Paper Sizes
A’s, B’s and C’s
Paper
is
..
well
paper..
right?
Nope..!
Paper,
comes
in
a
huge
variety
of
sizes,
weights
and
finishes,
all
have
their
own
feel,
look
etc.
which
in
turn
influences
how
they
are
used.
To
try
and
give
some
sort
of
standardisation,
pretty
much
all
European
countries
use
what
we
loosely
call
the
A,
B
and
C
series
of
sizes.
Most
of
you
are
already
familiar
with
A4
-
its
what
most
businesses
use
for
a
letterhead
and
measures
210mm
wide
by
297mm
high.
An
A3
page,
while
the
number
is
lower
(3
rather
than
4)
it
is
actually
TWICE
the
size
of
an
A4
sheet
at
297mm
wide
by
420mm
high
-
and
so
it
goes
for
A2
being bigger than A3, A1 larger than A2 and so on.
Conversely,
A5
is
HALF
the
size
of
A4
at
148mm
wide
by
210mm high and A6 is half the size of A5.
So
it’s
worth
considering
just
how
large
or
small
you
want
your
finished
image/design
to
be
and
discussing
this
with
your designer - it can make a huge difference!
For more on paper sizes, click here:
Using Colour
Getting the right colour profile for the finished job
So, you’ve spent days designing your leaflet on your
computer, the colours, nice bright, almost neon, look
fantastic on screen and have fantastic impact so the finished
printed leaflet will look just as eye-catching.. right..? Probably
not.. unless you’re using the right design software your
colours are most likely to be RGB. This stands for Red, Green,
Blue and is how we see colour on screen - so TV, monitors
etc. RGB is fine for use on the internet for websites as screens
are not able to show as many subtle colours as print can, BUT
because a screen tends to be lit, the colour appear to be
more vibrant.
When using colours for print, most designers should/will use
CMYK or the four process colours of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
and Black in various percentages combined to achieve the
final colour. Using these allows the flexibility of millions of
colours and subtle tones, giving far more depth. However its
worth noting that CMYK colours can only be reasonably
represented on a specially calibrated screen - only then will
you get a better idea of what the finished print job will look
like.
In short, you only ever use RGB if you’re designing something
that will be seen on screen i.e. for websites etc. these colours
WILL NOT reproduce correctly if used in print. If using your
own photos for print, these will need to be converted to
CMYK to print properly.
CMYK should be used for all printed materials and if you’re in
doubt over colours, ask to see a printed proof. For more
information about colour space and profiles, you can Google
it, but be warned, it can get complicated and is not always the
easiest to understand!
Image Quality
Resolutions for Print and Web
Getting
an
image
to
look
clean,
clear
and
sharp
is
not
as
easy
as
you
may
first
think.
For
instance,
you’re
using
an
image
on
your
website
that
is
nice
and
bright,
doesn’t
take
long
to
download
-
can
you
use
the
same
image,
take
it
from
your
website and use it on your printed leaflet?
In
short
NO..
this
is
because
images
used
for
web
tend
to
be
lower
in
resolution
(dpi
or
Dots
Per
Inch)
resulting
in
smaller
files
sizes
and
faster
download
speeds
-
ideal
for
use
on
the
internet.
To
get
a
sharp
image
in
print,
generally
the
resolution
needs
to
be
higher
at
around
300dpi,
but
this
means
a
bigger
file
size
-
however
as
its
not
being
used
on
the
internet,
the
bigger
file
size
doesn’t
matter
quite
so
much, whereas the higher, better resolution does.
You
can
see
that
simply
assuming
300dpi
for
every
project
is
a
mistake.
But
do
remember
that
you
can
rarely
make
the
mistake
of
having
too
high
a
resolution.
However
you
can
have
too
low
a
resolution
and
end
up
with
pixelated
(blocky
/
dotty)
images.
So
try
to
lean
towards
too
much
detail
rather
than not enough.
Using Stock or Royalty Free Images
Why paying a small fee is better than paying a big fine!
So
many
people
nowadays
believe
that
using
an
image
found
on
a
search
engine
is
perfectly
fine
and
has
no
consequences
- hey its off the internet, so it must be OK..?
The
truth
is,
that
it’s
not
OK,
it’s
THEFT.
Taking
and
using
someone
else’s
work
without
their
permission
is
not
just
wrong,
it’s
illegal
and
if
caught
you
can
end
up
paying
serious
fines
for
doing
so
-
its
called
breach
of
copyright
and
shouldn’t be taken lightly.
A
way
to
avoid
costly
court
cases
and
fines
is
to
use
stock
photo
libraries
like
iStockphoto,
Shutterstock,
Corbis,
Dreamstime
to
name
just
a
few.
Here
there
are
millions
of
shots
that
you
pay
just
a
small
fee
to
use
(license)
the
picture
and
this
allows
you
to
carry
on
without
the
fear
of
breaking
the
law.
The
added
bonus
is
that
most
of
these
shots
are
taken
by
professionals,
so
are
going
to
be
much
better
than
that
scratchy
image
you
found
on
the
search
engine!
In
short,
BE PROFESSIONAL, it’s cheaper in the long run.
USEFUL STUFF
INFORMATION THAT WILL HELP YOU,
YOUR DESGINER AND THE PRINTER
The future belongs to those
who prepare for it today
- Malcolm X
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ADDRESS
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