Binding

Binding is where a various pages that compromise a job are bound together to become a publication.

Text taken from - 'The production manual' - Page 167

Comb Binding - Spine of plastic rings that bind and allow a document to sit flat

Spiral Binding - Spiral of metal wire that winds through punched holes allowing the publication to open flat (left)







Wiro Binding - Spine of metal (wiro) rings that bind and allow a document to open flat

Open Bind - Book bound without a cover to leave an exposed spine

Singer Stitch - Binding method whereby the pages are sewn together with one continued spine

Perfect Bound - The back sections are removed and held together with a flexible adhesive, which also attaches a paper cover to the spine, and the fore edge trimmed flat. Commonly used with paper backs.

Saddle Stitch - Signatures are nested and bound with wire stitches, applied through the spine along the centre fold.

Clips and Bolts - A fastening device that uses holes and bolts to fasten together loose pages. Holes are often drilled for the bolt or clip to pass through.

Belly Band - A printout that wraps around a publication, often used with magazines or flyers, a quick and cheap option of holding work together.






Elastic Bands - An informal binding method whereby an elastic band holds the pages together and nestles in the centrefold.

Case or Edition Binding - A common hard cover book binding method that screws signatures together, flattens the spine, applied end sheets and head tail-bands to the spine. Hard covers are attached, the spine is usually rounded and grooves along the cover to act as hinges.

Canadian - A wiro bound publication with a wrap around cover and an enclosed spine. A complete wrap around is Canadian and a partial wrap around is half Canadian.

Imposition

Imposition shows the designer and printer how the various pages of a publication are to be arranged for print. It consists in the arrangement of the printed products pages on the printers sheet, it allows faster printing and simplified binding. It also maximises the number of pages per impression which in turn reduces the press time and paper waste.

Considerations
- Format
- Paper fibre direction - must reflect the grain of the paper with the alignment of folds.
- Number of pages
- Stitching / binding method
- Finishing / Binding

A few examples of Imposition

Throw Outs
A throw out is a half gatefold that in the same way as a gatefold on one side only, again the outward folding panel is slightly smaller so that it fits neatly when folded. (Left Vector)

Gatefolds

A folded sheet of four panels that is bound into a publication so the fold into the spine with parallel folds. The middle panels are the same size as the rest of the publication but the outer two panels are slightly smaller to sit neatly while folded. (Right Vector)

>>>>Tip Ins and Tip Ons
Extra elements can be added to designs to give them that special feel, tip ins and ons are when a page of different stock or a different size is added to the publication.

Tip Ins
A tip in is an added single, page often in a different stock, or size. They are done by wrapping it around the central section of a publication and glueing along the bind. It has to be alligned to either the bottom or top of the bind. To the left are a few examples of how the different elements could be added. Cyan represents the original publication size and Magenta the tip in.

Tip Ons
Tip ons are when an element are pasted into publications anywhere on the host page.  They can be permanent or temporary. Often used for attaching credit cards.

Print Costs

Budgets and costing will unfortunately always be a huge part of graphic design wether working on personal projects or with clients. There are however a few simple tips that can keep costs down and client / designer relationships up.

Use colour carefully - Adding needless spot colours can add significant costs to ink and printing costs, find out if the colours can be created in CMYK and match using pantone books. Also if you want a specific colour, let you printers know, if you don't let them know before then you have no argument once the print job is completed.

Choose the appropriate print method - An essential decision for keeping your costs down, the wrong print method could end up costing you a huge excess of costs.  Lithography may be suitable for a run of 5000 or 10,000 but anything less will increase costs because of the high set up costs used in this process. Think of alternative methods such as screen printing for a low volume job of 100 or so prints. 

Contact your printer - It is always good practice to contact your printer in relation to your job, let them know the volume of the prints. 

Proofs - Always check your prints and get proofs printed before committing to a print job. This includes spell checks, colours and many other areas. One small error in a high volume print job could really damage your client / designer relations not to mention that with the printers.

Special Techniques - Although you may love the foiled, embossed and spot varnished cover you designed your clients wallet may not be so keen. Make sure you keep your design appropriate to the brief at hand. 

Overprint

Publishing & Editorial
Design by - Ateller Martino&Jana
Posters and Journals for the guidance contemporary dance festival
This is an example of how overprinting can be used to get an interesting colour scheme and style. I particularly like the blue text over the black image. The low opacity stock allows the image from behind come through and works as a really strong all round aesthetic.

Varnish

Laminates & Varnishes - A laminate is a layer of plastic coating that is heat-sealed on to the stock to produce a smooth and impervious finish and to provide a protective layer to cover stock. A varnish is a colourless coating, applied to a printed piece to protect it from wear or smudging, and to enhance the visual appearance of design elements within it, such as spot varnish.

Types of Varnish


Gloss - colours appear richer and more vivid
Neutral - Basic, almost invisible ink, often used to accelerate the drying of inks
Textured spot UV - Allows for texture to be added to the surface, textures include sandpaper, leather, crocodile and raised.
UV varnish - An ultraviolet varnish can be applied to printed paper and dried by exposing to UV radiation in order to create a coating that is glossier than any other. Can be applied all over a publication (full bleed UV) or to certain parts (spot UV)
Matt (dull) - The opposite of a gloss varnish, a matt coating will soften the appearance of a printed image. It also makes text easier to read as it diffuses light, thus reducing glare.
Pearlescent - A varnish that subtly reflects myriad colours to give a luxurious effcet
Satin

Special Techniques

There are a range of printing techniques that allow designers to produce something different to standard print processes such as lithography and gravure. However they can become very expensive due to their additional set up times but can certainly add to the value of the design.

Descriptions taken from - 'The Production Manual*' - Page 170 - 173

Perforation - A process that creates a cut out area in a substrate to weaken it so that it can be detached, or it is used to create a decorative effect.

Duplexing - The bonding of two stocks to form a single substrate with different colours or textures on each side.

Foils - A process whereby a coloured foil is pressed to a substrate via a heated die. Also called foil stamp, heat stamp or foil emboss, allows the designer to add specific design elements such as title text.

Thermography - A print-finishing process that reproduces raised lettering by fusing thermographic powder to a design in an over

Embossing - Uses magnesium, copper or brass die holding an image to stamp the stock and leave an impression. As the design has to push through stock, designs are usually slightly oversized, with heavier lines and extra space between the letters in a word.

Debossing - Uses a metal dye containing a design, which is stamped from above onto stock to leave an indentation. It produces better results on thicker stock to get a deeper impression.

Die cutting - Uses a steel die to cut away a specified section of a design. It is mainly used to add a decorative element to a print job and enhance the visual performance of the piece.

Laser Cutting - Uses a laser to cut shapes into stock rather than use a metal tool. Laser cutting can produce more intricate cut outs with a cleaner edge than a steel die although the heat on the laser burns the cut edge. Faster set up times mean faster job turn around.

Kiss Cutting - Often used with self adhesive substrates such as stickers, where by the face stock is die cut but not its backing sheet to fabricate the easy removal of the cut stock.

Processes

Lithography
4 Colour process - CMYK 
Also possible to use spot colours
Printing process through which the inked image from a printing plate is transferred or offset to a rubber blanket roller, which is then pressed against the substrate. When the plate passes under the ink roller, non-image areas that have a water film repel the oily inks that stick to the image areas.

Used for -  Flyers, Brochures & Magazines


Disadvantages - Only available for long print runs to justify the hours of setting up machines and plates. For long print runs image quality can deteriorate due to wear on the plate.

Gravure
4 Colour Process - CMYK
Also possible to use spot colours
The image is engraved onto a cylinder because it uses a rotary printing press. An indirect image carries such as gravure cylinders, the ink is applied directly to the cylinder and from the cylinder it is transferred to the substrate. It uses copper plates

Used for - Magazines, postcards and corrugated (cardboard) product packaging








Web
Uses stock that is supplied on massive rolls rather than individual sheets which allows for higher volume printing speeds and a lower production cost. Webs can be used with lithography, but more commonly with relief printing methods such as rotogravure and flexography as their plates are more durable.
Used for - Newspapers, catalogues, magazines and books
Disadvantages - Due to the scale and cost of the production it isn't suitable for low-volume print runs.

Flexography
4 Colour Process CMYK with spot colours available
The printed image is achieved by means of a soft, flexible plate which contains the image to be printed in relief, much like a rubber stamp. The plate is attached to the roller (cylinder) and placed on the press.

Used for - Food Packaging (wrappers), labels, adhesive tapes, envelopes, newspapers, plastic bags, milk and beverage cartons etc

Disadvantages - Not the best print quality but because its used for disposable packaging its not much of an issue.

Pad
Printing process that can transfer a 2-D image onto a 3D object. Using an indirect offset (gravure) process, the image is transferred from the printing plate via a silicone pad onto the substrate.

Used for - Medical packaging, Automotive, promotional, apparel, electronics, appliances, sports equipment and a large majority of 3D objects.

Screen-printing
Relatively low volume printing method in which inks are passed through an exposed image on a screen. Although its a slow and expensive printing method it allows printing onto a large variety of sources. The viscous inks allow specific colours to be applied and can also be used to create a raised surface that adds a tactile element to a design.

Disadvantages - Time Consuming, expensive




Digital
Inkjet or laser printers deposit pigment or toner onto a variety of substrates. Because it doesn't use plates  and can be printed directly from a computer it saves a lot of money but isn't suitable for longer print jobs because of the high costs for Toners and inks.

Used for - Printing onto paper, photo paper, canvas, glass, metal


Disadvantages - Expensive inks and toners, not suitable for long print runs

Letterpress
A method of relief printing whereby inked, raised surface is pressed against a substrate. The raised surface that is inked may be made from single type blocks, cast lines or engraved plates. Letter press has a unique and beautiful aesthetic.

Disadvantages - Time consuming process that takes years of practice to master, suitable for low volume print

Industry Example

Artwork

For Lithography printing a bleed should be used to avoid having a white edge of unprinted stock. Bleeds are usually 3mm but it is always best to discuss with your printers first.

Bleed - The printing of a design over and beyond its trim marks

Trim - The process of cutting away the waste stock around a design to form the final format once the job has been printed. 

Registration - The exact alignment of two or more printed mages with each other on the same stock

Types of Black
Four Colour Black - It is the darkest black and is produced by overprinting the 4 process colours. This may cause issues with ink drying and smudging.

Rich Black - A practical solution to 'bounce', a registration problem that can occur when an area of no colour is adjacent to an area of heavy coverage. Printing with a 50% shiner of cyan, magenta and yellow produces a grey colour that covers any registration errors with the black because the image now has shared colours.

Registration Black - It is a black obtained from using 100% coverage of the four process colours, using registration colour for text and greyscale graphics is a common error and gives an undesirable effect. 

Warm & Cool blacks - Flat areas of black can be enhanced by applying a shiner of another colour underneath

Registration Problems - (This is more the printers responsibility) A 4 colour image will look distorted or blurred if the plates are not aligned properly. This isn't an issue with a single colour print job.

Trapping

Sometimes gaps can appear between the different sections of colour, this can be resolved using trapping, a process where one printed ink is surrounded by another that effectively traps it.

The main options that are used for trapping are choke, spread and centre trapping. They are all set up with automatic features but these can be increased and decreased respectively.

Spreading - Where the lighter object is made larger to spread into another darker one

Choke - Used to reduce the size of the aperture that an object will print in

Centred trapping - uses a combination of enlarging the object and reducing the aperture by the same amount.

Over Print - When one colour prints over another. (left image) - Industry example
Knockout Print - Where a gap is left in one colour for another colour to print in (right image)
Reverse out - When instead of the design being printed it is removed from a block of printed colour and left as an unprinted area.
Surprint - Describes two elements that are printed on top of one another and are tints or the same colour. I.e. Text on

Stock

Stock has a huge effect on the final outcome of a design and with so many types its defiantly an area that I want to include in my print manual.

Coated - Gives more vibrant colours

Uncoated - Allows for reader to feel its tactile qualities, gives a natural and softer feel.

Woodfree stock - MAKE NOTE

Paper Qualities

GSM - Grams per square meter is a weight measurement that is part of a paper specification based on the weight of a square meter of the stock. An A0 page is equal to one meter square, meaning the GSM equates to the weight of a single A0 sheet.

Paper Grain

Paper produced on a paper machine has a grain because the fibres from which its made line up during the manufacturing process in the direction that is passes through the paper making machine. The grain is the direction in which most fibres lay. This characteristic means that paper is easier to fold, bend or tear along its grain direction.

Direction

The direction of fibres in paper for laser printers typically has a grain that runs parallel to the long side of the paper to allow it to pass more easily through the printer.

Paper Types and print quality

Paper characteristics that effect the print quality are smoothness, absorbency, opacity and ink holdout.

Smoothness - The smooth surface of certain stocks is obtained through the use of filter elements that may be polished with calendaring rollers. They are typically glossy as well.

Absorbency - Stocks have a variety of different absorbency levels, which is how much the ink soaks into the page. Printing inks tend to dry quicker on absorbent stocks but it may cause problems such as dot grain.

Opacity - Opacity is used to describe how much what ever is printed on the page shows through to the other side. High opacity papers have no show through

Ink Holdout - This is the degree to which a stock resists ink penetration due to lack of absorbency. Coated stocks may be more prone to ink holdout because it rests on the surface in turn increasing the drying time.

Formats

There are a selection of standard paper sizes that provide an efficient mean for designers and printers to communicate product specifications and control costs.

Paper and envelope sizes

Standardised sizes provide a ready means for selecting product formats that work together such as A4 paper and C4 envelopes

ISO System - based on a 'single aspect ratio' of square root of 2 or approximately 1:1:4142. The wide and the height of a page relate to each other like the side of the diagonal of a square. This is especially convenient for paper size. If you put two pages next to each other, or cut a piece in half then the resulting page will have the same width / height ratio.

'A' sizes

A0 - 841 x 1189

A1 - 594 x 841

A2 - 420 x 594

A3 - 297 x 420

A4 - 210 x 297

A5 - 148 x 210

A6 - 105 x 148

A7 - 74 x 105

A8 - 52 x 74

A9 - 37 x 52

A10 - 26 x 37

Generally speaking a sizes are used for printing everything from posters and magazines to notepads and postcards.

'B' Sizes

B0 - 1000 x 1414

B1 - 707 x 1000

B2 - 500 x 707

B3 - 353 x 500

B4 - 250 x 353 

B5 - 176 x 250

B6 - 125 x 176

B7 - 88 x 125

B8 - 62 x 88

B9 - 44 x 62

B10 - 31 x 44

'B' sizes are used for printing books

'C' Sizes

C0 - 917 x 1297

C1 - 648 x 917

C2 - 458 x 648

C3 - 324 x 458

C4 - 229 x 324

C5 - 162 x 229

C6 - 114 x 162

C7/6 - 81 x 114

C7 - 81 x 114

C8 - 57 x 81

C9 - 40 x 57

C10 - 28 x 40

C sizes are used for envelopes that will hold 'A' sizes

DL - 110 x 220 - Allows an A4 sheet with tho horizontal, parallel folds to fit comfortably inside. This and and the DL compliment slip are the same width as an A4 sheet of paper.

RA & SRA series - Based on ISO sizes and are used by printers they are slightly larger than 'A' series to 

Colour

Colour research for Print Manual 

CMYK - Cyan / Magenta / Yellow / Key
- Subtractive Colour - Represents inks of pigments that reflect the light of a certain colour, mixed together to make up millions of different colours
- Uses tiny dots of each colour overlapping to create the overall Image
- Colour model for Print

RGB -  Red / Blue / Green
- Additive - Uses the projected red, green and blue light as primary colours to produce the full spectrum of colours. Black is produced by the absence of primary colours.
- Colour model for screen

Other colour modes are - Greyscale, monochrome, 

Colour Management 

Gamut & Colour space
- The range of spectral colours visible to the human eye can also be described as gamut represented by the image to the left.
- In the print industry the most common gamuts are RGB, CMYK & Hexachrome (CMYKOG - orange and green).

RGB - Can produce around 70% of the colours in the spectral gamut that can be perceived by the human eye.
sRGB - Standard RGB is a standard, device independent, calibrated colour space defined by HP and Microsoft in the 1990's to provide a consistent way to display colour internet images on computer screens
ColourMatch RGB - Has a wider colour space than sRGB and was developed closely to simulate CMYK press work.


Pantone and spot colours
Designers use spot colours to ensure that a particular colour in a design will print. This may be necessary if the colour isn't within the CMYK spectrum. This is often applied within branding to give companies consistent visual identities.

Pantone solid - A range of solid metallic, pastel and process colours that can be used on different paper stocks and substrates.
Pantone Pastels - A range of flat, solid, but very pale colours. Different to tints because they print as a solid colour without visible dots. Available in coated and uncoated swatches.
Pantone Hexachrome - A range of 6 process colours used for hexachrome printing. It adds green and orange to the CMYK process colours allowing it reproduce 90% of the Pantone PMS colours
Pantone Metallics - A range of over 300 special colours that give a metallic effect including silver, gold and copper colours. Available in varnished and unvarnished colour swatches.

 The pantone system allocates a unique reference number to each hue and shade to ease communication between designers and printers

Pantone books - Used for referencing colours and getting the closest matches for CMYK etc
- 4 Colour process Guide - Coated / Uncoated
- Colour Bridge - Coated
- Formula Guide - Solid Matt / Solid Coated / Solid Uncoated

U - Uncoated
C - Coated
EC - Euro Coated
M - Matte

- The Four dots under the 1935M show that this colour can be created using CMYK
- In the other books it also shows the closest CMYK values to that colour.

The box on the left is printed as a fluorescent PM 806 Spot colour and its nearest CMYK version is on the right. The CMYK square is duller than the left because it is made with half tone dots, where as the left is a flat colour. It essentially prints as a tint.

Spot Colours

Spot colours are made from various base elements, mixed according to a specific recipe. They can be bought pre-mixedand ready to use of they can be created by mixing constituent parts.

Colour Correction
Many image manipulation programs feature colour adjustment features to fix common problems such as red eye and colour balance problems but they can also be used to make sure there isn't to much ink on the page and other such print related issues.
Some of the main colour corrections on Adobe Photoshop are -
Levels, Colour balance, Desaturation, Adjust Contract, Adjust Colour

Many of these have Auto features - Auto Levels, Auto Colour and Auto Contrast but these might not always give you the best results.

Also because digital cameras work in RGB format the conversion to CMYK for print can have a significant effect on the intensity of colours. This however can be checked using 'Gamut Warning' on Photoshop, really useful for making adjustments. This can often be solved by changing the 'hue' and 'saturation' for a print friendly image.

It is also possible to be selective about replacing colour, using the range of selection tools in Photoshop to define the area that needs altering.

Another feature that can be used as a for print is 'Proof Colours', the image becomes slightly duller and is now in a RGB/CMYK format. This provides a preview of how the image will look after conversion for Print. This method gives you less control over the adjustment of your image as 'replace colour' but may be appropriate depending on the job.

- Brightness / Hue / Saturation

Print Manual yo

Print Manual -
The areas that I want to focus on -

1. Colour
- Terminology

- Colour Modes

- Colour Management

- Colour on Screen
- Colour Adjustment

- Pantones

- Colour Correction

- Spot Colours
- Brightness / Hue / Saturation

2. Formats
- A Formats - A4 / A3 / A2 ....
- Envelope Sizes
- Book & Poster Sizes
- Screen Sizes

3. Artwork
- Document set up
- Bleeds
- Registration
- Types of Black

4. Stock
- Paper Qualities
- Paper Types & print Quality
- Coated / Uncoated
- Sustainability

5. Print Processes
- Lithography

- Gravure 

- Flexography

- Pad Printing
- Digital
- Web Printing
- Letterpress
- Screen Printing
- Reprographics

6. Special Techniques
- Embossing & Debossing
- UV Spot Varnish
- Die Cutting

7. Costing
- Appropriateness of Print process
- Budget - Client

8. Binding
- Types of Binding


9. Folding & Trimming
- Valley / Mountain Fold
- Methods of Folding

10. Imposition 

Urban

A few products in Urban Outfitters, I don't think the way this is the context or approach to Vinyl that I want to promote. I think its overused as an aesthetic for products without actually being in context with music. Within the project a more music orientated approach would be a better approach.

1930's

A few pieces of design from the 1930's to give me a few visual references

Product - Camel Cigarettes

Advertiser - R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Illustrator - Carl Erickson
Date - 07/01/1930

I can't stand the aesthetic of this but I think the wording and tone of voice in the text is really interesting. Especially seeing the way cigarettes used to be advertised, could be interesting to explore changing the wording in posters like this and changing words to make the text about records...
Source

Product - Hienz Ketchup
Tag Line - 'Oh nippy days in Carolina what a joyous dish this is"
Date - 10/01/1930

Again I hate the aesthetics but could experiment with similar type, I might look into design from other areas in the world and see if there is anything slightly more fitting to vinyl and my target audience.

Source

Die Cutting

Die Cutting
- The shapes are lazer cut (not done at target print).
- The lazer cut shapes are send to target print where they use this beast of a machine to press cut the shapes from printed matter.
Can get die cuts made in a huge variety of different shapes and sizes but the downside is that you will be paying a considerable about more so it needs to be appropriate to the design and context of the work.

Target Print

Trip to target print, really enjoyed it and can completely understand why printers 'dislike' many graphic designers. I feel far more confident about contacting them and about costs etc within lithography printing.

Lithography Printing
Uses CMYK, but it is a 6 colour machine that allows for 2 more spot colours
- The image is transferred onto the plates (need to research into this process)
- The CMYK plates are clamped onto the different sections of the machines.
- The paper feeds through each roller where the ink is pressed from the plate to the rubber roller and from there onto the paper - this is because if it was going straight from the plates they would wear down and become useless after 10,000 or so prints.
- The ink is applied by hand on rollers on the top - this process is much cheaper than digital because the inks are much cheaper than the toners bought for digital printers.
- The prints are checked regularly to make sure the registration marks are aligned properly.
- If they are out the are moved using the machinery on the last image
- During the process starch is sprayed onto the paper to stop them from sticking together at the end.