Estimates explained
It isn’t easy sometimes trying to work out the printing terms used, unless you are used to them like we are. We understand that some terms are not as easily recognisable as they could be so we have come up with this helpful guide to try and work out these terms for you.
SIZE: mostly self explanatory but this refers to the finished size of your product which some people do not pick up on. This means that for instance when an A4 sheet is folded we will put A5 here as this is the size that it will become.
EXTENT: This refers to how many pages there are to your print. Pages are the sides of a sheet of paper or leaf as commonly referred to. As previously mentioned a sheet of A4 folded in half creates a 4 page which sometimes will be described as 4pp, the pp standing for printed pages.
COLOURS: This is how many printed colours we use. This is most commonly either black and white which is referred to as 1 colour, or full colour which is referred to as 4 colours. These are the four primary colours used for printing known as CMYK, C is CYAN, M is MAGENTA, Y is YELLOW and just to confuse you K is BLACK. These four colours are printed as various tints or solids to create a larger spectrum of colours. There are also specials that are used in Lithographic print which are called Pantone colours. These are pre mixed colours to ensure the exact printed colour is as expected. The use of pantone colours are widely used across a lot of processes so work well to create a finished article that meets the expected colour.
ORIGINATION: How you are supplying the files to us or if you require us to create the artwork for you. Although you may supply content we will still need to put the artwork together so we would normally charge for this service as an artwork charge. If you have a design already this may be print ready which means that it is in CMYK colour and has the trim markings and bleed on the artwork, trim markings are little lines that sit in the corners of the artwork as guides when we come to trim the sheets to leave your finished item.
PROOFS: We often supply a proof if we are doing artwork for you, this is usually emailed to you for approval. We would also perform this if we conducted amends to your artwork. If you are supplying print ready artwork we wouldn’t normally send you a proof by email unless requested. Other forms of proofing are to have a printed proof which can be either a dry proof which is a digital printed proof for looking over but will not completely match the final product or a wet proof which is using the actual printing process that has been quoted for. These proof methods will be charged for and vary in cost depending on the scale of setup. If printing digitally this cost may be very small or non-existent.
MATERIALS: We would let you know the paper or substrate that we were going to use here, often giving the grammage or weight of the product. This will be shown as GSM which is Grams per Square Metre. The weight of a product can give an indication of the thickness of the sheet but can vary by the finish of the sheet. If the sheet is coated which is often referred to as Silk (Sheen) or Gloss (Shine) the chalk that is used to coat the paper is heavy so is actually thinner than an uncoated sheet of the same grammage. There is also a product which has a light coating on one side only known as monocoated, this is used as a board for packing and greetings cards due to the light coating it is much thicker. We have a rough scale to help with the grammages of sheets which can often help choose a particular weight.
100gsm Uncoated / 130gsm Coated = Lightweight paper
120gsm Uncoated / 150gsm Coated = Mediumweight paper
160gsm Uncoated / 170gsm Coated = Heavyweight paper
200gsm Uncoated / 200gsm Coated = Lightweight card
250gsm Uncoated / 250gsm Coated = Mediumweight card
300gsm Uncoated / 300gsm Coated = Heavyweight card
350gsm Uncoated / 350gsm Coated / 300gsm monocoated = Lightweight board
400gsm Uncoated / 400gsm Coated / 330gsm monocoated= Mediumweight board
450gsm Uncoated / 450gsm Coated / 360gsm monocoated = Heavyweight board
These terms are what we refer to in our quote request form to make it easier to select a paper you are looking for.
FINISHING: This will list the various finishing methods we have available here which are many too mention but typically will show Trim as this is used in most of our prints and carton pack in suitable quantities.
DELIVERY: If you need your finished items delivered or you will collect.
QUANTITY: Here you will find the amount you would like plus maybe some varying quantities to give you an idea of better cost efficiency. Next to each quantity will be the price in bold inclusive of VAT and then the net price (excluding VAT) for each as a single and as a total amount.
Hopefully this information has been of help and not completely blown your mind!!
