Today's Tip is #2 in my Print Buying Made Simple series, written to help people who are new to working with the printing industry. (#1 in this Series is about Working with a Professional.)

One reason why print buyer education is so important is simply this: in printing, every decision you make impacts the final outcome. Picture the process as one long, winding train of dominoes. Topple the leading domino, and you set off the whole chain.

Here are a few basic examples of the printing domino effect:

Choose the wrong printer, and you might pay too much, or you might be unhappy with the final product.

Failure to compile accurate, complete job specifications (specs) for your printer, and you won't get a fair estimate. Plus, when the printer gets your job file, he gets something he didn't expect. Not a recipe for smooth printing.

Failure to ask your printer for ideas on how to produce your job, and you might miss an opportunity to create something wonderful and innovative, or even less expensive.

The format you choose for a job impacts postal rates as well as how easily it can be automated by the USPS.

Choose the wrong font for your design and maybe the final piece will be difficult to read.

Hold up the proof when it's your turn to OK it, and you may blow the delivery date.

The paper you spec affects an incredible number of things - like how fast a printer can get the job on press, how the job will print, how much the job will cost, how your images will reproduce, how the piece will fold, how it will feel in the hands of the beholder, how it will be perceived in the eyes of that beholder, how much it will cost to send through the mail, and how well it will travel through the mail stream.

Ink choices can affect the quality of your printed piece, especially when special effects are called for. For instance, failure to add varnish might cause fingerprinting or other surface imperfections. Certain colors take longer to dry. Spec a too-light PMS color for heavy body copy, and you will end up with a piece that's impossible to read.

If you’re careless about determining a print quantity, you may print a lot more than you’ll ever need – or worse, you’ll print too few.

A habit of ignoring your mailing list(s) means that no matter how beautifully your job is printed, if your list is old or otherwise inaccurate, you blew it.

In other words, when it comes to printing, every detail matters. All of the processes are interrelated. The success of the outcome depends on a series of decisions being made with all facts considered.

The business of print production/print buying is dynamic, exciting and challenging. You need basic training so that your print jobs don't topple down around you with a loud, messy bang.