October 2018 – messages from happy customers

I am writing to you on behalf of Chippenham Christian Fellowship to thank your company and employees for the generous donations we received in terms of items and providing leaflets for our recent Jumble Sale. Thanks to the kind donations we received we were able to raise £950 and the leaflets proved to be instrumental in securing donated items as well as advertising the event!Thank you so much for all your help and please pass our thanks on to your team, it was very much appreciated. Miriam.D

Just to say that I have now received the printed coastal strategies (they arrived last Friday but I’ve only got into that office today). They look great – please pass on my thanks to your colleagues who were involved. Emily.G

Please pass on our thanks to all concerned Tim.J.

WOW! You guys are amazing. Simply AMAZING! thank you so much for your hard work and dedication to this project. Brandi. F.

Needless to say they have been very well received there too so thank you very much for doing such a great job. Claire.L.

The brochure is fabulous and the colour as always is top notch. Thank you so much to you and the team for producing yet another superb publication. Leonora.M

Just to say a big personal thank you for pulling out the stops to get the brochure off on schedule even after we missed our deadline. It really was much appreciated. Thank your team from me. David .G

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harvesting used water reduces costs

The days have long gone where printers create film and then expose the image onto plates using a print down frame. Making plates for the press is now completely automated. Once a customer approves their Epson proofs the files are sent to the plate processor where a set of lasers fire the image into the surface of the waterless plate creating holes in the silicone coating . It is then developed in water with fine brushes, which washes any debris from the image surface and is then stacked in sets at the end of the machine.

This continual process means that we use a considerable amount of water during the developing stage. We harvest the water from the waste pipe which leads into two large tanks which are located in the room above the toilets, we then use the water to flush our toilets, and general cleaning. Good for the water bill, great for the environment.

Maintenance is the route to quality

Printing using the waterless process requires the printing press to be maintained to the highest of standards, in order that it can be operated to an expected quality and consistency, which is then translated onto the printed sheet. Today new rollers have been installed in the yellow unit, and the unit is in its final stages of re-calibration.

The ink film thickness on the duct roller has to be set at its minimum of 6 microns.  This little gadget (in the image) reads the thickness to ensure that the ink applied to the new rollers is accurate.

It is imperative that this measurement is correct to ensure that the printed sheet matches to the Epson proofs quickly, as any variation which adds time and therefore loses efficiencies in the production process.

Other factors that may impact the thickness of the ink film may include air temperature.  If the pressroom is cold the ink will become stiffer and less mobile.  Air conditioning within the factory provides a consistent working environment, to eliminate these types of variations.

This is a very small part of the maintenance required to ensure that the manufacturing process limits any possible defects.  This helps to provide the exceptional quality we work towards – every time.

Lily and Me – Autumn Winter 2017 Collection

This clothing collection is inspired by rural woodlands, landscapes and gardens and the prints are bursting with beauty and the colour of nature.

Park Lane Press has had the pleasure of producing the brochures for this brand for a couple of years now.  The quality photography provides an opportunity for us to show what we can achieve on uncoated stock.

Reprographics

The higher the image dpi the higher the screen ruling we can run to achieve the best results in terms of detail even on uncoated paper. In this instance, we ran to 225 lines per inch, our maximum is 300 line.

Print

Using our waterless process allows us to run a special ink set which lifts the images providing a greater colour gamut, beyond what is normally achieved on a conventional four colour set and towards the original RGB images, giving a life like reproduction even on uncoated.

Finishing and mailing

Even though the brochure has 64pp it has been saddle stitched, great importance is always given to the page creep and we adjust accordingly within our normal protocol to ensure the creep is minimised. Adding a carrier sheet, we polywrap and mail on our Royal Mail account.

 

Which laminate should I use?

Lamination is a process where a very thin layer of plastic is applied to the surface of paper or card. It helps protect the print beneath.  It is also tear resistant and water resistant. Having materials laminated improves wear and tear in terms of handling, and potential damage from the sun

There are several types of laminate available on the market, many of my customers are unsure about which ones to use – here are details of the most common types.

Gloss laminate

This is the most commonly used laminate, generally used for book covers and brochures.  This laminate is the cheapest on the market and is extremely durable.  It provides lift to the image beneath, as the images become crisper and sharper providing more contrast. The laminate can be easily wiped clean if it gets dirty.

Matt Laminate

Matt laminate is also very popular as it provides a muted finish.  It is a softer look and has lower contrast on darker areas.  Matt laminate is affordable and is commonly used in conjunction with Spot UV for affect.  It has a velvet feel and is nice to handle.  The disadvantages of Matt laminate is that it can be easily bruised and scuffed with general handling, making the product look battered pretty quickly.  The darker the printed image the more easily this is visible.

Soft touch laminate

This laminate has become very popular in the past couple of years, mainly as it doesn’t mark very easily and it has a matt finish.  However the texture isn’t liked by everyone as it feels a bit like chamois leather. This laminate is more expensive than matt.

Anti -scuff matt laminate

This the most expensive of all the laminates listed but it does provide a higher quality product.  This type of laminate is best used on very dark areas of print where you want it to remain pristine and have a matt finish.

Spot UV Varnish

This effect isn’t so popular these days. Spot UV varnish is an offline UV application and if it hasn’t been managed properly at the printing stage can have a poor finish.  This is due to either “orange peeling” which can occur if too much spray is applied, or fit issues if the print isn’t registered properly.  If the UV runs over a fold or a spine it will crack, so please remember this at the design stage.  If printed correctly is can provide stunning results.

December 2016 – messages from happy customers

To say we have received many positive comments about the quality of the printing. Someone said the a picture in the book looked better than the original, great praise indeed. The award winning Watermill bookshop in Aberfeldy said it was a real bargain for the quality the book offered. The book is proving really popular and selling really well. Officially it only went on sale on the 29th Nov and we have already sold 214 copies. Roben A.

Thanks also for sending us some copies, they look great. Sophie G.

Just got files – very nice. Gill D.

I also wanted to make sure I emailed back to say how pleased we and our clients are with the printed result, thank you. Michael S.

Well hands down that’s the best mailer I’ve ever received (Parky 2017 desk calendar) Simon M.

I just wanted to say thank you for sending over a few brochures for us in the office – they look really good Vanessa W.

Thanks again for the events guides – they look great! Jacquelyn W.

Thank you so much for sending the brochures on time. They look perfect! Thank you for all your help this year look forward to working with you in 2017. Isabel S.

Just a quick email to say thank you, the Face Charts have arrived and are perfect! Thank you for amending the design as well. Kat V.

They are looking great by the way – very happy with the quality Selma W.

Thanks for the manuals they look great! Nick R.

Thank you so much for sorting those A5 cards out, they arrived in time and were just the job so thank you Harriet W.

Choosing the correct paper for your project.

The world of paper can appear to be quite complicated, dozens of paper names sold by an array of merchants. The aim of this blog is to de-mystify and simplify the choice of papers

• The world of paper basically falls into two categories – coated and uncoated.
• Most paper used in the UK comes from only a few European mills.
• Merchants sell the same paper under their own brand names.

Coated paper

Coated paper can be called Gloss or Art (shiny paper), or Silk, Matt and Satin (all matt paper). The surface of this type of paper has a coating which is smooth which provide a great surface to print detailed images, as the ink doesn’t absorb into the sheet readily and it sits on the surface.

Uncoated paper

Uncoated paper can also be called Offset, which has no coating and has a rougher more absorbent surface. With traditional litho printing, images printed on this type of paper can look a little flat and “milky” as the image blots into the sheet. However using the waterless process that we employ at Park Lane Press we don’t have these issues, and are able to achieve a similar result as achieved on a coated stock. We’re specialists in printing on uncoated stock and many of our clients come to us first because of the results we’re able to produce.
FSC papers
The good news is that nearly all the paper supplied into the UK is either FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) or PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification). This means that there is a record, or chain of custody, to track, and therefore prove, where the tree was grown and made into paper, in order to protect Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs) like the rainforest.

Recycled paper
Recycled paper has improved over the decades and is no longer a poor quality alternative. There is very little to differentiate between an FSC or a recycled sheet, except for a marginal colour difference, and is indistinguishable once printed on. Recycled paper is available in both coated and uncoated.
Recycled paper is more expensive but if the print run is small – say up to 2000 copies. This may not have a big impact on the overall price of the job so it may be worth considering.

Premium sheets
Many designers will specify premium sheets, such as coloured boards and super smooth papers, which can make a massive impact on the finished job. However the price can hike dramatically and the printers will more than likely cover in ink and seal with a coating which can lose the characteristics of the original paper! It’s always worth speaking to us and we can advise on cheaper alternatives which will help the budget in most cases.
Whichever route you choose, we can supply the relevant FSC logos and blurb to show that it has been printed in an environmentally-friendly way. A member of our team will be pleased to help if in doubt.

Park Lane Press Partner with The Partners in aid of The Big Draw

On the 10th March I attended a fabulous event at Christies, It’s Our World Auction.  Park Lane Press were proud to be the print sponsors of the invites and catalogue, the design was donated by The Partners, and paper by Arjo Wiggins Graphic Papers.

The Auction featured artworks by over 40 leading artists, inspired by the landscape, including David Hockney, Sir Antony Gormley, Andy Goldsworthy, Yinka Shonibare and Maggi Hambling.

The money raised by the It’s Our World project supports  the arts education charity The Big Draw.  It’s Our World Project managed to involve over 30,000 children and young people across the UK, either individually or collaboratively, to share a view of their local landscape, wildlife, coastline or neighbourhood.

Participants were not only encouraged to connect with the environment in creating their artworks, but also, through online resources, to take positive steps in reducing their impact upon it.

This is what drew us into supporting  the event, excuse the pun!  The Champagne flowed as quickly as the event, by the end of the evening the total raised on the night was £108,000, which is only the beginning as the action runs until March 24^th take a lookhttp://bit.ly/ItsOurWorld.

Phil Sudwell  11^th March 2016

Related links:

www.thebigdraw.org

http://www.itisourworld.org.uk/resources/sustainableideas/get-out-and-get-active/