Budgets—Printing Methods

Tomorrow is Halloween, so we thought we would end our October blog post series on budgets with a few “spooky” images from a moody Halloween style shoot! Also, if you like these puppies, you can purchase them from our design collection!

And now… on to this week’s theme!

We have done it! We have made it to the last part of our “print trifecta”: Print Method.

This is not the first time that we have discussed this particular idea, (we did a series about it back in July) but it is well worth doing another brief overview.

The biggest take away from this post should be the understanding that different printing methods will affect the cost of your stationery. Different methods require different setup tools, machinery and prep methods. Each come with their own additional costs.

We will sum-up the methods below, and link the in-depth post regarding that print style.

Let’s get started!

Photo Credit: Katie Burnett Photography

DIGITAL PRINTING (Original post here)

this is the most common and cost-effective form of printing that we do. It is done by combining Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK) inks in various percentages by adding tiny ink droplets to media. This creates a wide digital printing spectrum.

Due to the printer’s use of CMYK inks in percentage forms, slight colour differences will be noticed between runs, different paper types, and when different printers are used. This means that the CMYK colours will never be a perfect match.

If you would like a perfect colour match for a specific portion of the page, this is possible using Pantone colours. Pantone colours are pre-mixed, single colours that are much like paint. They are added to the printer during the printing process. Each colour used significantly increases the printing costs of your product. So, these colours should be used sparingly, and never for items like pictures.

FOILING AND LETTERPRESS (Original post here)

Foiling:

This method requires the creation of a stamp-like object that we call a foiling “plate”. This plate generally has a base price of $250 to create, and the cost per stamp is determined by size and detail.

This plate is then heated and used to “stamp” a foiling film onto the paper stock. Both foiling and letterpress are viewed as the most expensive printing method due to its labour-intensive setup. Clients who are looking to get foiling done should budget a minimum of $350 for a single placement of their foiling plate, with setup costs for each additional time the plate is re-placed on the press.

Letterpress:

is very similar to foiling in its need for the creation of a letterpress plate.

However, instead of heat pressing a foil film onto the paper, thin quantities of ink are rolled onto the plate before it is pressed onto the paper. (Or if you want to deboss the paper, no ink can also be an option, but it is not great for text which needs to be legible.)

Due to the natural indent that letterpress provides, you have to choose thicker cardstocks for these jobs. Thicker papers generally come with a higher per-page cost, which increases their production costs.

Photo Credit: Katie Burnett Photography

OTHER PRINTING METHODS (Original post here)

UV ink:

This printing method is required for printing done on non-paper media like acrylic and glass. Due to the fact that many non-paper media do not have an “absorption rate”, inks tend to dry differently on these substrates. If the incorrect inks are used on these substrates, smearing will occur.

UV printing sets a specific ink using an ultraviolet light, much like the UV light used to set gel nail sets.

White ink:

Ink, in general, is a coloured, yet transparent liquid. Much like food colouring. Laser printers use a powder-based ink that uses heat to set the colour instead of letting it drip down as an inkjet does. Because our base papers tend to be white, we are able to print around areas of text, creating the illusion of “white text”. At Wedding Design by Anika, we refer to this process as “reverse digital printing”.

However, for printing on dark backgrounds, paper (both pre-printed or a dark base colour like black), or clear substrates, the transparent properties of the ink will make any printing either less visible or completely invisible. To ensure that text or design items are visible, a thick, whiteout-like ink is then required to act as a blocker/base to either create that white text look or allow the text on your clear acrylic to stand out.