5 Printing Terms to Know
Are you a Marketing Director, Marketing Assistant, or a Brand Designer supporting clients from initial design to final printing? Wrapping your head around a final project plus all the questions your printing vendor might ask can be daunting. However, it’s important to make sure your designs look just as good on paper as they do on screen.
Here are a few printing terms to be familiar with –
Bleed/Crop –
This one is a freebie. Chances are you’ve already heard of it. Bleed refers to printing beyond where the pages will be trimmed. The bleed is essentially the area that will be trimmed off. Crop is exactly what it sounds like, marks on the paper that signify where the paper will be trimmed down. They almost always go hand-in-hand and your printing vendor should let you know what specs they need.
Dots Per Inch (aka DPI) –
Without getting too deep into the technicalities, typically a good rule of thumb here is the higher dpi the better. Generally, 300dpi is a good standard for printing.
Finish –
Used in reference to the touch and feel of the paper. There are many different paper finishes used– Smooth to textured. A few examples include wove, bond, linen, felt, etc. Unless you have the opportunity to go directly into the print shop and touch different variations of finishes, we recommend you coordinate with your printing vendor on what finish they suggest for your specific project.
Perfect Binding –
If you’ve ever held a magazine, you likely know what this is. Perfect binding simply refers to pages that have been glued into a cover (just like a magazine or paperback book).
Saddle Stich Binding –
Slightly less glamorous than perfect binding but generally an easier (and faster) solution. Saddle stitching refers to folding sheets of paper in half and binding with a staple or stitching in the middle. One thing to keep in mind regarding saddle stich binding – paper count must be divisible by 4 because you will be folding the sheets of paper in half.
A quick note – We love working with easy to use printing vendors like Moo.com especially on Standard Marketing Materials. They are a great resource for printing things like business cards, stickers, stationary, etc.
Recap:
You’re likely more experienced with marketing or design than you are with printing. And that’s ok! However, it is handy to have a few printing terms under your belt when coordinating with a printer. Keep in mind, your job isn’t to print but rather to design so if you have a question or don’t understand something about the printing process don’t be afraid to ask you vendor for clarification. Printing can be tricky!
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