Thoughts on Printing
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Text and Artwork:
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The last several days I've been thinking off and on about art reproduction printing, and I decided I'd gather those thoughts and post them here, since it seems the most appropriate place for them. For a lot of artists, it may very well be a wise financial desicion to have their work reproduced and offer the reproductions for sale. Certainly it can allow one particular piece to have as much earning power as possible since multiple copies of it can be sold, as well as earning money without eating up studio time. Finding Appropriate Printers Not all printers are created equal. Most local printers can do various jobs for you, but it will often not be the best quality or even the best value. The reasons for this are pretty straight-forward. Local printers are doing small jobs whose demands are relatively low. Their own resources are limited, and they are not likely to have the presses or the prepress machinery and systems in place that you will probably want for high-quality art reproductions. So, what to do? Do your research, *grin*. Beginning collecting the names, addresses, and web addresses of likely printing companies that are equipped and experienced at the type of printing you are looking for. Many artist publications will have advertisements in them for printers used to dealing with artwork reproduction. But also be certain to check into other resources, namely the book, Literary Market Place which is published yearly and has a resource section on printers, giving some of the details regarding what kind of work those companies specialize in. These are all printers who do books, but many of them also do high-end artwork reproduction as well. Knowing the Lingo Printing, like publishing, is a very, very competitive field. It is, in many ways, a buyer's market. But you, as a potential customer, also need to be aware that this competitive atmosphere means that printing companies can also be short on time, depending on what projects they have in play at the time. Therefore, the more you already know before approaching a business, the happier both of you will probably be. There are two main types of printing currently being used in the industry: Offset and Digital. In the past few years, digital printing has grown by leaps and bounds; the quality can be astounding, and the speed can't be beaten. For an artist looking at having high-quality art reproductions done, CTP (computer to plate) will have distinct advantages, especially if the company is also able to do high-resolution digital scanning of the original artwork or has the ability to use high-resolution studio digital cameras (70mm or larger) to take digital pictures of 2-D or 3-D work. Companies who have this kind of equipment should also have the hardware and software to mainpulate the image to include any borders, lettering, etc. that you might desire. A secondary consideration here is that the digitally encoded file can be stored on disk (which should be automatically considered the property of you, the client. With a file burned onto a CD, you can get reprints as crisp as the original run, for a fraction the cost since all the prepress work is already done. And yet another consideration when thinking about digital scanning/photography is that in the majority of cases, if not all of them, traditional 4-color separations will not be necessary. This is a huge monetary savings. When trying to get a handle on the current printing technologies out there, don't hesitate to contact your list of potential printers. They want new customers and most of them have brochures, information packets, and stock samples. These can be invaluable, and are especailly helpful in getting a grasp of the terminology in current use. (This is an extremely quick-changing industry now. Technologies are in flux and can change rapidly in just a few years.) Getting Bids Even if you are only thinking of doing a short run (500 copies or less), it will often be a very good idea to take bids on your printing project. To see an example of a Request for Bid sent out by a publisher, click here. You'll note that some of this won't apply to art reproductions, but that much of it does. Before sending out bid requests, you should also be ready to specify quantities (run size), specific types of paper which you will accept -- including opacity, finish, ppi, acid content, etc.-- types of inks (some inks may not be suitable), proofs required, terms, shipping issues, and deadlines. Also, always make sure to ask if they have any suggestions to improve quality/lower production costs. These folks are professionals in this field and are quite likely to know some tricks that you have no clue exist. Oh...and if a printer should ever indicate that the prices are the same or have very little variation between companies, don't take their word for it. In the bidding for the job in the above example, bids ranged from $750 to $3,500.
After you have gotten your responses to your bid requests, it should be fairly easy to see which printer will meet your needs and budget the best. :-) After the Printing is Over Be certain, after you have received the copies you had printed, to check through each carton for any problems. These need to be addressed asap, either with the printer or the shipping firm (crushed corners are a perpetual bane). Also, it is a very much appreciated personal touch -- if you are happy with the job they did for you -- to let the company know. This not only makes the people at the printer's happy, but it also builds foundations for continued great business dealings. |