Pre-press
Imposition, trapping, separations and colour management handled properly.
Print goes wrong in the handover. The designer supplies files in the wrong colour space, the printer adjusts something without telling anyone, the proof is approved on a screen, and eight thousand brochures arrive in a colour nobody chose. Once it is printed, it is printed.
Because our production is in-house, that handover does not exist. Files are prepared correctly for the chosen press and substrate, colour is proofed on the actual stock, and someone from the design team signs off at the press rather than by email.
Print goes wrong in the handover
The designer supplies files in the wrong colour space. The printer adjusts something without telling anybody. The proof is approved on a screen. Eight thousand brochures arrive in a colour nobody chose, and the two suppliers each explain why it was the other's fault.
Because design and offset production are in the same business here, that handover does not exist. The person who designed it signs off at the press.
Proof on the stock you are actually printing on
The same file prints differently on coated art paper, uncoated board and recycled stock. Approving a digital proof on a screen or on a different substrate is the most common cause of a colour dispute after delivery.
For anything where colour matters we proof on the specified stock. It adds a day and removes the risk of reprinting a full run.
Offset, digital, and being honest about which you need
Offset becomes cheaper than digital somewhere in the low thousands, depending on size, colours and finishing. Below that threshold, digital is faster and cheaper and we will recommend it even though the offset press is ours.
The same applies to finishing. Spot UV, foil, emboss and special substrates are worth it where they do a job (a business card that has to signal a price point, a pack that has to compete on a premium shelf) and are money wasted on a flyer.
Quantity, wastage and the reprint you did not budget for
Print economics reward slightly overordering. The setup cost is fixed, so the marginal cost of the last thousand is small, and running short means paying the setup again for a short run at a poor rate.
We advise on run length against your actual usage rate and shelf life, and we will tell you when you are ordering more than you will use before the information on it goes out of date.