If you’re unable to find answers to your questions here, please call us on 020 7491 1973 or email any questions you may have.
'Crop Marks' are guide marks added to artwork to indicate where the printed sheet will be trimmed down to it's required final size.
'Bleed' refers to the extension of artwork beyond the 'crop marks' to ensure the printed image runs to the edge of the finished piece and doesn't fall short of the trimmed edge.
Yes, we can proof read small jobs but would recommend professional proofreaders for larger projects.
CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key [Black]) is the description for four-colour process printing whether lithographic or digital, commonly used for printed materials that include images, photographs or documents with multiple colours.
RGB stands for Red, Green, Blue and these are the colours your computer monitor projects to display colour images on the screen.
The Pantone® Matching System (PMS) is the most widely used system for specifying ink colours. Pantone® colours are also known as spot colours and are used when a specific colour is required, e.g. our logo is in two Pantone® colours. PMS 433 is our grey and PMS 324 is our blue.
CMYK colours can be used in both digital and lithographic printing and give a similar result. In digital print however Pantone® colours are converted to CMYK so the colour match will be close but not exact.
Typography is the selection and arrangement of typeface, size, and spacing on a printed piece so is an important part of the design process. With thousands of typefaces available and more being designed every day — where do you begin?
A Serif refers to the lines and curved features that project from the end of the letterforms and are generally used to achieve an elegant classical look.
From the French word sans, meaning ‘without’. Sans serif typefaces generally project a clean and contemporary look without the detailing of a serif typeface.
Script typefaces simulate handwriting or calligraphy with letters connecting to one another and emulating several different types of hand-lettering, including calligraphic, drafting, and cartoon.
Type is measured in points — there are approximately 72 points in an inch, so 72-point type is approximately 1 inch in height on a printed page. The height of a typeface is commonly referred to as its ‘x’ height, which is a measurement of a lower case letter in that typeface.
Type ‘styles’ refer to options such as italic, bold and bold italic and are used to add interest to paragraphs of wording and can be chosen as part of your type specifications.
Unlike weights of paper and board, in typography, weight refers to the density of letters, the lightness or heaviness of the strokes in a typeface. It is described as a continuum: light, regular, book, demi, bold, heavy, black, and extra bold with heavier variations such as extra black and ultra in certain typeface families.
Alignment refers to the shape of the text block in relation to the margins. Most software programs allow left, centre and right alignment — sometimes called ranged left or ragged right, centred, ranged right or justified which forces text to align on both the left and right page margins.
Kerning, or ‘Pair kerning’ as it’s known, refers to adjustments that can be made to space between a pair of characters. This usually entails closing-up the space as the auto spacing of most typefaces does not accommodate certain combinations of type — a good example is a capital ‘V’ or ‘W’ followed by any capital letter — in particular a capital ‘A’. Another offender is the number 1.
Leading is the vertical space between lines of type that is often called ‘line spacing’. Text in a layout is sometimes referred to by the size of lettering followed by the amount of leading applied eg: 12pt on 15pt.
Yes, we’re always happy to have an informal chat about your requirements, to offer our advice and to make recommendations, with absolutely no obligation on your part. Please call 020 7491 1973 or send us an email to arrange a convenient time to speak.