Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Digital printing?
2. What is Lithographic printing ?
3. When will I receive my cards?
4. Can I get a physical proof of my cards?
5. What is the difference between RGB and CMYK?
6. What is a high-resolution image?
7. What is a Bleed?

What is Digital printing?

Digital printing is a method of printing in which the images are printed directly from the computer onto paper. Our digital cards are printed with an Indigo Digital Press which delivers offset-like results. The benefits of digital printing are faster turnaround times and the ability to print in smaller quantitites.

What is Lithographic printing?

Lithographic printing is a process which uses metal plates as a medium to transfer an image from digital artwork (jpeg, pdf, eps etc) onto paper. It requires the creation of a plate for every image that is to be printed. Litho is great for printing 100s of postcards, business cards and greeting cards at a relative low cost - The greater the quantity you need to print, the cheaper it becomes.

Why do we print Litho Monthly cards in large quantities?

When you print lithographically, each image that is to be printed requires it's own plate. Preparation of the plates is the most expensive part and this makes smaller quantity printing jobs impractical. If you require anything less than a quantity of 300 per image our Digital Daily service will meet your requirements.

Can I get a physical proof of my cards?

We are able to provide a pdf proof of your cards which will be emailed to you. These proofs will show what the front and reverse of your cards will look like and where they will be cut. We are unable to provide a physical proof due to time restrictions.

What is the difference between RGB and CMYK?

Red, Green, and Blue are "additive colours". When we combine red, green and blue light you will get white light. Additive colour, or RGB mode, is optimised for display on computer monitors.

Cyan, Magenta and Yellow are "subtractive colours". If we print cyan, magenta and yellow inks on white paper, they absorb the light shining on the page. Since our eyes receive no reflected light from the paper, we perceive black.

The printing world operates in subtractive colour, or CMYK mode. The CMYK printing method is also known as "four-colour process" or simply "process" colour. All of the colours in the printable portion of the colour spectrum can be achieved by overlapping "tints" of cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks.

What is a high-resolution image?

When designing digital images intended for lithographic printing, it is essential that all of the photographs and images in your in files are high resolution. If you have ever seen printed material that contains blurry, blocky or pixelated images, it was likely caused by using low resolution images.

D.P.I. or Dots per Inch is the measurement used within the printing and graphics design industry to determine how sharp an image is. Web graphics are normally created at 72dpi . This low resolution is great for the web because the images look excellent on a computer monitor and the file sizes are very small which helps pages load faster. However, when designing graphics for commercial printing purposes, your images should be 300dpi which will ensure that the image looks sharp and clear when printed.

What is a Bleed?

A Bleed is a term used to refer to ink that runs all the way to the edge of a trimmed page. If your design needs ink to extend to the edge of the paper ("trim area"), your ink is "bleeding" off the page, and you need to build a bleed into your document. We require a Bleed of atleast 3mm for our printing.