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6 Technical Printing Service Questions Answered

One thing that most people find upon their first professional printing job, is that 'real' digital printing is much more complex than pressing Control+P! There's an entire world of rasters, vectors, proofs, spot colours, finishes, embedding, resolution, bleeds, slugs and crops to explore ... and even if you really don't want to explore that world, sometimes it is necessary to have a base understanding of what your printing service is banging on about, simply so you can get the best possible result with your digital printing job. Today we answer 6 technical-type printing service questions in easy-to-understand language.  

What is the difference between raster and vector images?

These terms sound complex, but are actually fairly simple. Raster images are made up of pixels (just about every photograph you see), while vectors use lines that can be scaled infinitely while retaining clarity. However:

• Vectors images are rare on stock photography websites and usually more expensive
• Vectors don't necessarily represent the photo contents most accurately
• There are some services that can change raster to vector images

What is a spot colour?

Spot colours are mixed to formulas provided by Pantone or other private colour enterprises. They are contrasted with CMYK colours, which are defined by their percentage of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Spot colours are more expensive in digital printing. Some people feel that they are more unique and can more accurately represent the colours of a logo ... but 99.5% of people can't tell the difference.

What is diecutting?

If your job has a non-linear shape, or sometimes a non-standard base paper size, you may need to pay for diecutting. It is generally an extra charge on your digital printing quote.

What is DPI ... and how much does it matter?

DPI stands for Dots Per Inch, and it is used in reference to raster images. If there are insufficient dots per inch, a large raster image will look pixelated and unclear. The same applies if your image has too many dots per inch for its size. Some digital printing services will not accept jobs where the images are less than a certain number of dots per inch, as a matter of customer satisfaction and reputation.

How can I make a file that a digital printing service will accept?

This is not a straightforward question to answer - it depends on the printing service ad the requirements of the individual job, as well as the program that you're designing in. If you aren't sure whether you've made a file to the correct specifications, it is probably much easier and less stressful to take your idea to a professional designer to have it print-readied. 

What is a bleed?

If your artwork touches the edge of the paper, it will need to have a bleed of either 3mm or 5mm depending on the size of the finished project. Printers cannot necessarily be perfectly aligned, neither can cutting machines - so in order to ensure that you don't end up with tin white lines along the edge of your job, you'll need to take the colour or the image over the edge of the page.

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