Why Prepress, Press and Postpress Matter for Graphic Designers?

A lot of thought and effort goes into the printing process, and each step plays an essential role. From the initial design to the preflighting and the careful execution of the actual printing, every detail matters. The fast-paced digital printing landscape has made businesses rely on cost-effective methods to produce high-quality materials. But what sets apart a successful print job from a mediocre one? The answer lies in the expertise of the prepress, press, and postpress stages of printing process.

A prepress graphic designer would consider these stages of print production a secret that transforms a mere design into a visually appealing masterpiece. Keep reading the blog post to learn the importance of prepress, press, and postpress for graphic designers. With this knowledge, you'll be equipped to make informed decisions that bring your print projects to life with excellence.

3 Essential Stages in Printing Process

Curious about how the printing process works? We're here to highlight the three main stages: prepress, press, and postpress. In this section, we'll break down each step, providing you with a clear understanding of how your designs come to life on paper.

What is Prepress? A Process of Perfecting Prints

Ever wondered what happens behind the scenes before your design comes to life on paper? That's where prepress comes in! Prepress refers to the crucial processes that occur before printing and finishing. As more publications are published in both print and electronic media, these shared processes are often referred to as premedia solutions.

Prepress processes can take place in a single location, such as a large publishing or printing house, or at different locations. Typically, the publisher handles some tasks, while others are entrusted to a dedicated prepress expert, also known as prepress service providers or companies.

Here are the key components of prepress in simpler terms:

• Design: The design process involves preparing your data, including copyediting and product photography. Layout creation is done using widely-used design applications like Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress, and specialized applications are available for tasks like database publishing. The design phase also includes essential processes like proofreading and image retouching, where tools like Adobe Photoshop shine.
• Pre-flighting: Before your design moves forward, a validation step ensures that all the data meet the critical production requirements. This helps catch any issues early on and ensures a smooth printing process.
• Prepress Proofing: During the design phase, prepress proofs represent the final printed work. They are checked internally for proper positioning and also shared with customers for approval.
• Imposition: The number of pages is organized into signatures, determining the final output device's configuration. This step ensures that the pages are arranged correctly for printing.
• Output and Processing: To prepare the data for printing, the pages or complete flats go through processes like ripping or rendering. This includes tasks such as transparency flattening to fix effects like drop shadows, screening, trapping, managing colors, and color partitioning.

By understanding the power of prepress solutions, you gain insight into the essential steps that ensure a successful printing process.

What is a Press? One That Brings Design to Life

After the thorough prepress stage, the next phase in the printing journey is the Press. This stage is where accuracy becomes paramount, ensuring both high-quality output and timely delivery. Projects only proceed to the press once they have successfully passed the pre-press and plate making stages, eliminating the need for costly reprints.

The Press encompasses a variety of printing processes, each chosen based on the tailored requirements of the job at hand. Machine printers often specialize in a particular printing process, with modern machines being controlled by computers. A machine printer's responsibilities are diverse and vital to the printing process:

• Paper Preparation: Ensuring that the paper or card runs smoothly through the machine is crucial for a seamless printing process.
• Plate Positioning: The printing plates must be placed precisely in the press. Trial prints are taken to verify that everything is correctly aligned and positioned.
• Ink Loading and Color Reproduction: Loading the machine with inks and carefully managing color reproduction are crucial for achieving accurate and vibrant printed results.
• Quality Checks: Maintaining rigorous quality checks throughout the press operation helps catch any issues or inconsistencies in typesetting or color, ensuring a flawless end product.
• Troubleshooting and Maintenance: Vigilance is necessary to identify and address potential problems such as paper jams promptly. Routine maintenance and press cleaning are performed to maintain optimal functionality.

What is Postpress? A Stage Shaping Final Touch of Print

Once the ink has dried and the printing is complete, a crucial stage called PostPress takes center stage. PostPress plays a vital role in determining the printed product's ultimate appearance, shape, and texture.

PostPress encompasses various sub-processes that are tailored to the specific project and job at hand. Here are some of the fundamental post-press operations commonly used in the printing industry:

Cutting: This is one of the most frequently performed post-press operations in almost all projects. Special machines, known as "guillotine cutters" or "paper cutters," are utilized for this purpose. These machines are designed to cut large web-based substrates into different sheets or pages. They come in various sizes, with unique features, abilities, capacities, and configurations tailored for specific purposes.

Folding: Folding is a key activity often carried out in printing workshops for pamphlets, magazines, and product boxes. Three primary types of folders are used in print shops: bone folders, knife folders, and buckle folders.

Bone folders, made of bone or plastic, are the oldest among their counterparts and are now primarily used for high-quality jobs. Knife folders use a knife to guide the paper into the roller for folding, while buckle folders create a fold by passing the sheet between two rotating rollers.

Assembling: The assembly process involves three main steps: gathering, collating, and inserting. Gathering entails arranging bunches of sheets, commonly used when assembling books with page thicknesses ranging from 3 to 8 inches.

Collating involves gathering individual sheets of paper instead of bunches. The final step, inserting, combines signatures or sets of papers by inserting one into another. Inserting is suitable for papers with signature pieces having a final thickness less than one-half inch.

Binding: Binding is where the printed materials or pages are brought together as a unified whole. Three common binding techniques are adhesive binding, side binding, and saddle binding. Each technique requires specific types of covers, including self-covers, soft covers, and case-bound covers, to complete the binding process.

PostPress is where the magic happens, refining the printed product and adding that final touch of perfection. Let's appreciate the artistry of PostPress and the meticulous craftsmanship that brings printed works to life in their full glory.

Experience The Power of Digital Printing Now!

Digital print press operators hold the key to efficiently creating materials that are tailored to meet client requirements. To master the intricacies of this craft, joining a professional prepress graphic designer for advanced training is highly recommended.

With their commitment to offering the highest quality prints, digital prepress services providers possess the expertise and experience necessary to ensure that your project is executed flawlessly from pre-press production to post-press finishing.