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Vent: I finally started printing my proofs at 85% size and my paper waste problem is basically gone
I run a small print setup out of my garage in Boise and my biggest headache for the past two years was burning through paper on proofs that looked fine on screen but came out wrong on press. My margins were always off by just enough to be annoying, and I was tossing maybe 15 to 20 sheets a week on reprints, which adds up when you are buying 100 sheet packs at $18 a pop. Last month a guy at the local print shop in Nampa mentioned he always scales his test proofs down to 85% before committing to a full run, and something about seeing the whole layout smaller makes the spacing issues jump out way faster. I tried it on a batch of 5x7 invite cards and caught a gutter problem on the second proof instead of the sixth, which never would have shown up at full size on my monitor. I have done about 40 jobs since then and I think I have thrown away maybe 6 sheets total. It sounds so dumb writing it out but it honestly changed how I check my work. Does anyone else proof at a smaller scale or am I late to something everyone already knows?
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briannguyen8d ago
15 to 20 sheets a week at 18 bucks a pack? man thats like 12 bucks a week in paper, not exactly a crisis. and scaling down to 85% to catch gutter problems sounds more like a habit thing than some magic fix. if it works for you cool but calling it life changing is a bit much.
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