Producing printed material
Practical Action
Colour
Most publications are printed in black (one colour) on white paper. You can add another
colour (a ‘spot’ colour), a second colour (two colour), or go for ‘full colour’ (i.e. four colours).
Each of these steps is progressively more expensive, and if you are interested in using colour
at all you should get a series of quotations from your printer to see what is the optimum use
of colour for your needs.
Print run
There are a minimum number of copies that the printer will need to print to make the setting
up of the machines worthwhile. After that minimum is printed, it becomes much cheaper to
print more copies. It may cost, for example, £3000 to print the first 3000 copies, and only
£100 for each 500 copies after that.
Paper
Your printer will also advise you on the weight (or thickness) and surface of paper that you
should use, although you should show them examples of what you had in mind. If you are
printing in colour you will need a heavier paper, and you may need one that has a special
coating to make the colour printing work better.
Structure
Every publication follows a basic outline, although it may not include all of the sections
below.
Cover
The front cover should include the title
and sub-title, the author’s name(s), and
the name of your organisation. The
back cover usually includes a short
description of the aims of the
publication and who it is written for; a
short biography of the author, if
relevant; and a description of the
organisation producing the publication,
along with their contact address. If the
publication is to be sold through
booksellers then a barcode should also
be included. The inside pages of the
cover can include more information
about the organisation, advertisements,
etc.
Prelims
This is the name given to the first
‘preliminary’ section of a book, which
includes the title page, reverse title
page, acknowledgements, contents
page, list of abbreviations or acronyms,
glossary, and preface. This section is
numbered (whether they are printed or
not) with roman numerals (i,ii,iii).
Body
The main text, usually starting with an
introduction, and numbered with Arabic
numerals (1,2,3). In English a
publication begins with a right-hand
page, so right-hand pages are odd and
left-hand pages are even numbered.
The production cycle
Project manager sees need for publication, defines purpose of
publication and target audience, and creates initial schedule,
taking into account internal deadlines
Project manager appoints editor
Editor and project manager agree on important final deadlines
and overall budget
Editor consults with designers, typesetters, and printers,
obtaining quotes and advice
Editor plans publication and commissions author
Author writes text and delivers to editor
Editor corrects manuscript, refers queries back to author, and
commissions illustrations
Editor gets organisational approval for finished manuscript
Editor gives revised manuscript with illustrations to designer
Designer produces ‘flat plan’ for editor’s approval
Designer lays out publication, and produces page proof
Editor reads thoroughly, correcting any mistakes
Editor gets organisational approval
Designer produces revised proof
Editor delivers revised proof, disk, and artwork to printer, with
Print Order
Printer plays out film
Editor checks against proofs
Printer prints publication
Publication distributed according to plan
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