If you either as a designer or a printer are unsatisfied with the results obtained on a printed job please don't hesitate to ask our assistance. It is easily forgotten that the production of a high quality printed job, from photography, design and papermaking through to finishing and dispatching is an extremely complex process. Not all the parameters involved in the interaction of all the elements in the job are fully understood, although research continues to try to understand fully the factors that can result in a less than perfect job.

For paper technicians to assist in analyzing a problem they need a sequence of printed and unprinted sheets, it is impossible to test paper that is fully covered with ink and varnish. The problem apparent in the finished job may have been caused by one or a number of different factors, so examining the printed result often does not help determine the cause or causes. It is also to ascertain the machine conditions, sequence, ink type, and fountain solution. RH and temperature of the pressroom and paper stack are important if the job is misregistered or the paper is not flat.

Printing and paper problems rarely have a mechanistic cause, i.e. printing conditions or paper that will not perform on the job in question will be perfectly suitable for what appear to be very similar jobs.

When mottle appears in a job, changing the paper may readily overcome the problem, yet the same paper will perform perfectly on a different job. Changing the ink sequence, reducing water, changing inks or film may all be effective in overcoming the problem. Normally changing the paper is the easiest way out if time allows, however just because the problem goes away, the paper is not necessarily at fault.

The earlier you contact us the more we can assist, the less delay and the lower the additional cost. It is preferable to loose a make ready and an hour's production time and put a job back on within 8 hours than it is to have a job rejected after printing due to a problem that should have been apparent as soon as the job was commenced.