Printing Industry Exchange (printindustry.com) is pleased to have Steven Waxman writing and managing the Printing Industry Blog. As a printing consultant, Steven teaches corporations how to save money buying printing, brokers printing services, and teaches prepress techniques. Steven has been in the printing industry for thirty-three years working as a writer, editor, print buyer, photographer, graphic designer, art director, and production manager.
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Archive for the ‘Book Printing’ Category
Saturday, October 22nd, 2011
A client of mine recently reprinted a small booklet. It actually wasn’t due to any errors. The book was just very popular, and she had run out of copies. My client had initially printed 300 each of two versions (one in Spanish and one in English) at a custom printing vendor with both offset and digital equipment. (more…)
Posted in Book Printing, Digital Printing, Paper and finishing, Printing, Soft Cover Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing Case Study: Digital vs. Offset Printing and Paper Opacity
Thursday, October 20th, 2011
Normally I can get coffee table book printing costs for my print brokering clients rather quickly and easily. I work with printing companies of every sort (printing services that specialize in books, large-format banners, marketing collateral, etc.). But a unique project came to me recently that posed challenges, a small book of photographs. The photographer had solicited pricing from various on demand book printing suppliers she had found on the Internet and had opted instead for higher quality and a lower unit price. (more…)
Posted in Book Binding Options, Book Printing, Hardcover Book Printing, Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing Case Study: Getting Bids for a Coffee-Table Photo Book
Friday, September 30th, 2011
Selecting a custom printing service and approving a contract involve much more than choosing the vendor with the lowest price. Of course, price (as reflected by the total cost of the estimate), and quality (as determined by a review of the book printing vendor’s samples and phone interviews with his references) are highly important, but here are a few other considerations. If you look closely, you’ll see them in the custom printing estimates or hear them in discussions with printer’s representatives. If not, be sure to ask. (more…)
Posted in Book Printing, Negotiations, Offset Printing, Printing, Soft Cover Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Read Between the Lines of an Estimate
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
An attache at the Embassy of Chile, who had just taken delivery of several thousand perfect-bound books for the ambassador, called me and said that the entire book printing run had “wavy” text. The covers were flat, but the text blocks were consistently rippled. I hopped in a cab and went right over. (more…)
Posted in Book Binding Options, Book Printing, Offset Printing, Paper and finishing, Printing, Soft Cover Book Printing | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, September 7th, 2011
I met a potential new client at an art opening this weekend. We discussed an upcoming book printing run. She wants to produce a 5” x 5” case-bound book of her photographs. I started thinking about how to approach this new job prior to our upcoming meeting to determine how I might be most helpful. First off, I asked her to start collecting book printing samples that she likes, with formats, sizes, and materials she thinks most closely reflect the nature of her photography. Nothing communicates a client’s goals for a new project like a physical printed sample. Printing companies can understand and reproduce what they can see. If you’re designing a book and are faced with a similar situation, consider these sources for sample books. (more…)
Posted in Book Binding Options, Book Printing, Hardcover Book Printing, Paper and finishing, Printing, Soft Cover Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Nothing Shows Printing Companies What You Want Better Than a Sample
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
If you ask him (or her), your paper merchant or custom printing vendor will give you what’s called a “paper dummy” of your job. It is an unprinted version of your project on the exact paper stock you plan to use. It has been folded, bound, and trimmed to the exact dimensions of your custom printing job. It will weigh exactly what an individual copy of your brochure, book, or flyer will weigh. Your business printing service or paper merchant will provide this as a free service. Here are some situations in which you might want to request one. (more…)
Posted in Book Printing, Brochure Printing, Paper and finishing, Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing and Brochure Printing: Ask for a Paper Dummy
Thursday, August 18th, 2011
A client of mine is preparing a high school textbook for custom printing with an online printing company. The layout is complete, and she has turned her attention to adjusting the cover and text photos. Today she asked for the “dot range” the business printing provider could hold on press. (more…)
Posted in Book Printing, InDesign Software, Prepress, Printing, Soft Cover Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing with Digital Printing Companies: Holding Detail in Highlights and Shadows
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