Creative Designs

Proofing is a standard procedure before press printing. The output, a proof either in soft or hard copy, presents an image of your design as it would appear on print. This is done to allow you to preview your postcard design before it is mass produced.

Difference between soft and hard copy proofs

Some postcard printing companies send soft proofs electronically without requiring the recipient to pay. This is the advantage of soft copy proofs over printed ones. However, the former are somewhat limited to layout evaluation and are not as reliable in terms of color quality evaluation, at least not as much as hard copy proofs.

Soft proofs are presented in the red, green and blue (RGB) color space since computer screens use this format. Printers, on the other hand, have the cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK) color format so you will get a more accurate visual with printed proofs.

There are image-editing programs that convert images spaces so you increase the accuracy of your soft proofs with a better monitor-printer color match. But if color precision is of the essence, it would be best to get hold of a hard copy, albeit you will be charged for it.

Aside from the quality of print, there are certain factors that you need to evaluate such as trimming.

Lines to follow in proofs

Once you get your proof, you will see three parallel lines on each side of your postcard design.

The middle lines are called trim lines or crop marks. The crop mark is the line followed when cutting your postcard to your desired size, say 4.25" x 6".

The area between the crop mark and the outermost line is the bleed. This is the printed area that extends beyond the crop mark. If ever the cutter slightly misses the crop mark, the minor space beyond the crop mark that has been accidentally not removed would still have prints on it, instead of showing undesirable thin white lines.

A 0.25" bleed on all sides is required but some companies allow 0.125". So your printed postcard should have a final measurement of 4.5" x 6.25" (plus 0.125" on all sides). However, if you want white borders on your postcards, do not include bleeds.

The area between the crop mark and the inner line is the live area or sometimes called the safe zone. No detail or information should go beyond the line for the live area. These are also at risk of getting trimmed off in case the cutter misses and moves slightly towards the inner area of the actual postcard size. The distance between these two parallel lines is 0.137".

To ensure the quality of your final products, you have to follow these guidelines. Your postcard printer may have allowances or may require slightly bigger measurements. Check their specific formats before you submit. Although errors would be spotted during prepress evaluation, you do want to avoid getting the proofs returned to you several times due to these errors. It can be time-consuming. Polish your post card design as much as you could before sending it to the printer.

Please visit our website Online Postcard Designs for further information. For other inquiries and services please visit Postcard Printing Online

posted by lks  # 12:59 PM 0 comments

I've noticed over the years that when I start a new web design project I've developed my own process. I imagine that most designers will say the same thing. Sure we might all follow certain principals, but I've discovered that I usually think about three things:

1. The initial concept/creative idea

2. Usability

3. Secondary design such as colors, images, etc.

I'll open up a new Photoshop document (usually at 1024 px size or greater since the majority of internet surfers are at that resolution or higher) and basically just start placing elements on the page (logos, images, menu items, etc.). This is what I like to call the "collage" phase. Often times I revert to this if that initial concept hasn't come to me yet, but even if I have a concept in mind, I like to try different placement of elements to see what works best. I often compare it to interior design of a room - you move the furniture around to see what the best placement and "flow" is.

As I'm creating and moving elements around the page, I'm thinking about two other things: how will this translate to an actual webpage (for example, can I make it 100% css, how will I "cut up" the page, etc.) and how useable the site will be to visitors. By this point in a project I've either researched or learned more details from the client about their specific target audience. This is important information to know when building a site because a site targeted to children will be completely different than a site targeted to adults, and so on.

If a client doesn't have a specific color scheme in mind, I may try several different ones to see what works best. With color and imagery (photos) I review the target audience details one more time as this plays a major role in how the design will appeal to the majority of visitors to the site.

Of course after the initial design is shown to the client there are often rounds of changes and revisions to get that "perfect" look. Here is where I combine my experience with the wishes of the client. A good designer will know how to, what I call, "tread the line", and be able to explain professionally to a client why one of their ideas might not work or how to incorporate something the client wants and make it work in a design. No one likes to be told they have a horrible idea, but I generally like to steer well clear of things like blinking animated gifs, white text or a black background, and other general no-no's.

This is a really simplified explanation on the thought process involved when first started to design a new website. Every project worked on is unique and the more you design, the more experience you gain on how to handle different projects and clients. In time, you will develop your own process that works, but don't forget to incorporate the basics (design principals) and consider the usability of your finished design.

Sherry Holub received her degree in design from UCLA in 1995. She is now the Lead Designer and Creative Director at Southern California firm, JV Media Design. Sherry is also a member of the NAPP, AIGA, the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA), and Cambridge Who's Who.

posted by lks  # 1:20 AM 0 comments