July 22nd, 2019
Posted in Paper Coatings | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Thoughts on Added Paper Coatings
I received an email link to a commercial printing website this week. Being curious in matters of custom printing, I followed the link to a blog about this vendor’s options for cover coatings, or, more specifically, UV coating options.
This motivated me to do some more research into cover coating options. Here are a few things you might consider when specifying cover coatings. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Paper Coatings | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Thoughts on Added Paper Coatings
July 14th, 2019
Posted in Printing Contracts | Comments Off on Book Printing: Read the Fine Print in the Contract
It could be argued that nothing is more boring to read than a contract, except perhaps an insurance policy. However, if you buy commercial printing for a living, it behooves you to at least skim the contract looking for a number of key agreements between you and the custom printing vendor. It will save you money, undue surprise, and overall stress. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Printing Contracts | Comments Off on Book Printing: Read the Fine Print in the Contract
July 7th, 2019
Posted in Illustration | Comments Off on Custom Printing: A “Look Book” for Choosing Illustrators
My fiancee and I love thrift stores. In fact, there is seldom a question of what we want to do when we have free time. She likes the clothes, and I like the print books.
That said, my fiancee always looks for books relevant to our art therapy work with the autistic, and this week she found The Directory of Illustration 26 produced by Serbin Communications, Inc. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Illustration | Comments Off on Custom Printing: A “Look Book” for Choosing Illustrators
July 1st, 2019
Posted in Book Printing | 2 Comments »
One of my new clients is a “wordsmith.” She helps authors get their books into print and then promotes them. I have a lot of respect for her. Just recently, though, as I understand her situation, a new client of hers asked her to not only edit the text of his print book but also lay it out in MS Word. He wanted to save money by not paying a designer to lay out the text of the book (fortunately, he did pay for a professionally designed cover). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Book Printing | 2 Comments »
June 24th, 2019
Posted in Book Printing | 6 Comments »
In commercial printing, I’m almost never surprised by new technologies, whether these involve closed-loop sensors that use computer feedback on a press to keep color accurate, or new printing technologies such as the ink transfer method called Nanography. I’m always excited by these things. But in post-press finishing and binding equipment, I’m more surprised by new technology. Somehow I expect to always see the perfect binding, saddle stitching, velo binding, tape binding, GBC (or plastic comb) binding, post-binding, and plastic coil binding I’ve grown used to over the past 40+ years. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Book Printing | 6 Comments »
June 17th, 2019
Posted in Book Printing | 4 Comments »
A consulting client of mine is a print book designer. She does work for government organizations like the World Bank and NATO. About five times a year, when she hits a snag in her book design, she brings me in to offer design suggestions. Having been a book designer myself at one point as well as an art director–and now working with my fiancee doing art therapy with the autistic–I can offer my consulting client (and long-time friend) a unique point of view. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Book Printing | 4 Comments »
June 10th, 2019
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Considerations for Perfect Bound Books
A print brokering client of mine is a husband-and-wife publishing team. Each year they give me titles of poetry and fiction books to bid on, along with readers’ galleys for each new print book. The galleys are perfect-bound, 5.5” x 8.5” print books, and the final books have French flaps, deckle edge text paper (faux deckle edge, actually), press scores, and lay-flat soft-touch film laminate. In other words, the first set of books are for my client’s readers to review and critique, and the second set of the same titles are salable print books with superior production values (all the bells and whistles that set print books apart from their digital cousins). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Considerations for Perfect Bound Books
June 3rd, 2019
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: More Thoughts on Paper Choices
I received an email today from a reader who had taken issue with a few of my comments on choosing paper for a book project I was brokering. Needless to say, I felt a bit chastened, but I was also very excited to know that people were carefully reading the PIE Blog, and that someone in particular had taken the time to draft a long email. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: More Thoughts on Paper Choices
May 29th, 2019
Posted in Digital Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Printing Large Fashion Color Cards
A client of mine regularly prints decks of small fashion color cards that are bound with a screw and post assembly. They are very much like a PMS swatch book. My client’s clients use these small books to help them choose clothing and make-up that match their complexion. My client reprints this job maybe four times a year, and I have brokered this commercial printing job for almost five years. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Printing Large Fashion Color Cards
May 21st, 2019
Posted in Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Payment Terms or “Paying the Piper”
As with anything else, sooner or later you have to pay the bill for the commercial printing services you have purchased. Since printing involves both services and materials, there are certain established rules for payment as well as preferences among certain vendors. In your own print buying work, what is reasonable? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Payment Terms or “Paying the Piper”