AboutDiane Mendez Expertise Expert knowledge of both printing and publishing specifications. Familiar with the printing process from order taking to bindery. Extensive experience with self-publishing from creating manuscript to publishing/printing. Skilled in QuarkExpress, InDesign, PhotoShop, Illustrator, Adobe Acrobat, MS Office and several minor applications.
Experience Employed in the graphics department at a printing company for 27 years. Currently self-employed, dba Proof Plus, offering editing, proofreading, formatting, copywriting, and design services.
Question dear madam. good day. i have few questions regarding start up of a printing press and i really hope you would not mind sharing your expertise. i would really appreciate that.
1. my first question is can a person with no background in printing press enter into this field and be successful, provided all the effort is put in ? i have a lot of interest in this field but have no clues how it works.
2. is it really important to have a digital press instead of an offset machine these days ? i live in pakistan and i think having a digital press might be a little costly compared to the available traditional offset machines ? what i mean to ask is is there any difference in quality between these two ?
3. whats the difference between 2-color press and a 4-color press ? in simpler term, which is better ?
4. the most important question that is haunting me is how would i get the business or how would i penetrate the field which has already a lot of printing presses ? the city i live had more than 7 million residents with more than 700 printing presses ? i am thinking of getting myself couple of sales men and having them go to the door step from shop to shop, business to business and get orders for the press ? how realistic does that sound ?
i hope i haven't strayed off too much. i thank you for your generous help. khurram.
Answer Hi Khurram:
Because I don't know much about business in your country, my answers might not apply.
1. Yes, a person without a printing background can do well in that business, as long as he has a network of employees who are skilled in the trade. The last print shop I worked at was purchased by a man who knew nothing about printing. He depended on the existing employees to run his shop. The business continued to be as successful as it was when it was managed by the previous owner, who had been in printing his entire life.
2. Offset presses seem to be phasing out, but your country might still depend on them more than the digital press. Personally, I think the offset presses provide better quality. The drawback of the offset press is that printing is more time-consuming. There's a lot more work involved with the offset method.
3. As you might know, process printing (full color) consists of four inks - cyan, magenta, yellow, black. The four-color press requires only one impression -- the stock goes through the press one time. With the two-color, the stock has to go through twice. There is the extra time taken to make sure the colors register. The ink has to be changed for the second impression. This is all assuming you're printing CMYK (4-color process). Some shops still print 'spot' colors -- they mix the ink to get a preferred color. Using a 4-color press and printing CMYK for full color is the most economical method of printing.
4. With the high competition in your area, I would say that it would be difficult to get business unless you can offer better prices and/or better quality. I would never discourage anyone, though, because in the end, hard work does pay off. You might think of other perks you can offer your customers -- free delivery, discounts, etc.
I wish you all the best in your endeavors, Khurram. Please write if you need additional information.
