Print Buying Direct

Designing For Print

Information supplied courtesy of Print Buying Direct at The Printing House Ltd

We get asked all the time about how to design for print. This blog focuses digital print as we find many designers haven’t ever been advised of the advantages or limitations of digital print. Obviously many things are still relevant to litho printing (this still remains our core business) so whatever kind of print you design for hopefully you can draw something useful from the information below.

TEXT CONSIDERATIONS
GENERAL

• Include all fonts in both page layout and vector graphics files.
• Supported font types include PostScript Type 1, 3, OpenType, TrueType, Multiple Master
• When possible, select fonts from the Font menu and use caution when working with stylized fonts from the Style menu.
• Preserve text as a font; do not rasterize text in the application.

TYPE COLOR

• Create solid black text with 100% K only for the most dense black.
• As with any digital or offset printing system, saturated text presents the best appearance. When a tint is used, the halftone screen may be visible on the edge and cause a jagged appearance. Text containing at least one ink of 100% C or M or K presents the best appearance with solid, rich colors
• RGB solid text, such as 100% red, may reproduce as a tint. Define solid color text in CMYK if possible.

TYPE SIZE

• For positive solid text use a minimum of 4 point and 6 point for reverse.
• For positive tinted text use a minimum of 6 point and 8 point for reverse.
• With smaller text, sans serif fonts are recommended.

GRAPHICS CONSIDERATIONS
COLOR IN GRAPHICS

• Colors for fine rules or small graphics, such as bullets and icons, print best when at least one color separation (other than yellow) is set to a solid or near solid color (e.g., 90-100%).

SPOT COLORS (PANTONE)

• Select PANTONE colors by choosing them from the PANTONE color library.
• Do not change the name of PANTONE colors (e.g., PANTONE 106C to Sunshine Yellow or to PANTONE 106C copy).
• When PANTONE colors are desired, it’s always safest to ask us how the colours you want are best printed.
• Be sure to specify the color as a [Spot] color. This will allow the digital press to provide the best spot color accuracy within the limitations of the printer. (THIS IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF DESIGNING FOR OFFSET/LITHO PRINTING – PLEASE ASK IF UNSURE)

GREYS

• Grey text, graphics, and gradients will be best produced if they are created with K only in a CMYK working space.
• Grey balance is dependant upon selections made at the printer. If you are creating grey colors with RGB or CMYK combinations, consult us for the appropriate values needed to achieve good neutrals.

BLACK

• When printing black on uncoated substrates, add a small amount of C, M or Y to improve uniformity and minimize paper texture.

TINT UNIFORMITY
Digital printing systems, in general, may show slight variations in color within large areas of mid-density tints. Color variation may be emphasized with coated stock due to smoothness of the paper.

• Design with smaller areas when using tints and/or design with colors that are less than 40% or greater than 70% in value.
• Sensitivity to color variations may be reduced by introducing a texture or by adding text or graphic objects.

GRAPHIC EDGES

• Edges of tinted areas may also have a jagged appearance, dependent on line frequency and the angle of the halftone screen with respect to the angle of the edge. When selecting the color for fine rules or elements, better results will be achieved by choosing saturated colors or setting at least one separation (other than yellow) to 100%.

GRADIENTS
The best produced gradients will be produced when using vector gradient tools in programs such as Illustrator that take advantage of PostScript Language Level 3 and PDF 1.3 Smooth shading operations.

Following are suggestions for achieving the smoothest gradients:

• To ensure enough gray levels, gradients length should be greater than 2cm.
• Use a color change of 100% for at least one colour separation for gradients less than 2 cm long and a change of 50% for gradients less than 4 cm long.
• Adding Noise or a Gaussian blur can improve gradients in Photoshop.
• Saturated colors generally produce the smoothest blends.
• Avoid creating gradients that blend from a very dark color (e.g., navy blue) to white. They have a tendency to have more banding.
• For gradients blending to white, set the same color to 0%. Do not use white. Example: first color PANTONE 032C: 100%, second color PANTONE 032C: 0%.

I hope you’ve found this useful. More useful hints to follow in the next few days.