A5 8pp roll folded brochures and leaflets which are not bound or stapled are a potential pit fall for any printer as there are a number of ways to fold them.
This example printed by Print Hut last week is such an example.
The eight panels of text were not a straight forward fold from the right to the left. Instead the clients wish was to fold the document in half first and then folded again to finished size. Only the keen eye of our production team picked up the issue. With print required to be turned around at increasingly quicker speeds, please can I ask all designers and marketing people to brief their printers as to exactly which folded technique will be required. There is a saying in the print game that goes something like this: it doesnt matter how quickly you think you need the delivery, there always appears to be time for a reprint when things go belly up
Anyway, printed in full colour process throughout on a B2 litho press onto 150 gsm silk paper, this item was successfully turned round in only 2 working days from receipt of artwork. Well done again to David and Neil. Budgets agreed and met with a successful outcome and delivery on schedule.

Paper is a material known to everybody. It has a network structure consisting of wood fibres that can be mimicked by cooking a portion of spaghetti and pouring it on a plate, to form a planar assembly of fibres that lie roughly horizontal. Real paper also contains other constituents added for technical purposes. Last week we looked at the effects of Opacity. Now lets have a look at the Brightness of the printed sheet. Brightness refers to the amount of light a sheet reflects through a scale of 0 to 100 percent. Crisp white sheets often exceed 90 percent. Whiteness refers to the colour of the reflected light; either yellow-white or blue-white, i.e., warm or cool. Brightness and whiteness affect readability. Too much light tires your eyes when reading long blocks of text and the crispness of photos where as too little light reflected back makes photos seem dark or muddy. So yet again another factor is consider when ordering your printing: however after all said and done there is also the fashion element to consider. For example uncoated papers that reflect very little and generally make photography look less detailed are as popular as ever and now transcend all printed media whether business, marketing or promotional printing. A move that would have been unheard of as little as 5 years ago!


Charlotte Abbott
Finance Department
Print Hut!
Plenty of Print for Everyone!
The UKs ONLY Ultra Wholesale Printing Company
01480 216 331
Call Free 0800 9545 014
http://www.printhut.co.uk/
charlotte@printhut.co.uk

Printed item of the week this week is an A5 Flyer. Printed one side only on 130 gsm gloss art paper. Produced for a local start up company specialising in the heating and plumbing sector. What I would like to demonstrate here is the power of messaging. After inviting the client on site for 30 minutes we listened to their business and uncovered the benefits to his clients of the Government Bolier Scappage Scheme and built a campaign around this element and not just WHAT THE COMPANY DOES. Images were collected from Print Hut's own photo library, whilst the logo was regenerated using original files supplied.
Lead times were approximately 5 working days and budgets met. Graphic Design all compiled and executed in house.

The more you know about the characteristics of paper, the better able you will be to save money when specifying paper for your printing jobs. In fact, if you specify the qualities you require in your paper, rather than a specific name brand, your printer may be able to offer several acceptable options.


So Print Hut are going to spend the next few weeks looking at the various characteristics you should consider to ensure you get exactly the look and feel you want from your printed items. This week its all about Opacity of paper. Opacity essentially determines show-through. Some of us love it and some find it totally unacceptable. It can be used creatively to enhance a printed item or can ruin your printed project if got wrong….

Opacity is the measure (percent) of the amount of light passing through a sheet of paper. Some papers have more fibres and/or fillers and as a result are more opaque than others. Papers containing more fibres and fillers have the ability to hold a printed image without showing through to the backside as easily as papers without as many fibres and fillers. Just because a paper is thicker does not guarantee that it is more opaque than a thinner paper. Some thinner papers may be more opaque because there are a greater number of fibres and/or fillers in their composition.
Charlotte Abbott
Finance Department
Print Hut!
Plenty of Print for Everyone!
The UKs ONLY Ultra Wholesale Printing Company
01480 216 331
Call Free 0800 9545 014
http://www.printhut.co.uk/
charlotte@printhut.co.uk

Of course Print Hut's primary role is to reduce print spend, through our unique supply chain and Wholesale print network, however we are also fortunate to have some major blue chip clients who have the budget to require Top of the Range printed products. Here is one example of just that. This is a fashion brochure endorsed by one of the Uk's largest travel companies. This brochure was produced on Muncken Polar paper which really is the paper industry's Ferrari 380. Print Hut have used this paper stock on several occasions and every time I am delighted with the finish. So for you boffins out there, here is the specification and all that stuff:

1. Fibre sourceVirgin wood fibre from Sweden and Portugal.

2. Bleaching Pulp is bleached using both Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) and Totally Chlorine Free (TCF) processes.
3. Disposal This material can be disposed of by recycling.
4. Produced at a mill that is certified to the ISO14001 environmental management standard

5. Produced at a mill that is certified to the EMAS environmental management standard (No S-000248)
6. FSC Mixed Sources product group from well managed forests and other controlled sources
7. Wide range of weights available for makings from 70 - 400gsm

Printing process Litho

Screen ruling 133 - 150
Printing inks. Conventional drying, UV and IR are preferred. High temperature resistant fully oxidising ink for litho pre-print when subsequent laser printing.
Embossing Yes
Varnishing. Board substances only: Machine or UV screen varnishing are both possible, provided it is carried out on top of emulsion sealing. For high gloss results it is necessary to matt UV varnish on top of emulsion sealer before gloss UV varnishing. Good results have been obtained by spot varnishing on solids or dense tones by either method. Any varnish applied directly to unprinted areas of the sheet may cause variations in gloss levels.

Emulsion sealingYes, board substances only
Hot foil blocking Yes
Film laminating Yes, board substances only
Creasing Pre-creasing is advisable on 150g/m² and above by using a creasing matrix
ThermographyYes
Copier guaranteed Mono and colour up to 170g/m²
Laser guaranteed Mono and colour up to 170g/m²
Permanence of paperYes, meets ISO9706 requirements for Permanence of Paper

Had new graphics put up on west side of the Micro Print Factory a few days ago so no excuse for not finding us now!
Print Hut! The Uk's Only Ultra Wholesale printing Company.
www.printhut.co.uk

The print industry is massively diverse with a broad range of print companies having an equally diverse plant list, capable of producing a mouth watering variety printed products. It is estimated that on a daily basis the Uk printing industry battles with over 3000 different product lines from around 12,000 manufacturing companies


Anyone in a print-buying capacity will invariably deal with a range of suppliers for different needs: business cards from one, brochures from another and exhibition materials from yet another. Anyone using just one manufacturer for their complete range of printing needs will not getting the best deal financially. This is where knowledge becomes the differential and this is where you can find your competitive advantage. But have you got the knowledge?

Forward thinking companies and individuals are now recognising the benefits of using a print broker for the KNOWLEDGE.

Print brokers maintain low overheads themselves and so do their suppliers. The ideal partner for any print broker is the Wholesale or Trade printing company, who wish to focus on manufacture and not sales. The brokerage then can effectively represent several Wholesale print companies with a wide-ranging plant list and can effectively represent a true dispensary to their customers. Despite popular believe brokers are not a burden to the supply chain, but a true asset only taking sales cost ONCE out of the chain and not twice.

So, the next time you require printed materials, don't spend time shopping around: get a print broker to do it for you. They know the market and who can do what. They have the relationships and buying power. If good, they will know more than you will.

Charlotte Abbott

Finance Department
Print Hut!
Plenty of Print for Everyone!
The UKs ONLY Ultra Wholesale Printing Company
01480 216 331
Call Free 0800 9545 014
http://www.printhut.co.uk/
charlotte@printhut.co.uk