I love it when a plan works
In mid-December, I flew to Indiana to attend the press check for my book, CMYK 2.0. It was the culmination of 8 months of collaborative work involving the editorial and design folks at Peachpit Press; the customer service and prepress folks at Courier; my own personal digital shaman, Kevin DeP; my wife and partner in crime; and, of course, me. The book was printed by Courier Press in Kendallville.
The pressure was on. This is a book about C, M, Y, and K, for crying out loud. If the book didn’t look great, it would kind of shoot the idea that the author knows anything about preparing files for press. And boy, would my editor be pissed. Holy Histogram, Colorman! Better get it right!!
Well, it was yet another wonderful proof-of-concept. CMYK 2.0 works! The press check went very smoothly, the color was right on.
Courier uses giant Man-Roland offset web presses that are each the size of two locomotives, and quite a bit louder. (We had to wear hearing protection in the press room.) They had budgeted 6 hours to print the entire book - 8,500 copies of a 288 page book. If there were any problems with color, they’d never be able to stay on schedule. During their make-ready on each signature, they would run until the ink “settled in”, and then pull a sample, bring it into the viewing booth and lay it right next to the proof. Match. Right on. Print it. And then it was off to the next signature. Smooth as silk. The only delay was from the pressmen having to stop the press to change a worn blanket on one of the units.
The reason it all went so smoothly was the preparation and communication that took place BEFORE the press run. Nothing was left to chance. Process control was excercised every step of the way. There were numerous conference calls involving the prepress manager at Courier, the production editor at Peachpit, my good friend and guru Kevin DePalmer, and myself. We asked each other questions, confirmed the press conditions at Courier, and then double-checked it all again, The proofs that Courier ran were a dead match to my own Epson proofs, which were in turn a dead match to my monitor. So, it was no surprise that the color coming off the press was what I expected–in fact, “predictable”–but, it’s still like Christmas morning for me every time I see a press sheet coming off the press that matches my proofs and my expectations.
I think the key for me is to never take anything for granted, never assume anything, and never let my guard down. When I follow that advice, the results justify the effort, and the client is always happy. And THAT is a very good thing.
comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
-
About this site
CMYK 2.0 is a community site I maintain to support my book CMYK 2.0: A Cooperative Workflow for Photographers, Designers, and Printers.
-
About me
Creating photographs for corporate and advertising clients is my day job. Check out the website. If you're an art director, creative director, or designer, shoot me an email when your next project comes up. We'll make some beautiful images together; the CMYK expertise is cheerfully delivered free-of-charge.
-
CMYK 2.0 Community Board
The CMYK Community Board is on extended hiatus. Read this to learn more.
-
Let's talk about CMYK
Does your organization represent photographers, designers, or printers? Or, for that matter, prepress jocks, production managers, or digital assistants?
I'm available to give presentations and lead workshops on how to move from just-don't-know to two-point-oh.
Drop me an email to arrange a visit.