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For those of you who have been involved in printing and have purchased printing in the past, you have likely been involved in this conversation with your print shop. If you are relatively new to printing, this topic will inevitably come around at some point, so here’s your “heads up” to help you understand it before you embark on your next printing adventure.

If you routinely print four color brochures on glossy stock and that’s all, then this probably doesn’t apply to you. If you print on different papers with spot colors and process colors for different clients or purchase a variety of printing for your company or whatever, then listen up. This is one of those potential headache-avoiding moments.

Paper is not always “white”. Sometimes it is crème-colored or gray or speckled or includes fibers for that recycled look or a multitude of other variations. Paper is also not always smooth. It can be smooth or laid or felt or coated or uncoated or silk or…on and on… The color of paper and texture (finish) plays a HUGE role in how ink color will look when printed. Why? Because each different texture absorbs ink differently and allows it to spread at different rates. This is very, VERY critical when printing four-color projects because the perceived color is based on the size of the ink dots being printed. Now when you throw in a paper that isn’t white, you really have a mess on your hands.

Some comments I have heard…

“Why doesn’t this picture look right?”

“This is not what I wanted at all.”

“This doesn’t match my proof.”

“The colors look washed out and drab, what happened?”

“This spot color doesn’t match the swatch book. Did you mix it wrong?”

“Anyone have a bottle of rum handy?”
(Okay this one is my own comment after hearing some of the other ones I listed.)

I’m a firm believer in educating print customers, but I will tell you right now there are some…many…who just don’t want to know. That’s sad really, because many of those print buyers are professional designers. The more you know about printing, the better you can design projects FOR printing and serve YOUR clients’ needs. Isn’t that your goal?

When you visit online printing companies, you’ll read in their info pages that they print to certain industry standards and there will probably be some acronyms and jargon that really doesn’t make much sense to people outside the printing industry. That’s fine. It’s good to know that they are using some strict protocols to ensure consistency and quality. You should expect that from online printing companies as well as local shops. However, you need to also keep in mind that by listing all the fancy terminology they are in effect covering their butt in case a client is unhappy with a printed project. Industry standards in printing are there for a reason. We can print to industry standards all day long on a dozen different types of papers with varying colors and finishes and at the end of the day…we’ll have a dozen different ink color variations. Yes, there are small adjustments that can be made to offset some of these issues on certain papers, but the simple fact is that even if every single one of those various papers are printed to specs, they will not look the same. Even three different finishes on “white” paper can vary dramatically in printed color.

It is probably a little more difficult to order a specialty paper from an online company for your print project because I rarely see those listed in the quote forms. Local shops really open the door here for more specialized paper options and therefore the potential for color issues and dissatisfied customers.

My secret belief is that by providing more options and customized solutions without proper customer education, local shops inadvertently lead customers to pursue online printing options. Anytime your market is broad enough to allow almost unlimited choices in ink colors, paper colors and paper textures, you invite the possibility for missed opportunities to really help your customer understand more about the printing process and build a lasting relationship.

The bottom line is, talk to your print shop. Tell them what you are looking at and ask for samples. Ask them to explain (or show) what differences can occur with different paper finishes and color choices.

You, as the designer, should always take the initiative to find out as much as you can about how to make your project stand out and achieve your clients’ goals. Don’t rely completely on your print shop to bring up every possible issue that comes along, because (I speak from experience here) some designers find that approach very condescending and annoying and can lead to tension. We walk a fine line in the commercial printing industry with regards to when we should and shouldn’t talk to a customer about potential issues, and we don’t always get it right even when our intentions are purely in the customer’s best interest.

With that being said, I also fully understand and appreciate that sometimes you simply don’t know what questions to ask. That’s why I’m here. Ask me anything…and if I don’t know the answer, I certainly know how to find it!

Tags: Color Printing, Commercial Printing, Designing for Print, Graphic Design Printing, Layout Graphic Design, Printing Guide