- Then & Now: Compare the roles and responsibilities of a shop
In the olden days, you had to jump through several hoops just to get a single job printed. as showen below, the job would start out with a designer or a designer in a trade shop before it was ever sent to a printer. In some instinces the designer would have to get more materials from outside sources such as a typesetter or photographer, depending on what the client requested. Currently, a client can go straight to the printer and get all the service as if it were a one stop shop.
- Describe the following titles and a salary range for each: Sales Rep/Customer Service, Estimator, Preflight technician, Prepress operator?
Usually the first person contacted at a print shop is the sales representative He/she is in charge of telling the customer an estimate for the job and how long it will take. The job is them handed to a customer service representative. He/she relays any communication between the press technician and customer and release proofs. While the proofing is taking place the preflight technician is checking the files submitted for any flaws and make sure it is ready for print. Once approved it is sent over to the prepress. At prepress they will get the file onto a printing plate ready to print.
- Discuss the following key terms: imposition, RIP, Trapping, Die Cutting
Before sending your file to the RIP, Raster Image Processor, you need to make sure if you need a trap on your graphics. a trap is a small overlapping colors of 2 or more solid colored graphics. This is important for the printer, it allows for slight misregistration, although there shouldn't be any. Next you will send it to the RIP. Many print shops have RIP software that can impose your file for you. If not you will have to set up your imposition. A good example of imposition is putting a business card 21 up on a 12"x18" sheet. After that depending on your file, it will be sent to bindery. Your business cards would be cut down on a cutter. If your cards had a unique shape it would be sent to a die cutter.
Colored and black and while images, printed are comprised of multiple solid and knocked-out dots, varying in size as shown to the right.
- Define the following and discuss their importance: DPI, LPI, PPI
DPI: Dots Per Inch. LPI: Lines Per Inch. PPI: Pixels Per Inch. Many people uses each of theses acronyms interchangeably, but all represent a different device. dpi describes the resolution of an imaging device. lpi describes the frequency of halftone dots measured in a row of dots. ppi refers to the resolution of a photo or image.
CMYK stands for Cyan Magenta Yellow and Black. It is the flat color on printed paper. RGB stands for Red Green and Blue. Monitors, televisions, and our eyes are RGB devices. RGB device emit or read colors in RGB.- Define and discuss Spot Colors
Spot color is a specific, premixed color. it takes only 1 plate and print head on a printing press.
Registration is the alignment of multiple inks on the printed sheet. minor registration is usually unnoticed.
- What is Rich Black? Why is it important?
Rich Black is a CMYK combination of black. It is a much denser and 'richer' black than just K and is used when there is black coverage larger than 1 square inch.
- When discussing color management, how do you control your environment?
The first thing you need to do to improve your environment to help manage color is to have subdued and soft lite room. the next thins is having a neutral background on you monitor. the less competing with your work the better. Calibrating your monitor biannually is crucial. Over time, the more you use your monitor, the more it will 'fade' or lose its true color. On the other side of color management, calibrating and profiling your printer with make a huge difference.
All Images from REAL WORLD Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications. McCue
