When is a proof not a proof?

B

bud1812

New Member
Hi all,

new to the forum....and to having my own printing done so some help would be much appreciated.

Ive had some business cards printed and before going to print signed off an online proof which looked fine. Having received the cards, they are trimmed far more than the proof. So much so that the artwork is far too close to the edge of the card.

The studio says its my fault. Am i naive in thinking that the online proof i signed off should be the same as the business card received, same border and all?? The studio have offered to reprint at cost......should I have to pay more to have them reprinted?

Thanks
 
It just depends if the proof they supplied was inclusive of the bleed or with the bleed removed. In your case it seems they sent you a proof including the bleed. Now it has been trimmed off you have text too close to the edges of the card. There is error on both parts really, them not making you aware what the proof was exactly, and you not understanding bleed.

Hope you get it sorted, maybe you should have used this link > http://www.graphicdesignforums.co.uk/offers-forum/7486-print-offers-gdf-members-only.html :icon_smile:
 
Hi Agree with other guys, artwork needs to have bleed and crops reg marks. If the cards are cropped wrong may be the file don't include bleed and crops.
 
It can be confusing for customers regarding bleed and general sizing of the cards, borders etc.
I always send the customer a realistic looking proof so they are in no doubt to how the final product looks, complete with metallic silver foiling etc if that is required. Check out the examples here Frosted Clear Plastic Cards - Templates - CPcards if you click on an image a realistic proof will appear showing the card.
 
We don't know for sure that he doesn't understand bleed. We regularly get cards printed at different places and occasionally this happens, possibly due to the guillotine operator cutting the wrong side of a gutter. However, it probably is to do with not supplying a proper bleed :icon_biggrin:
 
Aye, I wouldn't discount a terrible guillotine operator - I have had experience of that, but any good printer should be willing to investigate and admit if they are at fault.
 
I agree. This is a manufacturing process - so mistakes will happen.
An online proof should give a realistic expectation of what you will receive - if it doesn't then what is the point.

In the original post, bud1812 mentioned that the text in the finished version was far too close to the edge.
I guess without seeing the finished product and comparing it against the proof it is impossible to find out what went wrong.

As for who pays for the reprint -
If you are going to change the design and get it printed, then the 'at cost' offer from the printer is very reasonable.
If however, the same design is going to be reprinted - then a good printer wouldn't charge for this as they are implying that they should have been more careful.
 
"An online proof should give a realistic expectation of what you will receive - if it doesn't then what is the point."

The point is to check content. It's not going to be colour accurate for example, is it?
 
Yes, I agree - colours is the key element which is impossible to check in a proof.
However, it should still give you a pretty good idea. For example, if text is expected to be red, then it should appear blue in the proof. (The exception, of course, is when the colour is used to highlight spot UV etc elements - in which case the person sending the proof should indicate this explicitely).

What we tell customer is that they should make sure that the text and positioning (including relative positioning) is as expected. For example, if the text item appears on the left (just inside the safe area), then the final trimmed card should have this text appear on the edge of the card.

LovesPrint said:
"An online proof should give a realistic expectation of what you will receive - if it doesn't then what is the point."

The point is to check content. It's not going to be colour accurate for example, is it?
Click to expand...
 
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