Normally our print jobs take from 5-7 working days from proof to sign off but we can work within stricter client deadlines if required.

The main differences between Lithographic and Digital printing are as follows:

Lithographic

Requires printing plates
Can use as many colours as you require
Can use virtually any grade of paper
Requires images to be 300dpi for best results
More economical for runs of 1000 or more

Digital

Prints direct from file
Limited to four colour although spot colour can be used in some processes
Limited to a maximum 350gsm paper
Can use a minimum of 150dpi
More economical for runs of 1000 or less

Bleed is when images or text on a page go beyond the trim edge and leave no margin. Elements that extend beyond the page limits which can add to the costs if larger pages and printers are needed to accommodate the bleed allowance.

CMYK refers to the four inks used in full colour printing. These are:

Cyan
Magenta
Yellow
Black

Creasing is important when creating accurate and clean folds in papers above 150gsm in weight.

Creep Allowance, also known as shingling, means that your booklet will maintain a constant margin to counteract creep towards the center of the publication. This stops the likelihood of text or images being encroached into so you keep the whole of your document.

This process uses cutting dies which are steel blades that punch either complete or partial shapes into a document.

DPI stands for Dots Per Inch. This doesn’t relate to the resolution of images on a screen, but instead is a measure of how many dots of ink or toner a printer can place within an inch on a page. A 600 DPI printer essentially prints 600 tiny little dots across one inch and 600 dots vertically for one inch.

Embossing uses heat and pressure to reshape the surface of the paper. It can be used in combination with ink, images or foil to create three dimensional detail.

Image resolution refers to either the electronic pixels on a screen or the dots of ink on a page that make up an image. Resolution is a familiar term for printer scanners and digital cameras and the higher the number, the higher the quality of the resultant image.

Print ready is artwork that is properly prepared and is ready for printing.