How often were you disappointed by your printer?
Problem with quality? Let’s be honest we all do mistakes. Cut off texts, not centered graphics, low resolution etc. It happened to all of us at least once.
That is why here at Gemprint we focus on quality control even before the printing process starts. We know how frustrating can be missing the deadline only because your job has to be reprinted.
16 point quality checklist
- Size: We want to make sure that your artwork fits the size you selected for your printed product.
- Orientation: We will make sure that both sides of your job face the same direction, and are not upside-down or backward.
- Resolution: In order to ensure the best quality, your image should be at least 300 DPI (dots per inch). We notify you every time when the resolution is the issue.
- Text and image safety: To avoid cut off texts or images make sure they are within the safety lines. We do recommend safety zone 1/4 inch smaller than your finish size.
- Bleeds: We ensure that you placed your artwork up to the bleed line and cut line to ensure proper cutting. We do recommend 1/8-inch thick (0.125) bleed on each side of your artwork.
- Borders: We inspect the borders on your file. Our recommendation is to avoid borders, however, if you plan to put a border make sure it is at least 1/4-inch thick (0.25), plus 1/8-inch (0.125) bleed for a total size of 3/8-inch thick (0.375).
- Color options: Gemprint offers CMYK colors – 4/4 (color front, color back), and 4/0 (color front and blank black). We inspect your printed piece and make sure it’s printing with the correct color space.
- Double crop marks: You do not need to use crop marks when printing with Gemprint; however, if you do our prepress experts make sure you centered your artwork and crop marks do not show up on your final image.
- Key lines (also known as holding lines): The key to key lines is you shouldn’t see them. We check to ensure that there are no key lines showing in your printed piece.
- Watermarks: We inspect your artwork for watermarks, which are a translucent logo in the paper.
- Illegal images: It’s OK for design to push the envelope, but it shouldn’t break the law. Gemprint is unable to print sexually or violently explicit materials. We do not touch fake money.
- Perforation/score/die lines safety: We check for proper perforation and score and die lines placement.
- Hole drill: For products such as booklets, door hangers, etc., we check for proper hole placement.
- Image centered: We don’t want our customers to suffer from an image problem. We check that your image is centered properly so your printed piece looks just the way you want it.
- Rich Black: When you want a bigger area of solid black within a document, 100% Black (K) will not result in a solid, saturated black. To ensure saturated black you should use Rich Black. To create rich black we recommend to use CMYK values 30% Cyan (C), 30% Magenta (M), 30% Yellow (Y), and 100% Black (K).
- 400% ink coverage: We are unable to print 400% ink coverage, which is 100% Cyan, 100% Magenta, 100% Yellow and 100% Black. We convert 400% Black to Rich Black.
Don’t forget to check our FAQ pages for more information.