Hard Copy Proofing is a process of printing a print ready PDF file (prepared by us or provided by customer) on our standard proofing paper and then shipped within 1 to 2 Business days. If your artwork is not print ready PDF then we will send you a PDF Proof and once that gets approved you will then receive the Hard Copy Proof. Once you receive the hard
copy proof you have to inspect it very closely and make sure everything
is correct. Once satisfied that everything is fine then you can approve
the proofing policy either online or by Fax. Once we receive the faxed
approval - your job is released and the turnaround clock will start
ticking from then onwards.
Q1. What does our Pre-Press do to prepare the Hard Copy Proof?
Our prepress team will first make sure that artwork is a Print Ready PDF, so your file will go through the same inspection which is performed when generating a PDF Proof. Click here to view. If we find any issues we will send you a courtesy PDF Proof before generating a Hard Copy Proof.
Q2. Why do you need a Hard Copy Proof?
Some of the issues or errors cannot be caught when doing a PDF Proof. Below are some of them:
-
Position & Placement: (for e.g. No text is getting cut, or nothing is very close to the edge of the paper)
- Pagination (e.g. - for multi-page documents, like
booklets or prefect bounded book we provide a digitally printed hard copy
mockup as it is very important to see how the pages look after it has
been bounded)
- Missing art or elements due to transparency issues (sometime
due to transparencies, the soft PDF proof will not catch these errors.
It might look fine on the screen, but when printed the background
transparency will be converted into something unpredictable. There are
many reason it happens, please google Transparency Problems to learn
more). Hence it is very important to flatten to PDF before sending files.
- Spelling & Grammatical Mistakes (Surveys and Test have shown that it is much easier to catch spelling and other mistakes when reading on paper then on screen)
- Low Resolution images (on the screen it will look fine, but when printed they will look pixilated, due to the fact screen is 72 dpi vs print is 300 dpi)
Q3. How much does it Cost?
Charges vary from product to product
and depends upon the method of shipping. For local customer we provide the option to pickup.
Q4. What is Hard Copy Proofing NOT good for?
- Hard Copy Proofing is not meant for color approval.
We print to industry standard color and the hard copy proof which was
sent to you was printed on standard proofing paper on our digital press.
If your job is color critical and needs high level of color accuracy
then please call and discuss about the job before placing an order.
- Hard Copy Proofing is not good for Rush jobs and will delay the entire printing process turnaround.
Q5. What are the Charges for Additional Hard Copy Proofs?
Your Job comes with one round of Hard Copy Proof. Any additional Hard Copy proofs generated will incur additional charges
which will be added to the order and charged on the same credit card
used to place the order. You can view
the cost for additional proofs here
Article ID: 4, Created: 8/8/2010 at 11:19 PM, Modified: 12/21/2012 at 4:10 PM