That $40 CMYK test print pack saved my bacon on a big project last month

I was laying out a brochure for a local museum in Portland and was about to send it straight to the printer when I decided to drop forty bucks on a test pack from a shop downtown. The screens had all these deep greens that looked rich, but the test print came back looking like muddy army surplus. Has anyone else found that spending a little up front on a proof run saves way more than it costs?

2 comments

2 Comments

simonreed1d agoMost Upvoted

Funny you mention greens. My buddy runs a small print shop in Eugene and he tells this story about a wedding invite job where the client wanted this specific mossy green. They approved the digital proof, looked perfect on screen. Came back from the press looking more like swamp water. Had to redo the whole run and they ate the cost. Now he makes everyone buy a test pack no matter how small the job is.

eric3591d ago

Test packs are a no brainer for me after getting burned once on a big poster run. The greens and blues always shift way more than you'd expect on the actual press.