Printing Advice Needed - A5 Flyer - paper and printers

G

gutterblues

New Member
Hey Folks,

This is my first thread and so Hello to All... this seems like a really great community to be part of - can't believe its taken me so long to find...

So, I have my first bit of freelance work creating a flyer and business card for a Hair Stylist. I'm very new to the world of printing for this kind of work (i originally started studying as a photographer so have a foundation of some printing processes etc).

The client wants a double sided A5 flyer that can be folded into an oyster / bus pass holder (3 half folds that gives 8 equal sections).

I've looked into the whole Z-card thing - and its not really what were after - personally they remind me of the 90's tourist information maps and also it would be extra unwanted cost.

So what i'm looking at is using (uncoated?) black paper stock for the design to be printed onto. The background colour is an off black 90k which due to the high amount of surface area would be better to have as the paper, then the secondary colour for most of the illustration is orange C - 0, M - 35, Y - 85, K - 0 and the text is white.

I need a paper thats thick enough to hold the colours without revealing through from the otherside but also thin enough to be folded and without the folds 'cracking'. I'm thinking a sort of rough/textured paper (a bit like the sugar paper is used to get at primary school).

Would i be best finding the paper myself and supplying to the printers - are there any decent (but not crazy expensive) printing services that could offer this paper along with the printing.

Am i right in thinking that as i'm after white ink for the text - it would need to be digital/litho/screen printed rather than offset.

From researching into the possibilities i'm feeling a little at sea by the amount of options and what would be the best direction to go in.
Any help / suggestions with this would be much appreciated.

Also - i was wondering who might be best to print (a) the flyers and (b) the business cards - Be handy if both can be printed by the same printers. For the business cards we're looking into letterpress / hot or stamp foil / spot uv / custom shape.... onto perhaps triple layer black card (with middle layer being the orange thats used in the flyer)
Is there a UK equivalent to RockDesign?


Sorry to throw so many questions out there and apologies if i'm getting things mixed up and using 'newbie terminology', i'm quite happy to research into these things but its also reassuring to have some advice and pointers from people that are in the know and have been doing this longer than myself.

So, Hello to you all again (now that im here i might start popping up a bit) and thanks in advance for any comments / suggestions.
 
Hi - welcome to the GDF.

First - you don't print onto black paper. Well, hardly ever.

Second - quantity is a big factor in deciding which process to use. Digital/litho. How many are you wanting to print?

My advice for getting something different printed (ie not full colour on 150gsm silk or gloss) is to find a decent local printer who you can physically visit. Tell them the kind of thing you are after and see if they can help. From what you have said so far you ideally need to find a smallish printer with a 2 colour (spot colour) press so that the orange is bright who has access to a good folding machine. A good printer will advise you... for example you won't be able to cross fold that small without a specialist folding machine or crease and hand fold.

They will aslo be able to advise on the specialist finishing you are after for the business cards (spot uv)

Hope this is of some help.
 
Hi Kate,

Many Thanks for getting back to me.

There will only be 500 A5 flyers needed
And as you say it would be ideal to find somewhere local i can pop into, trust and get to know.

On which note - Can anyone recommend a good printers around East/Central London?

I've also had a look into Riso and whether that could be a possibility which would of course mean printing the black /orange parts and offsetting the white.
I can't seem to find much info as to how much detail can be printed but i've seen a few examples that have fine lines.
I'm aware of the potential imperfections (registration?) and i would be fine with getting the work's layer's ready for print etc. I do have some bits close to the edge but i could do a white border?


I've included a screen shot - Anyone that's knows about/used Riso know of this image would be possible?

I'm going to have a ring around a few Riso printers and see what they say but if anyone here as their 10 cents to chip in with- that would be grand!


Once again Many Thanks


Screen Shot 2013-05-10 at 15.30.40.jpg
 
What I've seen of Riso is that it wouldn't be good enough - solids are rarely solid. I presume that cost is your main concern here?

For a run of 500 A5s you should look at digital.

You could get digital creased which would help avoid any cracking... but you get cracking on litho too if the paper/board is too heavy (anything over 170gsm needs to be creased/scored) and if the grain of the paper/card is going the 'wrong' way. So when you cross-fold you could get that anyway...

I would try getting them on a digital press on a 120/150gsm and if the printer can't/won't crease then you should hand-fold - shouldn't take too long! (Seriously)

BTW 'litho' = 'offset'.
 
Hi again Kate,

Many Thanks once again - this is much helpful and greatly appreciated. Gold Stars to you!

I do quite like the finish that you can get with Riso but as you say for this job probably best that idea aside.
I'll have a look at getting it digital printed and i'll see about pre-folding.

Many Thanks!
 
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