Myself and two course mates have been down to a printers to talk about a job that we are having printed. We talked to the printer and mac art-worker, and they talked us through how we were able to submit the finished work and went through what they would do with once they had it all. We were told that a dummy copy would be printed digitally and the full run of 800 would be printed using lithography.
We were also given a tour around the print workshops, and were able to see how the printers and folding machines work. It was really interesting and it helps you to think about the final outcome of a job when working on the initial design aspects. The size of some of the machines is quite scary, they're really huge and the prints that come out of them are massive. It is quite unexpected to see some of the processes on such a scale, especially a guillotine that could easily cut off your arm. That being said, I really enjoyed being able to see how things work, and to learn that not all the processes for one job are carried out at one printers. Our job was being printed here and then sent off to be bound and finished at a third company. I now understand the processes that need to be involved in a job to make sure that it runs much more smoothly and so that it can be completed efficiently. I am sure that this knowledge will benefit me in the future when I am given the responsibility of managing a print job and making sure that its properly organised and submitted in the correct format.
