1. If piece will be mailed, check with post office or mail house to make sure item will fit within their requirements of size and weight.

2. Provide a dummy to printer on any complicated projects so you can discuss any issues ahead of time.

3. Avoid reversing any screens, small type, type with very thin serifs or graphics with thin lines out of solids, especially on uncoated stock or stock with heavy texture.

4. If you plan to print small type, lines or graphic elements in color, use a Pantone color. Registering these precise elements with four color process on press can be very difficult.

5. Because folding and trimming are not precise procedures, try to avoid elements that cross over the gutter. Plan on a variation as great as 1/16” between cross over pages.

6. Plan for additional drying time for PMS colors with high percentage of reflex blue ink, especially on uncoated stock.

7. To reduce fingerprints and scuffing on coated stock, protect the printed surface with varnish, or, better yet aqueous coating.

8. Be cautious of printing solids across folds to avoid cracking. Using stock coated on only one side further reduces cracking along the folds. Request a letterpress quality score across solids.

9. When producing a book or piece with many folds, don’t forget to adjust for creep, as the inside pages are pushed out and have more narrow margins than the outside pages after folding and cutting.

10. Including us during the planning portion of any project will help insure successful results.