Offset is different

Read this if you are a Sign Maker :-


Why do I need this information?
Many of our customers are already very experienced in computer graphics and in producing computerised artwork. This is a good thing, but if offset print is not your native medium you need to be aware of where the rules differ.

If you are a sign maker you should consider the following points...

• Offset vs Screen Print Offset printing works very similarly to screen printing and if you understand one you are pretty close to understanding the other. There are some differerences however.
  Offset is a much "finer" process and so demands higher levels of accuracy and attention to detail. Imperfections will reproduce perfectly and work is almost exclusively intended to be viewed at close quarters. Everyone will see any imperfections and your clients will complain about them.
  All offset inks are transparent so you will never be able to cover one object up with another - not even using black ink.
  Offset printers never print with white ink and all white colour comes from the paper your job is printed on.
• Choose a suitable program Any of the following will do : InDesign, Quark, CorelDraw, Freehand, Illustrator, Pagemaker, Serif Pageplus (ver. 11 or above). MSPublisher can be used at a push but is limited. MSWord isn't really suitable but if you know what you are doing it can be used though we would never recommend it
• Bitmap Resolution For colour and greyscale images this should be 300dpi - 500dpi. For lineart (1 bit per pixel) it should be 1000dpi or above.
• Overprint Black  It is usually best to overprint all small black objects - eg text below 12pt. Be careful with larger objects though - remember all offset inks are transparent, even black.
• Don't Overprint White  Never overprint white. White objects set on overprint will be invisible. White in offset terms means "No ink at all" and consequently it only has meaning when set to knock out of another colour. Overprint white means "Print nothing here".
• Imported artwork  Remember that all these rules not only apply to the artwork you create but also to all the artwork you import onto your page from other sources.
• CMYK Print  If you are not already familiar with how CMYK printing works then you really should spend some time reading our support pages. Especially "CMYK print explained".