#copy center

The things people used to give me when I worked in copy center 😂😂😂

اللوكيشن: https://bit.ly/ansaralex

By Lolia S.

Self-serve = do it yourself Asking nicely = I'll help as politely as possible Telling/demanding me to do it = you're about to learn something today and you can bet your ass I'm not pressing even 1 damn button for you

Okay my lovely chickens, I’ve noticed a lot of artists out there don’t really know anything about getting their works printed, so I’m here to give you a few tips I’ve learned. I work as a copy center specialist at a retailer copy center, much like Office Depot/Max, Staples and whatever else is out there, so we’re going to focus on retailers like them. They work slightly differently than actual print shops but can still be very useful, especially if you're just starting out. I hate to say it, but in my time working side-by-side with expensive copy equipment, every single person that has walked in and announced themselves as a graphic designer has either never had their file set up correctly for printing, or are expecting the impossible. As artists, (especially print sellers and con-goers) we definitely need to know the ins-and-outs of the printing side of art. • Learn what retail copy centers are capable of. We can actually do a lot of neat stuff! We have laminators (that go up to 36 inches wide), poster printers, engineering printers, various cutters (both for single pages as well as guillotine-style that can cut a hundred pages at once), spiral and comb binding machines, saddle-stitch staplers, folding machines – and that’s not including what our machines can do on their own! We have a black and white Xerox printer that can print, fold, and saddle-stitch booklets all by itself. Our printers collate automatically and offset jobs. We can scan in, resize, and make minor edits to files, print on Avery labels, and even make stamps! Invitations! Calendars! We can do sooo much! • Understand copy center limits. Contrary to popular belief, we do not have magic wands that we pull out of our aprons and wave over orders and make them all better. We cannot print over a poster if you forgot to add something. We cannot laminate 50 copies while you wait. We can’t make posters wider than 36 inches, and they take longer than five minutes to print. While we are capable and do often times complete very large, elaborate orders (like say forty 300-page spiral bound books with printed tabs that need organized before binding), we have to take into account being interrupted by walk-ups which pushes our completion time farther and farther back, so we can’t always guarantee while-you-wait service. There are also some things we just can’t do in-store (though we can send out to production centers for things such as plastic name tags, magnets, metal signs, custom hats/shirts/flashdrives/envelopes/etc) but don’t be afraid to just pick up the phone and ask us if what you want is possible. • Remember that you get what you pay for. If you, as an artist, are looking for precise cutting specs, super high-quality paper, perfectly centered business cards, etc., do not go to a retail copy center. Go to an actual specialized print shop. We do a lot of cutting by hand especially, and hands are not precision machines. Things will not be exactly 5 by 8.5 inches if it was not put through a machine. Nothing is more frustrating to a copy center associate when you snub your nose at the work that’s completed and insist “it has to be perfect”. You get what you pay for and I can tell you right now you won’t get perfection paying $9.99 for 500 business cards. What you’re getting is the economy quality standard, done on economy paper cut using an economy business card slitter, at the economy price. Paper will shift in a printer and then it will shift in the cutter and your cards are sometimes going to be off center. Expect this. • Retail copy centers use laser printers. Any type of retail copy center such as these are going to only have laser printers which uses toner instead of ink, which is like a powder that sits on top of and then melts onto the paper. These printers use heat to fuse the toner to the paper and can melt certain things such as transfer paper and envelopes. If you’re providing your own paper, it must be laser-friendly (it should tell you on the packaging). Inkjet and laser-specific paper types can damage printers if used in the wrong one, laser printers being much more damaged internally. Both paper types have a certain coating on them intended for either ink absorption (inkjet) or melted toner (laser). It should also be noted that laser printers are not designed for high-quality prints. It can make nice and sellable prints for sure, but typically for highest-quality prints, inkjets are preferred by professional artists. The reason for this is that sometimes laser printers cause banding (color gradients aren't as smooth), will fade faster over time, and don't have as wide of a color spectrum as inkjets. This does not mean that laser printers are bad, and many con-goers start out with laser prints since they're cheaper and eventually move up to inkjets later on. • Come prepared – and come early. Please please don’t come last minute if there’s something you need done immediately! It doesn’t matter if it’s just a few copies, you have no idea what is currently going on at the copy center the moment you walk in. The color copier could be down. The posterjet is out of ink and the truck doesn’t come until next week, the laminator is broken, they could be backed up, they could have just run out of supplies, or the person that came in ahead of you could have made a very large order, and their order is due before yours! Anticipate the worst, and come in a couple weeks early for that extra time. Some things can be sent to a production center if it’s elaborate or they don’t have time to complete your order, which will require shipping time, so keep that in mind too. Basically keep your turnaround time in mind, because it’s not always instant. • Figure out what “Full Bleed” means. Understanding full bleed is crucial for artists, and for some reason it is the biggest offender when proclaimed graphic designers walk in and don’t have their files set up to compensate. Full bleed is when the ink/toner goes all the way to the edge of the paper – which means no white border. There actually are some printers that can do full bleed on its own, but the consequence is that when the ink sprays to the edge, you get some nasty build-up in your printers because it’s spraying slightly off the paper as well. Most printers do not print full bleed, including the ones you’re going to find at these retailers. For printers that don’t, you need to print on a bigger piece of paper and cut it down. So let’s say you want a full bleed 8.5x11 print (standard letter size). If we just send it to print on an 8.5x11 sheet, the image itself is going to be just a teeny bit smaller than that, because it needs to leave that white border. Let’s say you’re going to frame it though and need it exactly the right size – we need to take a larger sheet, 11x17, print it, and then cut the white off. Only then will you have a full bleed for 8.5x11 paper. • Have your files print ready. All computers are different, and they don’t all have the same programs or fonts as your personal computer does at home. While Office Depot can open Photoshop files, Staples does not have Photoshop installed (though they do have Elements, which cannot open the newer CS6 files). The best possible file you can have is PDF. The reason for this is often times when we receive editable files (such as Publisher or Microsoft Word), the font you used may not be available for us, so the layout and/or font will change from what was on your computer. Saving your file as a PDF not only is putting it in the highest quality possible, but also makes everything permanent in that what you see on your computer is what we’ll see on ours. Also note that every time you change a file type, you lose quality. For example, if your file starts out as a .jpeg and you resave it to a .pdf, and then back to a .jpeg, the quality is going down during each conversation, so use the original! • Know your paper type. I can’t tell you how many people come in wanting something specific, and then when I ask them what kind of paper they’re wanting, say “I didn’t know there was an option!”. There is an option for everything. Is your banner being used inside or outside? Are these going to be throw-away flyers or need to hold up a bit longer? How are you going to be displaying this? If you’re confused or overwhelmed, we have example booklets full of paper types for you to choose from, and we can also assist you in narrowing down what kind you need depending on what the purpose of your project is for. • Understanding Photo Resolution and Size. DPI/PPI can get confusing very quickly, but basically the higher the number the better, 300 to 600 DPI being ideal for printing purposes. DPI stands for Dots Per Inch, which is the number of printed dots inside one inch of an image printed by a printer. PPI stands for Pixels Per Inch, which is the number of pixels on your computer screen inside one inch of an image. Follow? PPI is for when it’s being made on the computer, and DPI is after it’s been printed. When first creating your artwork, the default is usually set to 72 on most resolution pages, so be sure to change it before you begin. If you’re scanning in traditional work, change the quality settings to 600 DPI. This gives you much more room to work with if you want to resize it. Also be aware of the original size of your art. If your artwork is at 300 PPI, but only 5 inches tall, it’s going to look bad if you want it turned into a 24x36 inch poster, because the pixels will stretch and become fuzzy/pixelated. Hence fuzzy posters - and no one like fuzzy posters! (except those cool Lisa Frank ones) I should also mention that no matter what your PPI is set as, the second you upload it to the web it turns into 72 PPI. • Remember RGB and CMYK. I'm going to be honest in saying that this usually isn't something worried about when people come in to get things printed. RGB (Red/Green/Blue) is the color mode used for when displaying images on the web, which is the most common. CMYK (Cyan/Magenta/Yellow/Black) is the color mode intended for printing. If you're printing an image that is in the RGB color mode, chances are the colors are going to be slightly off when you print - usually kinda dull. There are some shades that printers just can't quite replicate (certain shades of gray will tend to print a funky green and blues might turn purple in our experience). Some printing companies will actually require that you provide your files in CMYK, but for places like this it doesn't matter. If you'd like to check what your print will more than likely look like when printed, you can change your color mode in Photoshop to CMYK and you may notice some color differences and edit them accordingly. • We’re here to help. It’s not uncommon for the people standing being the counter of a copy center to already have a background (and degree) in some form of graphic design. We understand the art terms, can help you in what you’re trying to achieve print-wise, can assist in setting up your files, and recommend the right kind of materials for what you want. Don’t be afraid to ask us questions if you’re unsure about what you need to do in order to achieve your goal. • Sign up for a rewards membership. Sounds like a shameless plug, I know, but these things are beneficial if you plan on doing a lot of printing. Staples and Office Depot both have free rewards cards that give you points back when you spend money that are converted into coupons. I’ve received 20% off coupons (no minimum) from Office Depot and seen people in Staples with coupons for up to $50 off any order, so these things ARE useful. All in all, retail copy centers are a great asset to many artists, especially if you don't have the funds to mass-produce something, are planning for a convention, or just need a few proofs or prints for family/friends. I might add more if I think of anything, but just as a disclaimer this is only my personal experience as working in a copy center as well as being a customer at these retail stores etc. etc. please correct me if I explained something wrong or am providing incorrect information somehow!

Aaagghhh!!!!