Promotional Materials Clearinghouse

Before undertaking any type of print job, the designer or person hiring the designer should take an inventory of all their available resources -- not the least of which is money. Often, your four-color mind runs counter to your two-color budget. This does not, however, have to limit your creativity.

What follows are some tips for and examples of (when available) leveraging the most out of your printing budget. Some examples have been drawn from other transit systems while still others come from available books on the subject.

If after reading this, you have ideas you would like to share with other transit professionals, simply contact us.

Working With Color
The amount of color you choose to use in a print job will have a big determinant on the final cost and its final look. By printing and experimenting with inks, you can achieve innumerable effects, but basic print jobs generally fall into one of the following three categories:

* Four-Color Process - The four colors referred to here are cyan, magent, yellow, and black. Sometimes you will hear them referred to as 'CMYK" where "K" is black. When printing full color photographs, you must use the CMYK process since the various combinations of these colors produce all other visible printed colors.

Because this process requires four passes through a printer, the cost jumps accordingly. Furthermore, color correction is often necessary to achieve the color depth desire in the final printed piece.

* Spot Color - Spot color is perhaps the most widely used printing method. Spot color allows you to use a specific ink in combination with others or by itself. The omnipresent Pantone Guide is the printer's standard reference guide for use of spot colors. After choosing color swatches from the Pantone Guide, you are left with the task of laying out your document with these colors in mind.

Spot colors are often used in combination with at least one other color (sometimes black). This is where the terms "two-color" or "three-color" generated. But don't think that you are limited to only two or three colors. There are approximately 600 Pantone colors, but each time you use one, your job requires another run across the press. Instead, choose one or two colors that you like and work with tints of those colors. Most desktop publishing programs like Adobe Pagemaker or Quark Xpress allow you to reduce the amount of a particular ink on the same page. Therefore, if you use four different tints of "red," you can actually achieve four colors with only one pass on the printing press.

* Grayscale - Most people avoid the use of only black in their print jobs because they fear it might appear amateurish. Well, don't. Black can be broken down into approximately 256 distinguishable shades of grey. These 256 colors can help you achieve dramatic effects with only one pass through the press, and because most print houses always keep black ink on at least one press, you may be able to save significant money.

If you're still not convinced that grayscale imaging and printing can have a large impact, consider ads in most major newspapers. Also, consider the artistic achievements in black and white photography.

It should be added here that you never truly print with only one color. Yes, it's true that there may only be one color on the press, but the color of the paper (even white) provides an additional way to manipulate your layout.

Paper
Texture. Color. Weight. Opacity. These are just a few of the characteristics available in paper that can impact your final design and production cost. As noted in the earlier section, paper can help you achieve an additional color without additional work on the part of your printer.

In most cases, basic white is the preferred paper color. This is simply a matter of predictability. The colors you choose will almost always print correctly on white paper. However, if you print on colored paper, the ink you have chosen will sometimes change. This can, of course, result in something wonderfully unexpected or it can ruin your entire concept.

The key to selecting paper is to research cheaper alternatives to some of the most expensive papers. Textured, marbled, or linen finishes on paper increase their cost almost always. If you are determined to use these finishes, ask your printer if he or she has some surplus paper similar in style from another print job. Printers will often supply this paper at a reduced cost.

Also consider durability and weight. If the publication on which you are working is intended to have a long shelf-life, make sure you choose a durable material. (Glossy paper often holds up against time.) However, if your piece is going to be produced in vast quantities for blind distribution, consider a cheaper paper, knowing that many, if not most, of your printed piece will wind up in the waste basket.

These are just a few tips for you to consider. We will add additional hints as time goes by. Until then, we hope that this has helped you at least understand the importance of ink and paper selection with regards to your budget.