You may often hear your printer talking about “sections” – but what does this actually mean?
Simply, all printing presses run sheets of paper that are larger than the finished items you are printing, and onto this single sheet (1x section) he will fit up 2, 4, 6, 8 etc pages of your finished brochure.
For example, a B1 printer will run 8x A4 pages on a single side of paper, so 16 sides in total on the one sheet. This becomes known as a “16 page section”, a section that due to the clever way your printer will position the pages will allow him to simply fold, fold, fold and fold again the sheet to allow page 1 to be at the front and 16 at the back. A quick trim around the edges and voila!
But why is this important for you to know about?
Understanding sections will help you ensure your next brochure is as economical as possible to produce. You see for every section that gets printed the printer needs to create a set of plates and get these onto the machine; it is these element that are the expense in the production process. So when dealing in A4 size having your page count divisible by sixteen (and then by eight) will give you the ultimate in cost effectiveness. But this count can differ depending on the size of the page – for example if 210mm square you’ll be advised to keep in multiples of twenty-four.
Our simple advice
Check with your printer first (especially if you are considering a custom sized document)! Before you get three quarters of the way through the design ask him if the size you are considering is a good one….you may be amazed that making it 5mm smaller would mean you can get more pages to a section and this dramatically reduce the cost of production. Small changes for big savings – should be music to everyone’s ears.
If you want to check on whether you are preparing your job for print in the most cost-effective way, please call us on 020 8963 0123, or email me at dan.jacobs@printhouse.co.uk
