Are there any printers here ...

[thecat@]

... interested in sharing their knowledge in a 'Designers Working With Printers' series at BoDo (http://businessofdesignonline.com)?

The aim is to educate designers on what to do, or not, when working with printers.

So this is your chance to tell it straight. To share your experiences with designers (the good and the bad). To give both of you a bit of a leg up.

If you are game, contact me and I'll shoot you over the details.

ps: We've already covered designers, writers and photographers. Coming will be pre-press, sign makers, marketing ... the lot.

[carter the artist]

what kinds of things? I worked for over a year in a large format printing/sign company after college to learn what to do/and not to do.

[thecat@]

To keep it manageable, seven questions are asked. I believe they cover everything that can be handled in a series.


What are the main points that you’d expect / want designers to know before contacting you about a project?
When working with designers, what do you see as the top problem areas?
How do you work? (what is your work process?)
How should a company or individual in your profession be chosen?
At what point should your profession be brought into a project?
How do you charge? (contract, deposit, end of project?)
How can a designer improve their skills in your industry? (not to be printers, but so they can work better with printers)
I'm also interested in any printing or pre press resources you find handy.

thanks!

[thecat@]

... I forgot this bit ...

For those joining in with helpful answers ... I'll need bits to go at the end of each question answered:

Name | Title
Company website | Blog | Book or ebook

[urstwile]

I e-mailed the printer we use most often to respond to this survey, so far he's not gotten back to me. I'll follow up with another e-mail. :)

[thecat@]

Thanks! This series looks to be promising, but I would like a couple more printers to round it out.

So far we've contacted printers in Brunei, Singapore, Canada, the US and the UK. Canada, the US and Thailand responded. I called Brunei (two printers), and Singapore (two), but they didn't bite. The printer here in Thailand seems very promising. Well, I did call his mobile and say I'd take him out to lunch :-)

[urstwile]

Not to sidetrack (but gonna do it anyway :) , but I notice you've been posting here lately, people seem to know you. How long have you lived in Thailand? It's one of the countries on my list of places I'd love to visit. :)

[thecat@]

<< Not to sidetrack (but gonna do it anyway

:-D

Yes, I'm an old timer. I started out on the about.com gd forum eight ... nine ... ten years ago? Then joined the other two top gd forums. I'm not sure what my forum name was here at first, but I've had this one awhile.

Thailand - It's easy for me to remember exactly how long I've been here as I moved a week or so after the Tsunami. I was supposed to move earlier but the legal paperwork got in the way.

Thailand is amazing so I hope you do get a chance to get out here. They have fantastic food, are a kind and generous people, and honestly, it's like waking up to the feeling of Xmas every day.

[urstwile]

Wow, sweet! I hope to see you more frequently on the forum again, I've been really liking your presence so far. :)

Maybe I'll offer to crash at your place when we get the opportunity to visit. :D

[thecat@]

Wow, sweet! I hope to see you more frequently on the forum again, I've been really liking your presence so far. :)

Thanks! And yes, I'll be around. For the past several years I've been so busy I've had to curtail my forum involvement. But, after a lot of work, I've finally shuffled my life around to be manageable. No more working 14 / 7 for me!

Maybe I'll offer to crash at your place when we get the opportunity to visit. :D

What, you'd prefer to stay at an 'ole lasses retreat where everyone retires at 10pm, instead of being able to taste the delights of Bangkok and drag in at 4am? They do say Bangkok never sleeps. Well, I wouldn't know about that personally, being tame and all, but there are some pretty feisty locations around I'm told :-D

[echoflynew]

I am a printer, any questions about printing, I will help you!

www.sy-printing.net (http://www.sy-printing.net)

... interested in sharing their knowledge in a 'Designers Working With Printers' series at BoDo (http://businessofdesignonline.com)?

The aim is to educate designers on what to do, or not, when working with printers.

So this is your chance to tell it straight. To share your experiences with designers (the good and the bad). To give both of you a bit of a leg up.

If you are game, contact me and I'll shoot you over the details.

ps: We've already covered designers, writers and photographers. Coming will be pre-press, sign makers, marketing ... the lot.

[thecat@]

Thanks! Can you answer the 7 questions at the beginning of this post and pm me? Btw - the first post of the series goes live this coming Monday. It was going to be sooner but I was waiting for one last bit. So, if you can get it to me by this weekend, that'd be grand.

And a special thanks goes out to those here who have sent in answers. I'll announce the series when my post goes live. The first post is a quick rehash of the series. The second one will introduce the printers. Following that will be the seven questions, one day at a time. In between will be articles about printing. Towards the end will be printing resources, so if anyone has favs, please share.

ta!

[AlexNJ210]

I work for a major Financial Print company in the US. I work specifically in the prepress but have had experience in many departments. I could offer some help too.

[drlew]

This is a great forum topic. I'm owner of HotGloss Printing.


Regardless of who you print through, I always suggest finding out if the printer has any issues regarding equipment limitations. All equipment is different, and certain printers have problems doing certain jobs. Some colors may not print well, large areas of solids, thin knockout text, etc.

[drlew]

1.What are the main points that you’d expect / want designers to know before contacting you about a project?

We have a very thorough and informative website explaining what we sell and guidelines for submitting jobs. I hope that customers look at the information we provide.


2. When working with designers, what do you see as the top problem areas?

RGB... We print 4-color process. We require files in CMYK mode. Yet, there are so many people designing for the web, that don't understand the color shift that is likely to occur if they design in RGB and convert to CMYK.


3. How do you work? (what is your work process?)


4. How should a company or individual in your profession be chosen?

Quality, Price, Turnaround, Reliability... Ask for samples of work. Regarding price, DO NOT necessarily go 'lowest price', because many printing companies are simply not that good. And companies that are TOO large take less care of individual jobs IMO.


5. At what point should your profession be brought into a project?

Over time, you will find printers that are ideal for specific jobs, and you will design accordingly depending on who you use. Hopefully, you can find a printer that can provide for most of your needs.

6. How do you charge? (contract, deposit, end of project?)

HotGloss Printing is a 'pay upon ordering' company. University and State Gov't can use P.O.'s

7. How can a designer improve their skills in your industry? (not to be printers, but so they can work better with printers)

Learn and buy the appropriate tools of your trade. For goodness sakes, don't use Publisher or Word for your next design project. Find out your printer's needs and set up your files accordingly. The less work a printer has to do to your file, the greater the chances of success.

--------

Understand that the Printing Industry is still a craft, even as equipment gets more high tech. People are running equipment, and a 'perfect' print job is rare (closely examine print all around you that is riddled with imperfections - menus, magazines, etc). There are many variables and steps involved in completing a print job. Don't accept crap printing, but be realistic in your expectations.

[thecat@]

I work for a major Financial Print company in the US. I work specifically in the prepress but have had experience in many departments. I could offer some help too.

Alex, I wasn't sure if I was going to lump prepress in with the printing series as the topic is so important on its own. Yes, prepress will come up in the printing answers, but it should also be addressed separately, which I will do.

For some reason, prepress is NOT taught well in schools. I imagine you get a lot of crazy files from grads, right? I came into design from the left field so depended on my printer to train me on prepress.

If you want to answer the questions for working with printers, that'd be great (the series starts Monday).

And what I'd really like you do is answer the same questions for prepress. Right now I only have three people participating in the prepress series (it won't be for awhile) so more is needed if I'm going to get a good showing.

[thecat@]

This is a great forum topic. I'm owner of HotGloss Printing.


Regardless of who you print through, I always suggest finding out if the printer has any issues regarding equipment limitations. All equipment is different, and certain printers have problems doing certain jobs. Some colors may not print well, large areas of solids, thin knockout text, etc.

Thank you very much for your answers! I'll pm to get your company details and name.

[thecat@]

As promised, the intro to the series ...

Introducing the Printers / Prepress Specialists of the DWW Series (http://www.businessofdesignonline.com/printers-introduction/)

You can read the explanation here (http://www.businessofdesignonline.com/designers-working-with-printers-series-introduction/).

As you'll see, I couldn't bear to seperate printers from prepress from print brokers.

Thanks to everyone who sent in their bits of advice!

[AlexNJ210]

It looks great!! Thanks for including me Cat!!

[thecat@]

And thanks a ton for joining in!

Btw - The next post will be on Wednesday, your time.

[Drorain]

awesome kat, look forward to reading the responses!