range of colours is called 'Pantone' and uses the same idea
of mixing varying proportions of basic colours as is used with emulsion
paints when decorating. You can buy Pantone 'Swatch' books via your printer
or at art shops.
Four Colour Process Colours
If you want to print a full colour poster or leaflet, and don't have access
to Desktop publishing, simply supply a transparency (preferably) or a
print of the photo to your printer, with any lettering as a separate piece
of A/W. The colour photo will be scanned to separate it into four 'process'
colours: Process Magenta (pinky-red), Process Cyan (blue), Process Yellow
and Process Black. All the many colours of the original photo are approximated
by combining these four colours in a pattern of elliptical dots. Many
different shades of green can, for example, be achieved by using dots
of the Cyan and Yellow.
Metallic and Fluorescent Specials
However, if you want to print metallic colours such as gold or silver
or any fluorescent colour, these cannot be created from the four colour
process and are therefore called 'specials'. They are slightly more expensive,
take longer to dry and depth of colour is even more critical to the result.
HINTS ON USE OF
INKS
1. One-colour leaflets need strong colours: remember that small or delicate
type and photos make the ink appear lighter than it is, and under-inking
by a printer only makes the problem worse. Don't take risks with colour
unless you can afford a proof or see your job 'on machine' (i.e. while
it is being printed). Keeping a stock of leaflets with good colour combinations
really comes into its own when selecting ink colours. Using two colours
should make life easier but all too often only makes the job fussier.
The safest way to success is to choose a dark colour for the photos and
type, and a brighter colour for the headings, illustrations or background.
Photos can be printed in two contrasting colours to good effect. These
are called 'duotones' and your designer/printer may charge extra.
2. Computers and the popular 'Photoshop' software have brought photo manipulation
costs right down. Special effects such as duotones, black and white prints
from colour, posterising, tint & negative effects, even 'flipping'
the picture so that it faces the other way, can be done in seconds, although
manipulating and retouching a large colour photo can still be very time
consuming and therefore expensive. Don’t be tempted to abandon your
eye for detail during a colour photosession in the belief that any mistakes
can be cheaply rectified afterwards.
3. Ask your printer to explain about the advantages of 'work and turn'
printing: both sides of your leaflet printed on the same plate at the
same time, allowing you to have the same colours inside and out at little
or no extra cost.
4. Also enquire about 'tint-laying': putting dots of a colour over an
area to create a lighter version of that colour. DTP software can also
produce interesting graduated tints (tints that go from, for example,
20% to full strength in a block ) and even rainbow colour effects, merging
from a tint of one colour to a tint of another.
5. Remember that inks appear brighter on art paper, and that heavier paper
gives a much better result than thin.
6. Rushing a printer means that not enough time is allowed for the printed
sheets to dry before trimming. This can cause a 'setting off' of one side's
colour on to the other side, especially when there is a lot of solid colour
on one side only.
7. It is useful to enclose a colour sample with your A/W, but if you are
giving just a Pantone colour reference, remember to give the colour as
well as the number, e.g: 'Pantone 185 Red'.
8. Always try to get a proof or at least see the job as it is printed
('on machine') to double-check that the colours work. More jobs are ruined
by a bad choice of colours than 'bad printing'. And make it clear to your
printer that you value his/her advice on colour selection as well as in
all other areas. If you explain that you always want to achieve a simple
but effective approach rather than clever but difficult to read, you'll
stand less chance of ruining your print.
9. Keep asking for suggestions from your printer, whether they be for
paper or folding, a more economical way of printing the job, or adding
more for the same price. Printers should now be offering high quality
proofs from inkjet or colour lasers that will allow you to make changes
before film has been run. See the proofs section above.
© Iain Lanyon 2003 These notes are kept updated and are available
at www.keanlanyon.com, together with a print glossary and pdf files on
tints and screen size, font sizes and styles.
MY
PRINTER SAYS
Communication
between all parties - often if designers aren't buying print they don't
want to talk to printers; this can result in artwork not being set up
in a way that works best for the printer. If there's a particular aspect
of a job you're concerned about, make sure everyone knows about it. Ask
your designers if there is anything they are taking a risk on, that might
need an extra proof!
Continuity
Ideal situation is continuity between marketer, designer and printer (rather
than changing for each job), so that a relationship builds up & the
process works more efficiently.
Questions
Don't be afraid to ask! The more experience you have in print, the more
you understand how much you don't know. If you don't understand, or it
doesn't make sense - ASK! We like explaining and demonstrating - it's
never a nuisance (if you feel you're being a nuisance, you're using the
wrong printer!)
Colour
Laser proofs and pdfs are not colour correct. People are often disappointed
when they see final high resolution proofs because they're not the same
as those they've previously seen.
Corrections
Amends - Better to have them all at once and a bit late, rather than bit
by bit. Always put them in writing & always see a proof afterwards.
When checking amends have a quick look over everything else to check that
nothing has moved.
Paper
Choose paper to go with design, not just because you like it - ask printer
to show you samples (ideally both printed and unprinted) of different
types of paper - if you can't see the difference, ask - and don't be blinded
by science, it's not complicated!
Timescale
ask how long it will take and try to be realistic. A job can easily be
spoilt by rushing.
Axis Printing Company
01484 722 732
www.axisonline.co.uk
What?
- Title The percentage game: what is the most important element? (make
that biggest - 100%), then make the next biggest element no more than
50% of that size size.
- Product Benefits, not features
- Target audience: Describe what the perfect audience would be and how
they would react and talk to each other at the end of the event
- What kind of print will they react best to? -’ Tone’
NB size of type, colour limitations for partially sighted
Multilingual?
Where?
Where is your target audience. And so
Where will the print go?
NB information that needs to be seen first - above leaflet racks or
on front cover when opened from envelope
When?
Does the print have to be delivered?
Work out a timetable backwards from that deadline -
leaving a few days contingency
How Much?
Design budget including expenses (excluding VAT)
Printing budget including delivery (excluding VAT)
How Many?
Total quantity and breakdown distribution.
Get a run-on price as well
BRIEFING FOR SEASON BROCHURE/ PROGRAMME
/ SUBSCRIPTION BROCHURE.
(a) The time schedule is even more crucial.
(b) Make sure the designer is experienced in this area, or find other
examples of this type of print, and point out the strengths & weaknesses.
(c) Give an idea of the different essentials or sections, eg booking details,
calendar, map, booking form (tear off?), catering, special activities,
information for people with disabilities, intro. letter. It may even help
to do your own folded 'dummy'. These 'dummies' are especially useful at
the initial briefing, even though the designer may eventually solve it
another way.
(d) Stress usage of leaflet: eg Display racks or posting; this affects
the fold and size. Remember only top third of leaflet sticks out of racks.
(e) If you are a 'receiving venue', decide whether you should make the
name of each company or the production dominate. Don't get rid of Visiting
Company logos just because it looks neater.
(f) Rest of details as for briefing for a poster. You should also look
at the sections on copy preparation and proof reading.
LOOKING FOR A NEW DESIGNER ?
(a) Look for effective print that serves a similar function to yours,
and track down the designer
(b) Ask other similar companies/venues who they would recommend
(c) Ask printers - they may know a designer who also knows a lot about
printing.
(d) Approach schools of graphic design (but beware inexperience).
(e) Agencies (perhaps a desk-bound boss for whom interest in the arts
would outweigh lack of money!).
(f) First step: To save time, ask for samples to be sent rather than seeing
their portfolio, and give an idea of the type of job you require so that
samples can match. Look for expertise in type, simplicity and good use
of space. Would it persuade you?
WORK OUT YOUR TIME SCHEDULE
E.G. Delivery Day Minus 15 weeks: Looking for a new designer.
10 weeks to go: 'Book' your designer. Send background material and script
if relevant.
9 weeks: Brief designer and give draft copy.
7 weeks: Design ideas from designer. Final copy from you.
3 weeks: Design approved. Final proofing of typesetting.
2 weeks: Artwork ('A/W') to printer.
D-Day: 1st print delivered to venue.
N.B. Always try to allow a few days up your sleeve.
And always be straightforward with your designer on fee and timing- if
you have only £100 and 5 days, then say so. "As soon as possible"
is too vague BUDGET
(a) Discuss the whole design and print budget with your designer before
work starts - you don't want to end up with a design you can't afford
to print.
(b) Design costs: Agree what the designer is expected to do for the agreed
fee. Does it include all the scanning of the photos. Are costs charged
as extras? Who is getting quotes from and generally liaising with printers?
(c) If using this designer for the first time, agree in advance a 'refusal
fee' - what you will pay if you reject the designs.
(d) If you decide to commission initial ideas from several designers,
tell them this and again arrange a refusal fee. The actual amount will
have to reflect the amount of work you want designers to do before you
decide who to go with. It is unfair to ask for concepts from 5 designers
for a refusal fee of £100 and and overall budget of £2000
unless they are each told the situation in advance. (and you are not buying
designs for the refusal fee - they remain the copyright of the designer)
PREPARING COPY FOR YOUR DESIGNER
HARD COPY PREPARATION (ie the designer is given typed sheets)
1. When you give copy for a new job to your designer, always give a summary:
(a) Job title
(b) size of printed page
(c) What goes on which page (enclose a folded dummy)
(d) Anything to be included in addition to copy (eg photos, adverts, logos)
2. Give copy on A4 pages typed on one side only (a 'hard copy').
3. Leave wide left-hand margin for your last-minute corrections, and always
mark the corrections in pencil unless you are familiar with proof correction
marks.
4, Leave 2 inches space at the bottom of page for additions. Remember
to put corresponding marks: 'See new copy A' in the margin where you want
the new copy. 'Copy A' against the new copy at the bottom of the page
5. Type single spaced unless advised otherwise.
6. Number each sheet, and give total number on the first page.
7. When indicating words/passages of importance be careful: if you type
copy in capitals, your designer will presume that you want it to stay
like that. If you underline words, they will be set in italics.
8. Indicate usage of funding / sponsors' logos, and the size they must
appear.
9. Include all copy, even if 'obvious', e.g. title for front cover, company
name, photo captions.
10. If there is any copy missing, indicate how much,e.g. 'approx the same
length as copy B'
11. For repeat copy (staff lists, booking info) use photocopies of previous
leaflet / programme, leaving space around them for any changes.
12. Words / passages to be set in:
(a) italics - should be underlined (in pencil)
(b) bold - should be underlined with wavy line (in pencil)
(c) CAPITALS - should be typed in capitals.
13. Importance of words / passages can be indicated by a percentage method.
Mark in the margin, in pencil 100% (most important), 50% (half as important),
etc. This is particularly useful for poster copy.
14. Omit all inessential copy, and check spelling, (an Encyclopaedia-Dictionary
is very useful because it also has names of people and events).
15. Leave all copy overnight, so you can look with a fresh eye.
16. If the copy needs to be approved by several people, make sure this
is done before the designer receives it.
17. Proof-read as if it were the final artwork. Remember that you will
be charged extra for correcting your mistakes (any mistakes they make
will be corrected without extra cost to you).
18. Retain a copy in your office.
19. Avoid faxing large amounts of copy.
PREPARING COPY ON A PC
For all your styling instructions to 'translate' successfully to your
designer's Apple Mac, s/he will have to have the correct software. It
is common for both you and the designer to use Microsoft Word.
(a) If you are sending copy as an email attachment or on disc, you need
to know whether your designer has the same word processing software as
you. If you both have the same version of Microsoft Word, for example
(or if your designer has a newer version), you should have no problems.
If you don't, try saving your copy in rich text format (in Word, this
will mean going to 'save as' and scrolling down the options given until
you come to RTF). For email attachments, you will also need to check that
you are sending attachments coded in a way that your designer's computer
can accept. (see the Help section on your email software for more information
on email attachments).
(b) With this sorted out, all your emboldening, italicising and capitals
will translate across. Your designer will also be able to take away all
the italicising and emboldening, but not the capitals. Without this software
it is probably best to avoid all styling at your end. In any case, never
use the space bar to tab copy. Avoid any large spaces e.g. starting a
new biog. on a new page.
(c) Always send a print-out of the copy (a 'hard copy') as well, and use
the print-out to indicate the various emphases and relative importance
of the different sections. Use this opportunity to do a rough folded dummy,
to show your idea of where the copy/images might be placed.
(d) If you are doing a second edition of a piece of print it may seem
logical to make the corrections on your word processor and supply a new
disc. But your designer will almost certainly find it easier for you to
make minor corrections on a photocopy of the printed first edition. If
you are supplying a new disc, mark on the 'hard copy' where changes have
occurred.
PROOFREADING TYPESETTING
(a) Draw up a list of the worst mistakes you can imagine. (e.g. box office
telephone number wrong, title mis-spelt, logos missing, 'Tuesday 15th'
instead of 'Wednesday 15th'). Proof read in this order, double-check headings,
dates etc, and leave the large chunks of body copy until last.
(b) If you have access to an enlarging photocopier, enlarge body copy
first - it is much easier to check and makes faxes easier to read. If
your designer is emailing you an Adobe Acrobat pdf proof, you will be
able to enlarge the proof on screen.
(c) Always look at the setting from the public's point of view first.
Is there anything missing ? Date, time, who the cheque is payable to etc.
(d) Always read it first for sense, then for literal mistakes. A useful
tool is a slit cut out of card to enable you to concentrate on one line
at a time.
(e) If copy is being typeset by the designer/printer, check that they
have not omitted whole lines or sections, or transposed whole lines (always
cross-check with the original copy, preferably with someone else reading
aloud while you proof).
(f) Query sizes / proportions of type, even if you think the designer
will be changing them.
(g) If you MUST change words, grammar, add to or delete copy, do it before
it gets to the artwork stage.
(h) Strictly speaking, typesetters' corrections ('literals') should be
marked in red and should not incur extra charges. Your corrections ('authors')
should be marked in green, and will add to the typesetting and design
costs. Of course, if you are faxing corrections they will all appear in
black, so always put notes in the margin to make absolutely sure they
are seen.
(i) Check that you will see a rough layout before the designer goes to
Artwork.
(j) Retain a copy of your corrections, to double-check at the next stage.
PROOFREADING
ARTWORK
(a) Double-check that your corrections have been carried out.
(b) Make sure that you see a folded version of the A/W. This is for you
to check that it is all the right way round and that the folds do not
confuse your message. A folding dummy must also go to the Printer.
(c) If you cannot see a colour visual, ask the designer to go through
the colour spec with you. Make sure that the colours reinforce the stress.
Will the designer see a proof before printing? Is your designer taking
unnecessary risks with type size or colour? You should be 100% sure that
all the essential copy will be easy to read (See PRINTED PROOFS below).
(d) Have you seen a paper sample / type sample?
(e) It's always useful to have a Pantone colour sample book ('swatch book')
when checking ink colour numbers over the 'phone. Your Printer may be
able to get you one
