on press

Every time I see my designs go on press, I get all excited, like a kid the night before his birthday. Okay, so I didn't loose sleep or anything, but it's always so rewarding to see your creations come to life on press.

I did several press checks yesterday on my upcoming Cecily Ink release and I thought I'd share a bit about the printing process here.


Meet Pete, master pressman at Brown Printing who handles their 6-color press. Here he's adjusting the densities of the five different ink colors. On the right, you can see the various ink wells from the top down – yes, these are huge presses!


This is the area where I do my press check - the area of control. I often bring a previously printed piece (see the card on the far right?) to make sure the colors are in the right range and saturation.


I also check the colors on the press sheet against the Pantone Matching System (PMS) numbers that I specified for the project. Over the last year, I've established a nice, bright color palette for Cecily Ink that everyone seem to really like.


Next I check the press sheet against the proof that I signed off on earlier in the week. I make sure all the elements are there, everything is in the right place.


Once everything looks good, I sign off on the job by putting my name and date on the press sheet, along with any notes of what to fix or watch out for.


Then Pete really gets the presses going and sheets start flying through the grippers.


The sheets get stacked on wooden skids as they come off the press. The skids then get stacked on top of one another and they sit on the press room floor to dry. In the next few days, my project will be sent to the bindery for finishing, meaning trim, score and die cut as needed.

Then all I need to do is pick up the printed pieces, package them for sale, and post them on my website so all my Cecily Ink fans can share in the joy!