FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
If you can’t find the answer to your question here, please feel free to contact us!
- BINDING METHODS
- CLIPPING PATHS
- COLLATING & SLIP SHEETING
- DOT GAIN & TVI
- FILE PREPARATION TIPS
- FINISH & WEIGHT
- FOLDING METHODS
- PAPER COATINGS
- PAPER SIZES
- PRINT BLEEDS
- SHEET VS PAGES
ISO A Sizes
ISO B Sizes
There are a variety of binding methods that can be used for combining separate pages into a finished document. The type of binding may be limited by the paper size and the number of pages to be bound. The images below illustrate some of the more popular binding methods used in the printing industry. If you have questions about these or other binding methods, use the Contact link in the menu above.
Does your artwork contain images, text, or graphics that extend the very edge of the finished piece? This is called “bleeding off the edge” or simply “bleed”. Files with bleed need to be built to the final trim size plus 1/8″ extra on each side for the bleed. For Example, if you are ordering an 8.5″ x 11″ sell sheet, the graphic file’s size should be 8.75″ x 11.25″. When saving the file into the proper format (preferably PDF), do not use any crop or printer marks. These will increase the dimensions of the file.
The illustration on the left shows a document designed with bleed (finished size plus an extra .125″ (3mm) on each side). Because minor variations can occur when cutting the paper to its finished size, to avoid being trimmed off, text and other important matter must stay .125″ (3mm) away from the trim edge (the “safety zone”).
Does your piece contain a graphic or artistic border close to the paper edge? See related Bleed above and Safety Zone below. When paper is trimmed there is a cutting tolerance of 1/16″ which may result in uneven borders. For this reason we do not recommend borders. However, if they are necessary in your piece, the border should be at least 1/4″ thick and at least 3/8″ from the bleed line. Perfect trimming is not guaranteed.
There will always be some degree of dot gain, but it can be minimized by our experienced prepress staff and our press operators using sophisticated software, calibration tools and production processes. Our trained staff of graphic designers take dot gain into account when designing pieces for our customers. Of course, if you are employing someone else to design your pieces it would be their responsibility to take dot gain into account.
Also known as hard cover binding, case binding cover materials can be paper, vinyl, cloth, or leather. A loose, paper dust jacket often wrapped around the cover to protect it.
When you want to remove the background from an image or logo, a clipping path can be used to produce the desired results.
A round plastic or metal coil is wound through the pages to hold them together. Pages bound this way can be opened 360 degrees and can remain flat when open. Available in black (standard ) and other colors including PMS.
Our online printing store may include options to have the pages of the finished document collated. Or, we may require that pages be laid out in a way that facilitates collating the pages during production. Examples of printed items that are often collated include brochures, books, booklets, manuals, copies, and pamphlets.
Does your piece contain more than black color? Files that contain color text, artwork, or images must be saved in four color “CMYK” (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) color mode. Files submitted in the RGB or Pantone color mode will need to be converted to CMYK. Note that converting RGB to CMYK will cause a color shift as they are not the same color spectrum.
The most economical binding method, a staple is used in the corner to attached pages together.
If you have an image you want printed, but with part of the image or background removed, you need a clipping path service. To get a quote on your clipping path image(s), use the Clipping Service Quote form.
The printing industry uses a number of special terms to describe or measure how a printed piece looks. Dot gain and TVI are two of these terms.
Pages are pressed into an adhesive-coated cloth strip that wraps around the spine and covers. Similar to tape binding, the binding is flexible and durable. A variety of cloth colors are available.
Are you using vector-based software such CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, or Adobe Freehand? For vector files such as these all text must be converted to outlines before creating the file (preferably PDF) you send us.
This inexpensive method well uses a plastic “comb” that wraps through rectangular holes in the edge of the pages. The plastic comb also form a spine that covers the edge of the pages.
To create bleed in your design, simply make sure the background color, graphic, or image you want it to bleed extends off the final trim edge of the page by .125″ (3mm).
Dot gain is expressed as the difference between the actual value and the intended value. What is being measured is something called a “flat tint” which is expressed as a percentage. For example: if the flat tint of the piece is measured at 60%, while the intended flat tint was 50%, the printed piece would have a dot gain of 10% (60%-50%=10%). Note the use of “%” is treated like a unit of measure such as inches, kilograms, etc. rather than a real percentage. A spectrodensitometer is used for accurately measuring dot areas. A densitometer can also be used but it is less accurate.
While your computer screen will display low-resolution images well, when printed they will look rough, blurry, and jagged. For best printing results, a resolution of at least 300 dpi is recommended. Files with resolution lower than 300 dpi can be printed, but the results may be unsatisfactory.
| SIZE | WIDTH (mm) | HEIGHT (mm) | WIDTH (in.) | HEIGHT (in.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Int’l Business Card | 85.6 mm | 53.98 mm | 3.37 in. | 2.125 in. |
| Japanese Business Card | 91 mm | 55 mm | 3.583 in. | 2.165 in. |
| Hungarian Business Card | 90 mm | 50 mm | 3.543 in. | 1.969 in. |
| A0 | 841 mm | 1189 mm | 33.11 in. | 46.81 in |
| A1 | 594 mm | 841 mm | 23.39 in. | 33.11 in. |
| A2 | 420 mm | 594 mm | 16.54 in. | 23.39 in. |
| A3 | 297 mm | 420 mm | 11.69 in. | 16.54 in. |
| A4 | 210 mm | 297 mm | 8.27 in. | 11.69 in. |
| A5 | 148 mm | 210 mm | 5.83 in. | 8.27 in. |
| A6 | 105 mm | 148 mm | 4.13 in. | 5.83 in. |
| A7 | 74 mm | 105 mm | 2.91 in. | 4.13 in. |
| B0 | 1028 mm | 1456 mm | 40.48 in. | 57.32 in. |
| B1 | 707 mm | 1000 mm | 28.66 in. | 40.48 in. |
| B2 | 514 mm | 728 mm | 20.24 in. | 28.66 in. |
| B3 | 364 mm | 514 mm | 14.33 in. | 20.24 in. |
| B4 | 257 mm | 364 mm | 10.12 in. | 14.33 in. |
| B5 | 182 mm | 257 mm | 7.17 in. | 10.12 in. |
| B6 | 128 mm | 182 mm | 5.04 in. | 7.17 in. |
Do you have lines on your piece? All lines should be at least .25 pts thick to make them printable. Thinner lines may display on your screen but be too thin to print.
| SIZE | WIDTH (in.) | HEIGHT (in.) | WIDTH (mm) | HEIGHT (mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Card | 3.5 in. | 2 in. | 85.6 mm | 53.98 mm |
| Executive | 7.5 in. | 10 in. | 190.5 mm | 254 mm |
| Jr. Legal | 8 in. | 5 in. | 203.2 mm | 127 mm |
| Letter/ ANSI A | 8.5 in. | 11 in. | 215.9 mm | 279.4 mm |
| Legal | 8.5 in. | 14 in. | 215. 9 mm | 355.6 mm |
| Ledger/Tabloid/ANSI B | 11 in. | 17 in. | 279.4 mm | 431.8 mm |
| ANSI C | 17 in. | 22 in. | 432 mm | 559 mm |
| ANSI D | 22 in. | 34 in. | 559 mm | 864 mm |
| ANSI E | 34 in. | 44 in. | 864 mm | 1118 mm |
| Arch A | 9 in. | 12 in. | 229 mm | 305 mm |
| Arch B | 12 in. | 18 in. | 305 mm | 457 mm |
| Arch C | 18 in. | 24 in. | 457 mm | 610 mm |
| Arch D | 24 in. | 36 in. | 610 mm | 914 mm |
| Arch E | 36 in. | 48 in. | 1914 mm | 1219 mm |
| Arch E1 | 30 in. | 42 in. | 762 mm | 1067 mm |
| Arch E2 | 26 in. | 38 in. | 660 mm | 965 mm |
| Arch E3 | 27 in. | 39 in. | 686 mm | 991 mm |
A paper cover wraps around the pages and glued to the spine. The cover forms the front, spine and back. Popular for paperback and softcover books, this method results in a professional appearance. Suitable for most book types and sizes.
.AI – Adobe Illustrator. Convert all fonts to outlines and embed any linked graphics.
.INDD – Adobe InDesign. Converting your fonts to outlines is recommended if you are not using True Type
.JPG or .JPEG – Photographic images. Set your camera to the highest resolution if using your own photos. Note that most jpeg images downloaded from the web are low quality and unsuitable for printing.Fonts (.TTF). Package your files to include your fonts and links. Compress the packaged folder (.zip or .sit) before sending.
.PSD – Adobe Photoshop. Flatten your layers before submitting your files.
.TIF or .TIFF – This graphic file format will retain the highest possible image quality.
Metal screw-together posts are inserted into holes drill through the stack of paper. holding them together.
Similar to saddle stitching, except the loops extend out from the spine staples. The loops allow the bound pages to be placed into ring binders.
This inexpensive method binds pages using two or more staples placed along a folded edge. Suitable for 60 pages or less, there is no printable spine with this option.
Does your piece have any images, text or other elements close to the page edge? If too close, it may get cut off. Establish a no-go “safety zone” of at least 1/8″ from the edge of the final trim size. To avoid any images or text being cut off when the piece is trimmed, do not place them in the safety zone.
ONE SHEET, TWO PAGES
ONE SHEET FOLDED, FOUR PAGES
TWO FOLDED SHEETS, EIGHT PAGES
Sometimes the thickness of Cover/Card stock is used instead of its weight. In North America, paper thickness can be displayed in points (1/1000″ or .001″). For example, a 10 pt. Card stock is 0.010″ thick (about the weight of a 140lb Index stock) while 12 pt. Card stock is 0.012″ thick (about the weight of a 100lb Cover stock).
Paper Weight Comparison Chart (Lightest to Heaviest)
| #’s | gsm | Paper Stock |
|---|---|---|
| 16lb | 60.2 g/m² | Bond/Writing/Ledger |
| 40lb | 60.2 g/m² | Book/Text/Offset |
| 20lb | 75.2 g/m² | Bond/Writing/Ledger |
| 50lb | 75.2 g/m² | Book/Text/Offset |
| 24lb | 90.3 g/m² | Bond/Writing/Ledger |
| 60lb | 90.3 g/m² | Book/Text/Offset |
| 80lb | 104 g/m² | Book/Text/Offset |
| 28lb | 105.4 g/m² | Bond/Writing/Ledger |
| 70lb | 105.4 g/m² | Book/Text/Offset |
| 40lb | 109.1 g/m² | Cover |
| 50lb | 135.5 g/m² | Cover |
| 60lb | 161.8 g/m² | Cover |
| 100lb | 161.8 g/m² | Tag |
| 90lb | 161.8 g/m² | Index |
| 65lb | 176.8 g/m² | Cover |
| 110lb | 199.4 g/m² | Index |
| 80lb | 218.2 g/m² | Cover |
| 90lb | 244.6 g/m² | Cover |
| 140lb | 252.1 g/m² | Index |
| 100lb | 270.0g/m² | Cover |
| 170lb | 308.5 g/m² | Index |
| 220lb | 385.1 g/m² | Index |
A strip of tape is applied to the spine of a stack of pages, overlapping the bound edge. The pages are often stitched together before the tape is applied. Limited color range.
Thin strips of plastic are permanently locked together through holes in the front and back of the pages. Velo bound pages do not lie flat and have an exposed, unprintable spine. A variety of colors are available.
There are a number of standard folding types used in the printing industry. These are illustrated below. Of course, there are many more than we show here. If you have a question about a standard or special fold, please use the Contact link in the main navigation menu above.
The paper that is used, the ink, the ink color, the printing press, the roller pressure, and the press speed all can affect dot gain. Uncoated papers like newsprint have a higher dot gain than coated papers. For color printing, the dot gain will vary between colors. The dot gain for cyan, magenta, yellow and black will not be the same. Therefore, the dot gain for each color of ink used in the printed piece must be measured to accurately portray the dot gain for the piece. Web presses normally produce a higher dot gain than sheetfed presses.
A scanned image that looks fine on screen may be too dark for printing and my need to have its contrast curves adjusted. Optical dot gain (or loss) can be caused by the laser beam in certain equipment such as film imagesetters (recorder gain) and computer to plate systems. Depending on whether the process is positive or negative, a slight dot gain or a dot loss may occur. The type of material used for the plate or film may affect dot gain. In general, more dot gain will result from higher screen rulings.
A clipping path is the digital equivalent of cutting out part of a photograph with a scissors, except it is done on a digital image by trained professional’s employing sophisticated software tools. A clipping path cuts out an area of an image, removing it from the background. Everything inside the clipping path is kept while everything outside the path is deleted. It can also be used to edit a particular area of an image. Clipping paths can produce a sharp, defined edge or a soft edge instead of a jagged “stepping stair” edge.
Image before clipping path service:
Image after clipping paths are applied:
An aqueous coating is a water-based coating applied to a printed piece to enhance the graphics with a matte or gloss finish and to provide added durability and protection. Aqueous coatings provide good rub and scuff resistance. Like other finishes applied to printed paper, it protects the surface from scratches, fingerprints, dirt, and smudging.
Coating finishes are applied after the ink. They are often used to enhance the appearance of graphics. These coatings also protect the printed surface from scratching, marring, fingerprints and dirt by increasing the rub and scuff resistance.
In printing, collating refers to sequentially layering the pages of a multiple page document, book, brochure, etc. in their proper, finished order. Collation is performed during the finishing process. It is often followed by binding the pages together. The simplest example of collating is a three page document, where page one is followed by page two, which is followed by page three. This is the same sequence the pages are read.
Dot gain is a measure of the difference between the actual ink dot size of the printed piece and the ink dot size specified by the source file. It refers to ink dots appearing larger on the printed piece due to either a mechanical or optical effect. Dot gain is not good or bad. It is simply a normal result of the printing process that must be taken into consideration during the creation of the source file, the choice of papers, printing process, inks, etc. If not taken into account, the result is a printed image that looks darker than intended.
An option to order a multiple page document without collating (i.e., uncollated), simply means that each page will be delivered in separate stacks or bundles. Page one will be in one stack, page two in other stack, etc.
Mechanical dot gain occurs when paper fibers wick away the liquid ink, increasing the ink dot size. Like rolling out bakery dough to make pizza, it can also be the result of the ink dot being pressed and flattened by rollers during the printing process, increasing the size of the dot.
Optical dot gain results when light is trapped under the edge of ink dots, making the image appear darker to the measuring device as well as your eye.
Instead of sequencing the pages where page one is followed by page two, which is followed by page three, the pages are in reverse order. Page three is first, followed by page two, which is followed by page one.
In printing, slip sheeting refers to placing a blank piece of paper between groups of printed pages. It can be used with collated or uncollated pages. Slip sheets make it easy to see where one set stops and another begins, especially when stacked loose one on top of another and packed in cartons.
A matte, silk, satin or glossy finish can be applied to specific “spot” areas of the printed piece such as photographs and graphic images. For this type of coating a liquid is applied to the printed paper and exposed to an ultraviolet light which rapidly cures it and bonds it to the paper.
Aqueous coatings are less costly than varnish. Aqueous coatings are dried in minutes while a traditional varnishes may need a few hours or days to dry. Aqueous coatings don’t yellow with age while varnishes will yellow.
Aqueous coatings are dried by hot air, UV coatings are almost instantly dried and cured by ultraviolet light. UV coatings are tougher and more slippery than aqueous. A ballpoint pen can be used to write on an aqueous coating, but not on most UV coatings. UV coatings can achieve a higher gloss.
A coated paper is produced at the paper mill with a smooth surface and can have a range of reflectivity values including dull, matte, silk, satin or glossy. A coating finish on the other hand is a clear layer applied after the ink is printed on the paper. It is used to enhance the visual appeal of printed graphics or to add durability and protection to the printing.
Dot gain and TVI are sometimes used interchangeably. TVI stands for Tone Value Increase which is a more general measure of the difference in value between the value specified in the source file and the value of the printed piece. Instead of measuring an increase in dot size, it measure changes in tone. It is used when individual ink dots are not used in the printing process to produce the printed piece. A tone reproduction curve provides a relationship between tonal value increase and dot gain.
Paper can be grouped into two main grades based on weight and thickness: Text and Cover.
Besides a generic “Text” weight or “Cover” weight, descriptions often include a number to refer to the weight of the paper. The higher the number, the heavier the paper. Heavier paper is typically thicker as well.
Paper can be grouped into two main grades based on weight and thickness: Text and Cover.
To avoid being trimmed off, text and other important matter must stay within a “safety zone” that is is a minimum of .125″ (3mm) away from the trim edge. Any design elements that extend beyond the safety zone risk being cut off in the process of trimming the paper to its finished size. For example, the safety zone for an 8.5″ x 11″ letterhead would be .125″ smaller on each side, or 8.25″ x 10.75″.
A sheet with bleed is larger than its finished size. The “trim edge” refers to each edge of the sheet after it has been cut to its finished size. Any printed elements that extend beyond the trim edge will be cut off in the process of reducing the paper to its finished size.
A protective coating or varnish will not be applied to the printed piece.
A matte, silk, satin or glossy finish is applied to the entire printed piece. For this type of coating a liquid is applied to the printed paper and exposed to an ultraviolet light which rapidly cures it and bonds it to the paper. UV coating adds durability to the printed piece and deters dirt. For most UV coatings, the piece can no longer be printed on nor written on with a ballpoint pen.
The reasons to use a clipping path to remove the background from an image varies with the project but generally involve:
- Flexibility. Many file types can be edited with a clipping path, including JPG, PNG, GIF, TIF.
- Professionalism. A clipped image will look better than “painting out” the background. A clipped image simply looks more professional.
- Edge Treatment. A clipped image can be created with either a sharp edge or a soft edge.
- Edibility. A clipped image can be edited at any time.
- Convenience. A clipping path service is easy and fast.
- File Size. A clipped image can produce a smaller file size.
Also known as twin-loop binding or double-loop binding. A wire is threaded through small holes in the edge of the paper. The result is very simialr in look and function to coil binding. A variety of colors are available.
