Designing your own publications

Choosing a platform
Fonts
Selecting software
Images
Ink
Paper
Rules for ordering printing
Writing specifications for print bids
Preparing files for a commercial printer
Additional resources

Working with ink

Offset printing

In traditional offset printing, ink equals money. Paper, printing methods, and special techniques all impact the cost of printing, but even for a simple job on inexpensive paper, the number and types of ink you choose will greatly affect the cost of your publication. If your budget is very tight, you may only be able to afford one or two colors of ink. If you have a larger budget, you may be able to use full-color photos–in this case you would specify a 4-color process, or CMYK.

What is CMYK?

CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. These are the colors used in what is called 4-color process–the system mixes these four colors in various amounts to reproduce most colors, tints, and photographs. It is a fairly accurate system, but there are certain colors (a bright red or a really strong, vibrant orange) that it doesn’t reproduce well.

If you want full-color photos, but also need a specific or very consistent color (the U of I blue and orange, for example), you might ask for a 4-color process with the addition of one or two PMS colors.

What is PMS?

PMS stands for Pantone Matching System. These are pre-mixed ink colors called “spot colors.” When using PMS, you choose can choose the exact colors you want to appear on your publication.

What are the pros and cons of CMYK and PMS?

CMYK colors can be mixed to achieve a relatively good spectrum of color, but it’s harder to maintain consistency in color and registration on design elements such as fine lines and small type than it is with PMS colors. Choosing PMS means you can work with vibrant colors, many of which can’t be achieved with CMYK inks; however, PMS colors by themselves won’t allow you to reproduce photographs. Just remember that the more PMS colors you add to the basic CMYK colors the more expensive your job will be.

What is a PMS process guide?

Pantone makes swatchbooks that show their spot colors next to a CMYK 4-color “build,” or simulation, of the same color. In some cases the CMYK build is very close to the PMS color, but for other colors there is only a vague resemblance. Another color guide, the Trumatch swatchbook, may be more useful in that it shows only the 4-color builds and the percentages of each ink needed to match them; however, most printers are not as familiar with this guide.

If you are using a PMS swatchbook, be sure to replace it every few years, because the colors will fade over time. You don’t want to specify a color that looks one way in your swatchbook, but different in the printer’s.

Why do the colors look different on my screen, different on my ink-jet printer, and different again on the printed publication?

This inconsistency arises because you’re using three completely different mediums to view your work. Your monitor uses light to show colors and images, your ink-jet printer uses ink-jet ink on the whatever kind of paper you’re using with it, and the commercial printer uses a different type of ink on what is likely a completely different kind of paper. This may seem discouraging, but major changes in accuracy of color reproduction have been made in the last ten or fifteen years–and the industry is continuing to change and improve.

Digital printing

Xerox iGen3, Heidelberg Quickmaster, and Indigo presses are all different brands of digital printing equiptment.

Digital printing differs from traditional offset printing in the following ways

• It's more economical for quick turn-around, 4-color, short-run jobs
• The presses use "dry" or "waterless" inks. This is a very high-end form of toner, not traditional ink. The job is finished faster because there is no drying time involved
• PMS is not an option, only CMYK
• Digital printing gives you the option for variable data printing

Facilities & Services Printing Department can produce jobs on the iGen3. Contact Creative Services for references for local and regional printers who have digital printing capabilities.

 

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