It really is that time of year when our clients are focusing on their 2017 calendar printing. None more so than the photographers we work with, who are looking to sell their calendars, or give them to friends and family as gifts this festive period.
Working with hundreds of photographers from all aspects of the photography arena, we have come to learn a few things about printing for this market. It’s with this knowledge and confidence that we can assure you of the following:
- You may be fussy, but our attention to detail is second to none.
- Our colour replication is superb
- If we set a deadline, we’ll not let you down
- If you set a deadline, we’ll do our best to accommodate. No matter how quick.
When printing for photographers, especially those who new to printing, it’s alway best practice to explain a few things prior to starting a print project. By doing so we can counteract any potential issues before they ever arise.
RGB
When shooting your photos, images are saved in an rgb colour schema. However when printing, we use the similar but different cmyk colour scheme. On screen, the difference between the two is marginal. However in print your images may appear significantly darker.
What is the difference between CMYK & RGB?
As printers we use a combination of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black to make up the full spectrum of colours you can see on a page. Think back to school when you mixed yellow and blue paints to get green. This is exactly the process we use within print. Many years ago, this would have been on huge litho presses with sheets printed using multiple plates (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black), but with the advent of digital printing, the printers we use do this during a single passing of a sheet of paper.
RGB differs from CMYK as instead of the final result being presented on paper, RGB has arisen with the introduction and growth of computer screens. Since then these screens have become smart phones and of course digital cameras. Screens and cameras using RGB have a significantly larger colour gamut than can be achieved in CMYK. It has been noted elsewhere that there are over a million extra colours available in RGB than CMYK and as a result this is why your images will seem darker in print than on screen. To rectify this we suggest you convert all your images to CMYK before starting your project and lighten them to suit your print project.
CMYK RGB Additive vs Subtractive Image
Resolution
What are high resolution and low resolution digital images?
Resolution is measured in dpi (dots per inch) which is alternatively known as ppi (pixels per inch). High resolution images are images with resolution 300 dpi and greater. Low resolution is anything less than 300dpi, but most commonly this would be presented as 72dpi images “taken from the internet”.
High Res vs Low Res Graphic
Working with photographers we usually have the reverse problem in that we’re supplied with Ultra HD images 500dpi and greater. While we do have the option of printing up to 600dpi, there is no discernible difference in quality for the majority of prints using Ultra HD images. Keeping your files to 300dpi at 100% scale will give the best results.
Margins
We require 10mm from the top of your artwork for the calendar wire. Please ensure you have no critical elements or text at least 13mm from the top of the artwork. We also do require you to keep critical elements inside 3mm from the left, right and bottom. Aesthetically this ensures your calendar looks great when finished by our production team.
