Samples
Thursday 24th August
What’s the world coming to? I’ve received several sample packs from printers recently. Some of them have had slightly dinged corners, or scrapes across them but today’s just took the biscuit. I went home for lunch and picked up the sample pack, opened it and was initially impressed by the print quality and gloss.
Unfortunately, I then noticed that there was what looked like baked-bean juice on the back of the postcard I was looking at. Going through the other samples, price list and covering letter revealed even more instances of bean juice. How could these people possibly expect me to part with my money if they can’t even keep their samples free of contaminants? It wasn’t even as if it was dried on, it was fresh and quite liquid still.
What’s most strange is the huge coincidence that I was, while viewing the samples, preparing jacket potatoes with baked beans for lunch.
Incidentally, they were the best I’ve seen yet, so depending on price, I think I might have found my supplier of choice.
The most important thing in print, isn’t the ink on paper, it’s the repro that happens before hand. If you’re looking at prices, make sure you know what sort of proofing they do. When you go to visit the company make sure you see examples of finished work alongside the proofs that were used. This will give you an idea of how close to the proofs the printers work, or how vastly different it can be!
Also you should be able to pass your work on press at no extra cost. When you pass the sheet off, sign two copies, one for you and the other for the machine minder to match. You would be surprised at the variation that can happen!
ned
24 Aug 06 at 1:21 pm
Gosh. That’s useful! Thanks Ned!
And don’t take a tin of beans?
stu
24 Aug 06 at 1:39 pm
Cor, they must have been rank amateurs. But I wonder how they kept the bean juice so … fresh and warm…
sweavo
24 Aug 06 at 2:19 pm
Beanz meanz stainz.
JG
24 Aug 06 at 6:50 pm
I hope you licked it in an attempt to identify the brand…
DoGGa
25 Aug 06 at 8:21 am
I’m no detective, but it seems to me that there’s a small possibility of a link between you having jacket potato and beans, and there being bean juice on the samples.
Perhaps it’s a sign that they are the printers for you. You both enjoy beans. What more in common could you want from a prospective supplier…
Kaine_2k
25 Aug 06 at 11:09 am