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Hi All,
My client JUST realized that his phone number is wrong on his 30,000 palm cards (3x8). This is absolutely horrid to discover and I'm trying to figure out damage control. The phone number is white text with a red background. Does anyone have a solution that might save my client from having to reprint everything?
Thx,m
Craig B
03-07-2008, 10:29 PM
Nothing comes to mind.
Essentially they could place a sticker over it, which in my opinion would look like crap or, um, well, they could scratch it out and rewrite it somewhere on there ... which would also look pretty awful.
If he signed off on them, it's his bullet to bite to get them fixed or reprinted.
garricks
03-07-2008, 10:37 PM
Oh, please tell us you have a signed proof approval from the client.
If you don't, and the client refuses to accept Craig B's sticker solution, you may well be on the hook for the reprint. :(
Nothing else comes to my mind either.
The client did sign-off - so that's not a problem. He's also a friend of mine which is what makes me feel really bad and makes me really really want to find a way to fix the problem and save him as much money as possible.
Thanks for the replies so far!
frankster
03-07-2008, 11:08 PM
Matching the background colour with a sticker is the tricky bit.
garricks
03-07-2008, 11:15 PM
Then there's the issue of peeling and placing 30,000 stickers on the sheets.
doubting_thomas
03-07-2008, 11:27 PM
No good answer comes to mind. I'm sure you've already thought of the
bad answers that I have, too.
Teh Suck of printing
frankster
03-07-2008, 11:28 PM
Crap! That's gonna take a loooong time unless you have a lot of people to volunteer. If it takes you roughly 3 seconds to peel and place a label, and that's optomistic then you've got 90,000 seconds, 25 man hours and you can't keep that pace up. Blimey! You're looking at 4 people working a full day each, plus the cost of printing the labels. Would it be cheaper to reprint?
budafist
03-08-2008, 03:38 AM
A reprint will be faster and probably cheaper than having to peel and stick that many stickers perfectly straight.
You can always appeal to your printer for a reprint. We often do a reprint like that at cost. I mean, we've already made a profit off you, we like that you leave with cards you can use.
Just another thought, is that phone number already taken? Can you change the phone number? ;)
jimking
03-08-2008, 02:52 PM
There could be a way--could. How many colors is this job and is it offset printing? One way to fix it is, first the pressman must be able to feed and run the job back through the press. They can block the old number in red and over print the new number in black. It may not look good but it may save time and money---maybe.
rickself
03-08-2008, 05:20 PM
There could be a way--could. How many colors is this job and is it offset printing? One way to fix it is, first the pressman must be able to feed and run the job back through the press. They can block the old number in red and over print the new number in black. It may not look good but it may save time and money---maybe.I concur 100%. This one of the caveats of reversing type out of a solid. There's no way out except running the job back thru.
jimking
03-08-2008, 08:53 PM
Hey Rick, How's everything? :)
budafist
03-09-2008, 11:46 PM
But you can't run business cards back through the press once they have been trimmed to singles. Or can you?
For the price of that fix (2 plates and reprinting each card singly) I still that you are better off reprinting.
vtwin_gary
03-10-2008, 02:58 PM
how much room is around the mistake? are stickers an option? if there is room you could do 2 different colors since the original is white on red how about a gold foil sticker with black or red. maybe a shape other than a rectangle even a dreaded star burst or an oval. let us know what you do with this.
jimking
03-10-2008, 04:25 PM
But you can't run business cards back through the press once they have been trimmed to singles. Or can you?
For the price of that fix (2 plates and reprinting each card singly) I still that you are better off reprinting.
They're palm cards--3x8. It is possible to run these back through on a "small press" because you have 8" to grab, business card no way. Even if the card has bleed it is still possible because the image is already printed, no need for gripper margin. Without seeing the job it may or may not be possible any how.
Rocketpig
03-10-2008, 04:32 PM
As jim said, it could be possible. IMO, your best bet would be to find a printer who is very nice/willing to work with this kind of situation and then try to create a new image that basically wipes out the reversed text and reprints the text in black over the top.
It might ruin your "look" of the piece but other than printing a new number in black over the top of the old reversed type, I don't see many options for you. It would definitely look better than a sticker. Luckily, the piece is 3"x8". There are printers out there that can grab that size of paper.
With this kind of work, though, there's a good chance that a reprint is cheaper. These kinds of custom jobs can get pretty expensive.
budafist
03-10-2008, 09:46 PM
They're palm cards--3x8. It is possible to run these back through on a "small press" because you have 8" to grab, business card no way. Even if the card has bleed it is still possible because the image is already printed, no need for gripper margin. Without seeing the job it may or may not be possible any how.
I've never head of palm cards - hence why I assumed it was a business card. What are palm cards used for? Trying to think what we call them.
If you do put it back through the press, won't there be gripper marks?
Well, we're going with stickers since it's the most affordable solution for my client's needs. I tried to talk him into reprinting but since he had very little money to start with - and even with the very friendly affordable reprint price given by the printers - my client just cannot comfortably dish out the dough.
I did do some searching around online and found that printing with a mix of silver and opaque white ink MAY just do the trick... but there's not enough time and money to test it out.
I am oh soooooo looking forward to helping with the sticker peel-and-post process :-).
Budafist... As for the phone number - it's already taken and the owner will not give the number up :-).
Aaah, the joys of mistakes... and trying to fix them.
Thanks everyone for your input!
jimking
03-12-2008, 08:29 PM
I've never head of palm cards - hence why I assumed it was a business card. What are palm cards used for? Trying to think what we call them.
If you do put it back through the press, won't there be gripper marks?
palm cards are 3 or 4 x 8 or 9 inch adverts, easy on the mailing and can be door hangers too. And yes you can get gripper marks.
jimking... thx for the extra comments. My printers did not mention the possibility of gripper marks... at least that's one thing we won't have to worry about.
budafist... in this instance, the palm cards are being used as information cards that are to be given out via people's home (very similar to door hangers w/o the hole) and at a few special gatherings - so as to promote my client.
Optimusdinkus
03-14-2008, 12:30 AM
could he possibly just take the time to change his number to whats on the card? I mean it is a preaty shit situation, but what really costs less in the end is what should matter I suppose. Unless of course he spent money on buisness systems, website information and other such stuff
budafist
03-14-2008, 01:44 AM
Well, happy stickering then! Is the print company going to supply the labour for the stickers or is the client going to do it himself?
client will be adding the stickers :-)... i think he might hold a sticker party...
budafist
03-21-2008, 12:51 AM
As long as there is strictly no booze at the sticker party, it should be fine ;)
doubting_thomas
03-21-2008, 03:14 PM
As long as there is strictly no booze at the sticker party, it should be fine ;)
Probably learned their lesson from the proofing party :p
jimking
03-21-2008, 03:30 PM
It really is a common accurance. Proofs are submitted and signed off on very swiftly with confidence then it gets printed and delivered. The client then opens the box and immediately the error jumps out and slaps them right on the forehead, BAM! :D
garricks
03-21-2008, 08:50 PM
:mad: It just happened to me. :o Quarterly newsletter, same design for three years. Got the proof late last Friday afternoon. Should have waited until Monday to proof or have done over the weekend, but Nooooo. I proofed it then and there. I caught a missing font in a photo caption on p.2. Nothing else. Signed off and sent it back.
The usual traffic manager at the printer was off on Monday, and they sent it through pre-press and got it on press for me Monday night. Tuesday morning the regular traffic manager called to say that one of the fonts in the newsletter flag was missing, and was replaced not with Courier, but with huge white dots. I missed it on the proof because I'd never had a font problem before. Pre-press and the pressman missed it too. (Not that it was their responsibility to catch it, but it WAS a pretty glaring error.)
I signed off on the proof so I get to pay for the reprint. I accept that. Then traffic manager calls back and says she spoke to the boss, and because I'm a regular customer (who makes sure the invoices are paid on time), and this kind of thing never happens to my files, they would split the cost of the reprint with me.
So I got an almost-happy ending. Moral: It's always a good idea to have fresh eyes look at your proofs, especially on Friday afternoons.
ensculpt
03-30-2008, 05:57 PM
decades ago I started getting phone calls in Milwaukee for a Toronto travel agency, they had sent out a huge mailing of brochures with the wrong area code on them. They paid me 200 USD to buy my phone number and had it auto forward to their number.
That was 1 months rent back then.
Road Racer
04-03-2008, 12:08 PM
There could be a way--could. How many colors is this job and is it offset printing? One way to fix it is, first the pressman must be able to feed and run the job back through the press. They can block the old number in red and over print the new number in black. It may not look good but it may save time and money---maybe.
Jimking has the only solution! I remember about ten years ago same thing happened, We fit the job on a small press (Multi), matched the background color and struck the correct number in–in Blk. Good Luck!