Given below is a compilation of questions and answers that any layman may have before going ahead with their printing. From materials to sizes to colors, get answered here–
1. What are the different grades of paper?
A. Some of the different grades of paper available are:-
Bond: Most commonly used for letterheads, business forms and xerox
Text: A high-quality grade paper with a good surface texture.
Uncoated Book: This is the most common grade for offset printing
Coated Book: Has a shiny, glossy finish that gives vivid colors and an excellent reproduction
Cover: Used in creating business cards, postcards and book covers. Can be either coated or uncoated.
2. What is the difference between coated and uncoated stock paper?
A. Uncoated stock paper is cheap and more porous in nature, typically used for newspaper printing and making basic black-and-white copies. Coated stock is made of a higher quality paper that has a smooth glossy finish. It works well for reproducing sharp texts and vivid colored prints. It is more expensive than uncoated stock.
3. What is the best file format for submitting a document for printing?
A. The Portable Document Format (PDF) is normally the preferred file format for uploading a document for printing. PDFs work well with all professional printing and digital output devices. By design, a PDF file incorporates data and size consistency of the document when transferred from system to system. Most file formats such as Word document, Adobe, etc can be easily converted to PDF format.
4. What is the “GSM” of paper?
A. The weight of different types of papers is often measured in GSM or Grams per square meter. The various types of stock paper available serve different purposes based on their thickness:-
● 35-55GSM – lightest type of paper; translucent tracing paper to newspaper..
● 75-90GSM – found in sketch pads and notebooks..
● 120-140GSM – used in promotional posters
● 210-300GSM – more thick, stiff, but still bendable; found in high quality flyers, magazine covers..
● 350-400GSM – highest GSM paper, more like cardstock; used in business cards, invitation cards
5. What are the most common sizes for catalogs and booklets?
A. Standard sizes for catalogs and booklets are 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″, 8 1/2″ x 11″, 8 1/2″ x 11 and 11″ x 17″.
6. What are the most common sizes for brochures?
A. Common brochure sizes are 8 1/2″ x 11″, 8 1/2″ x14″ and 11″ x17″.
7. Will the design I see on my computer match the final printed product?
A. Most of the printing work is done in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) digital environment in good printing companies. However, there may be some noticeable differences in color calibration and spatial conformity from monitor to monitor and hence may look somewhat different in print.
The digital designing process will minimize the chances of variability in your final product. Make sure to calibrate your monitor for optimal color settings and sharpness of the design. You can use the manufacturer’s recommendations as provided within its product manual or website.
8. What is a proof and why is it important?
A. Typically, the manufacturing company will produce a proof of the layout that will be sent to you online in PDF format or on a sample printed paper.
A proof is a one-off copy of your printed document that will be a visual inspection of the final design to ensure that the layout, colors and size of your document are exactly how they are intended to be.
Only if you approve on the final copy it goes on for physical printing. Although small mistakes may still occur in the final product, it is better to be safe than sorry. This quality check process will lower chances of error and save you a lot of trouble post printing.
9. What does “camera ready” mean?
A. In the age of digital printing, a camera-ready is an image file that after alterations is final and ready to be transferred to the printing plates.
10. What is color separation?
A. To reproduce a full color print, the design needs to be separated into its primary color components. For example, for a full color photo to be printed using an offset printing press, manufacturers create four separate printing plates each accounting for one of the four basic printing inks (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). As the stock paper is fed into the printing press, each single-color plate imparts the right color and right amount of ink at its exact designated spot.
11. What is halftone printing?
A. Halftone printing converts a continuous tone (solid areas of black or color) photograph or image into a pattern of different size dots that simulate continuous tone. When examining the page closely, you will see a series of dots spaced slightly apart. At a normal viewing distance, however, the spacing between dots becomes essentially invisible to the eye and what you see is a continuous tone.
12. What are Pantone colors?
A. Pantone colors is basically a color matching system also called the Pantone Matching System (PMS). It is a system used by the printing industry whereby printing colors are designated a unique name or number for easier and more accurate identification of the colors. This helps to calibrate colors from one system to another so that the final print is close to whatever the customer sees on their screen.
13. Is white considered as a printing color too?
A. No. White is generally not considered as a printing color/ink as typically the paper itself is white. However, on a colored paper (a slightly darker background), white can be a printing color for any text or graphic requirement.
14. What are the most common sizes for printing catalogs and booklets?
A. Standard sizes for catalogs and booklets are 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″, 8 1/2″ x 11″, 8 1/2″ x 11 and 11″ x 17″.
15. What are some of the most common sizes for brochures?
A. Some of the common brochure sizes available are 8 1/2″ x 11″, 8 1/2″ x14″ and 11″ x17″.
16. What are some of the most common sizes for business envelopes?
A. Given below is a list of standard sizes available for business envelopes (may be with or without an address window):-
COMMON NAME STANDARD SIZE
6¼ envelope 3½ x 6 inches
6¾ envelope 3⅝ x 6½ inches
7 envelope 3¾ x 6¾ inches
8⅝ envelope 3⅝ x 8⅝ inches
9 envelope 3⅞ x 8⅞ inches
10 envelope 4⅛ x 9½ inches
11 envelope 4¾ x10⅜ inches
12 envelope 4¾ x 11 inches
14 envelope 5 x 11½ inches
17. What size should the address window on a business envelope be?
A. The address window on a typical business envelope has a standard measure of 4 1/2″ x 1 1/8″.
18. What are the standard sizes for postcards?
A. Postcards are found in three common sizes: 4″ x 6″, 5″ x 7″ and 5 ½” x 8 ½”. However, the size limit of postcards given by the Indian Post Office is 5 ½” x 3 ½” (14 cm x 9 cm).
19. What are the most common card stocks used for postcards?
A. The most common card stocks used for postcards are:
100# stock coated on both sides: Most commonly used stock
100# stock coated on one side: Best suited for mailing
14 pt. Or 16 pt. stock coated on both sides: a premium paper quality with lustrous finish, more thickness– more resistant to wear and tear during travel.
20. What are some of the most popular sizes for making personalized notepads?
A. The three most popular sizes for personalized notepads are 4″ x 6″, 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ and 8 1/2″ x 11″.
21. What are some of the most popular sizes for sticky notepads?
A. The four popular sizes for sticky notes are: 3″ x 3″, 3″ x 4″, 3″ x 5″ and 4″ x 6″.
22. What are the different types of materials that can be used for printing labels and stickers?
A. Materials that can be used for printing labels and stickers include:
Paper, Uncoated: Can be written on by hand or printed on by machine
Paper, High Gloss: Good printability, cannot be written on easily
Vinyl: For outdoor use, or if you need to apply it to a vinyl surface
Acetate: To make transparent labels
Mylar/Polyester: When label has to be applied on a surface with sharp and angular corners
23. What are the types of bindings I can use for multi-page projects?
A. The most common methods of binding books and other multi-paged documents are:
Perfect binding: The outside edges of the papers are glued together to create a flat, seamless binding.
Saddle-stitch binding: Stapling along the folds of the pages to bind them together.
Spiral binding: Spiralling wires through punched holes along the binding edge of the papers. This allows the document to lay flat when opened.
Plastic comb binding: It is similar to spiral binding, but uses a tubular plastic piece with teeth that fit through the rectangular holes punched along the binding edge.
Three-ring binding: Holes punched into pages and fitted into a binder.
Case binding: Sewing the pages together with thread and attaching them to a hard cover.
24. How to distinguish between perfect binding, saddle stitching, saddle sewing and perfect binding?
A. Perfect binding has a square spine where the sheets are strongly glued together. Saddle stitching is normally considered where 2 wire staples are inserted into the folding or binding edge. Saddle sewing is when the sheets are bound together by a thread which can be either concealed or exposed.
25. Which is the best paper stock to be used for printing photography?
A. Matte, silk or gloss coated stocks reproduce photography images exceptionally well.
26. What is the difference between sustainable paper and Recycled paper?
A. Recycled paper is usually made out of post-consumer waste that goes through a process to be turned back into paper or from pre-consumer waste such as furniture shavings (sawdust). Either way it should be sterilised and purified before it can be made into paper. Although recycled paper may be reducing waste, the chemicals used for the process affect nature adversely. Sustainable paper, on the other hand, comes from carefully controlled forests that make sure that the trees cut down to make paper are replanted and the ecosystem is renewed.