I will be placing all notes that I have time to transfer from wrote to type in my blog. I noticed that notes from these books would be helpful for other people wanting to refer to texts of this sort. May not be complete and not to be substituted for actual study time. They may not make sense to anyone but myself. 
1.1 Graphic Print Production Flow
8 Basic Steps:
Strategic work
Creative work
Images and Text
Layout work
Prepress
Printing
Finishing and Binding
Distribution
1.& 2. Deal with concept and outline work
is print needed?
3.& 4. Creative phase
5.,6.,7.,8. Mainly industrial aim to carry out decisions
1.1.1 Strategic Work
Questions to define product
Goals?
Whom the product is for?
What is product used for?
Dealing with Marketing and Info Tech(IT) dept.
Maybe deal with Advertising and Design/Media Advisors
1.1.2 Creative Work
Developing design
Determine message
How to best communicate/ per audience
Type of printed product?
Should product say?
Product look like?
1.1.3 Images and Text
Need to check and adjust digital image before print
Technical requirements for image
technical quality
creative goal
Pixel (based images-photos-need resolution of 300 ppi
Label image standard
IPTC – International Press Telecommunications Council standard
Dealing with photographers, illustrators, journalists, author, retouch specialist, prepress company and printing house
Customers approves text, illustrations and image proofs at this time.
Figure 1.2
Each production phase, need to know what the following steps will require.
1.1.4 Layout
Must be a layout that is attractive and works with preparing a printing plate.
Typography Color
Manuscript Color/Combo
Image Editing Logo Types
Color Systems
RBG – Red, Green, Blue – Screens
CMYK – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black – Print
Pantone – Special print colors as compliments to the 4 print colors
Proofs – PDF – Standard
Done by advertising bureas, design studios, print house, marketing dept., publishing co.
Customer approves finished Layout at his point
1.1.5 PrePress
Work steps and techniques required to create print – adjust digital files that can be foundation for the productions of a printing form.
create Hi-Res pdf files
print adjustment of images and docs
proofing
imposition
rasterizing
1.1.6 Printing
Determined by quality requirements
size of the print run
printing material
format
type of printed product
Printed Press Technique
best for large print runs.
most common – offset printing, Gravure, flexographic, screen
uses printing plates, printing blocks for flexographic printing
Printing Plates – static
Printer Technique
No printing plate, every print unique
suited for smaller runs- 500 copies
most common – xerographic, inkjet dye sublimation
Advantages of Digital Printing
Contents can vary from sheet to sheet
Start up costs are low
no makereadies, no film or plates
1.1.7 Finishing and Binding
Imposition: how pages are arranged on the printed sheets
determined by finishing and binding
Why type of finishing and binding procedures? Early
Surface Processing
Cropping and Trimming
Binding
1.) Surface Processing
to create raised areas on paper
emphasize picture with partial varnishing
create metal effects with foil
protect against wear and tear
laminate to increase folding endurance
varnish sheets – quicker to bind, without waiting for ink to dry
2.) Cropping and Trimming
Physically shaving paper
cropping – cut and trimmed to right format and even edges
die-cutting- die-cut into another shape or perforated
punching – holes punched for binders
folding – form pages from the printed sheets
creasing – to mark a fold
3.) Binding
joining sheets into single entity
how to put together
metal stitched and spiral bound – cover is attached during binding
soft cover – cover is glued to spine and put on during stitching
hard cover – end papers are glued to inside covers and is done during a separate stitching step.
Finishing and Binding at printing house and book binderies.
1.1.8 Distribution
Costs surpass print costs
Companies specialize
1.2 What Affects Costs?
1.2.1 Makeready and Start-up Costs
print house – press cost and time available in year $300-$900 an hour
Makeready-
serves to prepare the printing press and make the settings and adjustments that are required to get 1st approved printed sheet.
Costs – Directly relates to the number of sheers to be printed
Number of sheets – influenced by the size of print run and format and volume of printed product.
1.2.2 Print Run, Format and Volume
Print Run= # of copies
Format = size of product
Volume = # of pages – Defines printed product ad determines cost
1000 copies = digital
1000 plue copies = sheet fed offset press
50,000 plus or minus – web fed offset printing
300,000 plus = gravure printing
vary – format and volume
Format
determines number of pages from a printed sheet
big affect on cost
stay close to ANSI standard sizes
Volume
more pages = more $
evenly distributed number of pages, divisible b 4,8, or 16
Direct link between print run, format, volume
all affect number of sheets
1.2.3 Colors
B &W cheaper
Webfed offset and digital limited to 4 colors
flexographic 4 plus ink ducts
sheet fed offset 4 plus ink ducts
1.2.4 Image Editing
retouching
selections
proofing
adjustments
charged by hour – $65 per hour to $300 per hour
greater the volume may charge price per picture
1.2.5 Layout Work
Template-based
Advanced Design
from sketch of idea
May use proofs of an available document
typography from existing document
fitting advertising into given format
fitting text in existing template
develop original layout (sketch)
Billed per hour
or per page on larger projects
Hourly and per page prince varies depending on complexity of size of task
1.2.6 Prepress
creating and checking PDF’s or QuarkXpress, InDesign, or Illustrator files
adjusting documents/images for printing
product printers proofs -billed by piece $40-150
impositions
setup print form
cost archival digital material
automated mostly now a days
billed by the hours
$65 to $250 per hour
depends on complexity and size of task
Dont underestimate proofing time and eac stage that needs to be proofed
1.2.7 Finishing and Binding
Treatment of surface
varnish
laminate
foiling
stamping
handling printed sheet
cropping
hole punching
perforating
creasing
Various binding
spiral binding
glue binding
stitched binding
Varnish – no great cost
Laminate, Foil, Stamp – big cost
Spiral bind and tread sewn – big cost
Simple staple/Glue bind – less cost
$cost based on start up cost
cost per piece of finished and bind
number of pages
imposition of print sheet affect # of makereadies
fewer pages per printed sheet has room for
size of print run more pages in printed product
determines price per piece
1.2.8 Paper
think about the cost
General Rule: larger the print run, larger the papers share of production cost
Fact: most ordinary qualities of paper do not differ more than 15 % in price from one another.
