Margie Dana

"As a long-ago TV character would say, "I pity the fool" that does not take advantage of your upcoming Print Buyers Conference. What a dynamite agenda! Best wishes for a successful conference."

Mike Reilly, Beechmont Press, Louisville, KY

Expect to Err

I have a lot of advice for new print customers - those who have no experience with the printing industry and who have somehow landed in a job where purchasing printing is one of their chief responsibilities.

One slice of advice came to mind the other day as I remembered my own early print buying days. It is simply this: expect to err.

No matter how bright you are, how well you think you're prepared for this role, and how airtight your procedures seem to be, you will make mistakes. With luck, most of them will be minor and not too costly - but you will make them.

Everybody does. The more experienced you are, the fewer you will make, but even then, something funky will happen to a paper you've speced that's totally unexpected, or you'll mess up a quantity because you're doing 52 things at once.

You're building every print job spec by spec. You need to define things like quantity, format, ink colors, stock, binding methods, finishing, folding, delivery, mail requirements, proof distribution/approval, and so on.

You won't do it alone. Let me rephrase that: you shouldn't do it alone. Depending on your situation, you could be dealing with any or all of the following pros: writers, editors, designers, photographers, prepress specialists, production wizards, purchasing agents, printers, paper reps, mailing specialists, and finishers.

You must be a master communicator - and so well organized! You need to count on all the others who'll be contributing to or somehow impacting each project. Gathering information about the requirements for each job is a big deal. Do it carefully. Do it methodically. This will help reduce some common errors, like the wrong quantity or shipping address.

You need to communicate especially well with your printer. Be open to ideas and suggestions. Ask for advice. Unless you are a bona fide print-producing genius, be humble about it. Be appreciative.

Don't be too proud: get all the help you can possibly get. This will minimize your mistakes.

I'm not trying to set you up to fail. Believe-you-me, I'm a classic perfectionist who hates making mistakes - yet I continue to do so. I don't want you to think that everyone else is perfect and that every job comes out prize-worthy.

Printing mistakes are not fatal. Most of them aren't noticeable to anyone but you. You used the wrong paper. You printed 2000 too few (or 2000 too many). The image resolution isn't good enough. The corporate color didn't come out exactly right.

You will own some but not all of the mistakes. The more you communicate with your team (especially your printer) early on, the more you'll minimize printing bloopers.

When mistakes happen, assess the damage, determine if a job needs to be reprinted, and move on. Work it out amicably with all parties if at all possible.

Most important? Learn how it happened and try to prevent it the next time. Printing is a manufacturing process that is also incredibly creative. As I look in my rear-view mirror and see the thousands of jobs I helped produce, I am amazed - no, incredibly proud - that I had a hand in all of them, mistakes and all.

©2007 Margie Dana. All rights reserved. You're free to forward this email to friends and colleagues: please do! However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author.

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