Chapter 1
Chapter 1 goes through the meaning of prepress and preflight and processes to go through to accomplish a certain job. It then goes into detail about the Raster Image Processor (RIP). RIP interprets PDF or Post-Script documents or files and converts the data of them to a bitmap image that tells the marketing engine of the output device of how to image the film, plates, or in case of toner-based printers, the electrostatic drum. The finishing touches on the project is one of the most important aspects to each assignment. The chapter then goes into detail about the proofing and corrections process before going on to creating plates, which goes to the pressroom. The finishing process includes either trimming, folding, stitching, die cutting, binding, or gluing. Trimming is used to cut the printed sheets of paper so the size of the product can be finalized or cut apart content if they are to become business cards, according to the Print Production Book. Folding may have to happen if the paper needs it. It can be done inline or in a bindery. If it requires more folders than that like for instance, if it has pockets like in a folder than it will require handwork to complete the job. The only bad aspect about handwork is that it will cost you more money. The folding dummy is a blank sheet of paper that is folded in a process so it can be used in the finishing job. The pages are numbered and the folding dummy could be made by a planning department by certain operators that check the folding dummy for any errors just to make sure everything is correctly folded. Imagesetter is a device for scanning film.
According to the Print Production Book, "A RIP converts incoming PostScript or PDF information to very high-resolution bitmaps that guide the imagesetter's marking engine to expose the film with a laser or light-emitting diodes." The last part of the whole process is the shipping and the fulfillment. Pica is a unique measurement for Adobe software to design projects with. There are six pica's in an inch and a pica is equal to 12 points. Point is another type of measurement as well. There are 72 points in an inch. There are some designers that specify almost everything in points and pica's. They only used points when it's being referred to text size and rule thickness.
Chapter 2
In chapter 2 it mainly talks about ink and all the different colors like cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK), and talks about black and white plus spot colors as well. When printing in black and white the white is the paper and the black is the ink. When someone speaks of a two-color job, it means that it requires two colors for printing. The chapter then goes on talking about printing a four color job, which would be like CMYK. Prints that use a single color of ink is printed in tiny dots, which is known as halftone dots. It gives the color gray more of an edge when it's printed. When an image is printed with these tiny dots it's called a halftone. Screen ruling is expressed in lpi, which is lines per inch because it measures the halftone-dot sequence. These dots usually don't show up until the job is processed through the RIP. DPI is dots per inch, which is used to describe the resolution of an imaging device, which an example would be like a desktop printer, or an imagesetter that's talked about in chapter 1. PPI is pixels per inch and it also describes a screens resolution, and its usually set at 250 to 300 pixels per inch. It is common to save images at 300 ppi. The chapter then talks about the aspects of color printing and screen angle combinations.
CMYK is what is talked about even more in depth next, which is said before that it is cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink. Even though it has so many colors, it still has a limit of what it can do. Images that can be seen on the monitor of a computer look much different when printed because what the human eye sees is actually lighter then what is actually being displayed. Spot colors are then explained in the chapter and they're used when it's necessary to print colors outside the range of CMYK inks. An example of the colors that fall out of this range would be like bright orange and navy blue, which is why spot colors comes as some importance. The Pantone Matching System actually goes with spot colors in InDesign or wherever else you may see them. They say its a recipe book for printers and ink-mixing formulas according to the book. The book then goes and talks about press issues and registration. Registration is accurate alignments of printer inks using the four process colors because its so crucial if something would happen to go wrong. Basically the reason why registration is so important because it makes sure when you print your file or project, it won't be all over the place because the registration keeps everything in line. Later on the book talks about digital printing and VDP. VDP is variable data publishing. An example would be like if I said Dear, Mr. Smith for a letter because this would describe variable data publishing software. This kind of letter designing requires extra careful planning to make sure nothing wrong happens. Some customers find the extra expense to use Direct Mail worth it just so nothing happens to the letter you have wrote ends up missing or torn. The rest of the chapter describes the digital printing issues.
Chapter 3
Chapter 3 discusses mainly about the different kinds of binding and what steps to go through for the finishing touches for the project. Die cutting is the process of cutting or making a printed piece into a custom shape. Examples of this would be like packaging and pocket folders because it requires both die cutting and scoring. Scoring makes sure the folders are correctly folded using the die cutting to make the shape necessary for the printed piece. The die is made of sharp steel that cuts the edges to make sure you get the custom shape you need. Computers are now used to help with the die cutting process as well. The computers make sure the die cutting process is successful. Most the die-cutting devices are platen-based, which means that the die is a flat surface. Not all printing companies you know of perform their own die cutting just a quick note. You also sometimes need to create your own bleed areas if you plan on creating artwork because you don't want any of your art to be cut off or anything. Like told you in chapter 1 that the finishing process includes either trimming, folding, stitching, die cutting, binding, or gluing. In chapter 3 it describes all different ways you can bind your final projects. Examples are like saddle stitching, case binding, comb binding, coil binding, and others as well. Talking about the die cutting earlier also plays a role in the finishing process of your project because without it, you could have either your project not cut into the right kind of shape or you could have a piece of your artwork chopped off because you didn't give any bleed room. Toward the end of the chapter the last part of the finishing process is embossing, which adds dimensions to your paper or foil stamping, which uses heated, raised metal die to transfer fancy foil from a roll of material onto an underlying paper. I researched all this information from the Print Production Book by Claudia McCue.
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