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Glossary & Know how

If you want to print your own advertising calendars you will benefit from some background information about printing advertising calendars.

We are happy to support you! Please contact us if you have any questions.

 

Offset printing of multi month overview calendars

The advertising calendars are printed in traditional offset-print. Offset print is characterised by the following advantages:

  • The printing results are pin sharp and without unsharp outlines. Even finest details can be printed clearly.
  • The quality of offset-printing is visibly higher than the result of a digital print. The ink coverage is smoother and more continuous, the outlines are sharper. Particularly for large surfaces like  the background of our advertising calendars the continuous print is rather important.
  • Offset print allows the use of more than four printing colours. The printing press has additional inking units that can be equipped with additional inks - for example spot colours. This is important for companies with a precisely defined Corporate Identity whose company logos are oftenly created in spot colours (HKS or PANTONE). Digital print does not allow spot colour printing.
  • Offset print is a so-called planographic process. The printing plates do not transfer undesired marks or shades on the advertising calendar.

 

Printing inks

When you make your calendar inquiry you will be questioned concerning the desired colours of your calendar. It is significant for the pricing whether the print is 4-coloured EUROSCALE (CMYK) or for example only 3-coloured in PANTONE- or HKS-inks.

An advertising calendar is always completely customised - and this is a good thing, as they are to catch the eye of your audience. Motif, the number and kind of printing inks, CMYK or spot colour, amount - we need all these details to create your individual quotation.

Who is not familiar to the process of printing might feel quite uncomfortable when faced with all these specialised questions. For a better communication we summarised some important facts on the subject of printing inks.

 

Euroscale (CMYK)

When the printing is done with EUROSCALE the image consists of individual dots of the same 4 basic colours CMYK, which are also used in a standard PC-compatible printer:

  • Blue (C = Cyan)
  • Red (M = Magenta)
  • Yellow (Y = Yellow)
  • Black (K = Key)

The arrangement of the dots of all 4 basic colours result in variant colour mixtures for the eye. In this way it is possible to reproduce almost colour grading, for example the realistic print of a photo. It is fair to say that almost every multi-coloured motif is printed with EUROSCALE. With a magnifying glass you can easily recognise the individual dots.

The EUROSCALE basic colours can also be used individually, not every print with EUROSCALE is 4-coloured. But in this case it is not possible to print mixed tones. Example: 1-coloured red in EUROSCALE means: pure Magenta.

For every advertising calendar with a print with EUROSCALE it is necessary to generate a colour binding proof.

 

Spot colours: HKS and PANTONE

HKS and PANTONE are probably the most famous providers of so-called spot colours. The range is presented by a colour-fan that shows all colours. The printing result corresponds to the colour in the fan.

Spot colours are available for different sorts of paper. The suffixes "K" and "C" on the fan for example stand for glossy paper (art paper), "N" respectively "U" stands for uncoated paper with a rough surface. Our wall-planners, photo calendars, desk calendars and poster calendars are printed on coated glossy paper and have a fine surface.

The printing of a spot colour is not more expensive than the printing of one colour from CMYK. But: the spot colour is printed with an additional inking-unit of the printing machine. After the process of calendar printing the colour has to be washed out of the machine residue-free. The washing incurs additional costs. The CMYK-colours don't have to be washed out because these are the standard printing colours.

A spot colour is pre-mixed. The printing result is a solid printed area. Spot colours can be printed in various concentrations. It is possible to print different shades of the same colour.

A lot of spot colours can also be generated from the EUROSCALE basic colours. With the help of a graphic program the printing file can be converted. This may be interesting if your calendar layout contains a photo and your company logo is 4-coloured in spot colours. This combination would normally require a 8-coloured print: C+M+Y+K+4 spot colours. By converting the logos into CMYK the whole calendar can be printed 4-coloured in EUROSCALE which reduces the costs significantly.

Watch out: Some spot colours can be converted in EUROCALE without probems. The CMYK-result does not show significant differences from the origingal colour. But there are also colours that are only just hard or even impossible to convert. These include particularly some shades of bright blue and orange, neon-colours and metal colours. We appreciate to support you personnally.

A spot colour print does not require a colour binding proof.

 

Colour binding proof

A colour binding proof is only necessary when your calendar is printed offset in CMYK. It is also important to know that it is not possible to demonstrate a spot colour on a binding proof! These can only be simulated roughly.

When the advertising calendars are printed offset it would be really expensive to print one calendar in advance for a preview of the printing result. To avoid these costs we create a simulation of the printing result by the use of certified piezo-technology. The piezo-techology works similar to the processing of a photo-print contrary to the offset print of the calendars. Because of this the term "colour binding" is a little misleading as different production processes can not receive exactly equal products.

Reasons for this are probably:

  • The image on the proof is not composed of dots like the offset print on your advertising calendar.
  • The colour proof is printed with dry-toner, the calendar is printed with liquid colour.
  • The degree of whiteness of the printed paper: the certified proof paper has an ultimate whiteness-degree, even higher than the bright white chromo cardboard that we use for the calendar print.

Are you wondering what the proof is for? Why we need it and why it is called "colour binding" allthough the final printing result is probably not 100 % equal?

The proof defines the desired colour tones of your advertising print. Due to the different materials and manufacturing processes the calendar may show slight differences. But the proof is the colour specification for the printer who has to adjust the printing machine to receive the most similar final printing result.

From your printig files we generate an ISO-certified proof with UGRA/FOGRA media wedge before we print your calendar and send it by post to your hands for final print release. You examinate the print and particularly the colours on the proof. Afterwards you send the original proof back by post or parcel service. Or you make a change request in case that something is not conform to your request. In case of a change request you will receive another binding proof for final print release. Your advertising calendars are ready for print when the proof is received back by us.

For an exact judgement of a colour proof the correct illumination is of vital importance. You achieve the best result if the proof if is viewed under standard illumination of 5000 K (≈ daylight). The printer will also view the proof and the calendar under standard illumination. The lighting desk is part of a printers basic equipment.

Tip: You can also judge the proof professionally with simple tools: We are happy to provide you a free metamerism idicator. The metamerism indicator is a card with 6 green patches. Under standard illumination of 5000 K All patches show the same color. If the light frequence differs from this standard, the patches have different shades of green. When you put the metamerism indicator and the proof side by side you can see easily if the light is appropriate. On the card is a short instruction.

We print your advertising month-calendars according to the approved colour proof. Before we start the further processing we quality-check the printed sheets.

 

Feedback

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We look forward to your feedback and we are always open-minded for your suggestions.

If you want to contact us please send a mail to:

post/at/printas.com

If you want to start an inquiry please use the inquiry-form in the product description.