Get your mag fit to print

Before you finish your schoolmag, book your printer well in advance, advises Louise Holden

NOT EVERY printing company wants your business. I know that’s hard to fathom, but that is the experience of many a SchoolMag student. Even third level students can get a lukewarm response when they walk into a printing company with a tight budget and small print run.

The reason for this is that newcomer publications sometimes cause headaches for the printing company that they would rather do without – especially if you’re only printing a few copies.

The best way to counteract this is to talk to a few printers as early as possible in the process. Bring as much information as you can. What is your budget? How many copies will you require? Will they be in colour? What thickness/

quality of paper will you need? If they don’t seem interested in your business then go elsewhere. You won’t get the best service from a half-hearted printer.

Stay in touch with the printer as the process goes on – check what formats they will need you to deliver your copy in, for example. When you have a page format, it might be worth sending a sample to the printer to make certain it will print to your specifications. Get familiar with terms such as bleeds, crops and backgrounds now so that they will inform your design from the beginning.

If you have tested your design and found any problems you will then be able to move forward in the design process with these professional considerations in mind. It may mean simplifying your production ambitions but a quality, on-budget product is what you’re aiming for.

Try and leave a bit of time between the day you transfer your files to the printer and the deadline for the competition. There is often a bit of to-ing and fro-ing between you and your printer before you get the final article. It can happen, for example, that the printing company doesn’t have a license for fonts you have used, and you may need to change them at the last minute. Sometimes your forensically subbed work can become corrupted by a hurried member of staff at the printing company who needs to retype something. Go through all the copy again just before all your copies are printed.

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