Delivering a job with errors is a surefire way to become a commodity vendor. The print industry, in which a single typo can be cause for rejection, is especially brutal.
A poor reputation due to mistakes makes it tough to get and keep clients, and you can forget about getting premium prices.
So why do so many mistakes happen in this industry?
In my experience, 99% of reprints come from an error someone missed at the proof stage.
Proofing is probably the step most taken for granted in the printing process. Yet it is without doubt one of the most important.
Far too often, clients barely even glance at their proofs before they sign off on them.
When the job is delivered, they ask how a mistake happened and discover the error was visible on the soft proof they approved.
Here are two ways to keep proofing errors off the press.
First, we can take the cue from critical industries like healthcare and aviation by using simple checklists.
Surgeons and pilots use them every day.
A Proofing Checklist for PSP's and Their Customers
To catch mistakes before they make it to press, ask and answer the following questions about your proofs:
❑ Are all the fonts rendered properly?
❑ Is the color correct? (A physical, color match print proof is required when you have a color-critical job.)
❑ Is the text readable? Are spelling, names, numbers, prices, URL's and dates correct?
❑ Do the pages or folds line up the way I want them?
❑ Is everything as expected, including bleed, trim, safety margins, image resolution, raster effect resolution, and size?
❑ Is the paper stock, quantity, finishing, bindery and fulfillment correct?
Remember, printers provide proofs for several reasons, but one of the most important of these is to ensure that nothing has gone wrong during the processing of your electronic files.
Start with this simple checklist and add your own critical items as needed.
Second, when a mistake happens, let’s learn from it.
What can we do to ensure it won’t happen again?
One way is to log every reprint with its cause and the fix. Review the log monthly and fix the part of the process where the errors happen.
In Strategies for Learning from Failure, Harvard Business School professor Amy C. Edmondson writes,
"Avoiding consequential failures means rapidly identifying and correcting small failures. Most accidents in hospitals result from a series of small failures that went unnoticed and unfortunately lined up in just the wrong way."
Even the smallest of mistakes add up over time. Every minute you spend fixing a mistake is a minute you’re NOT doing something profitable.
One of the things we do at Western Trade Printing to prevent mistakes is that we follow a strict G7® Methodology to ensure color consistency from proofing through print production.
It also...
✅ reduces turnaround times, proofing costs, waste, and make ready time.
✅ makes it possible to communicate accurately about color across multiple organizations.
Be sure to use your checklist and WTP to take advantage of our methodology. Fewer errors keeps your clients happy and translates to better pricing power and customer loyalty.
Other Helpful Articles on Preventing Mistakes
Bookmark our guide to proofing here.
Setting Up Adobe Illustrator for Commercial Printing
Setting Illustrator Raster Effects When Exporting for Print
Get more insight on the business of being a print reseller here.
