Customer Reviews

Basics Design: Print & Finish

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This is the fifth of a series of five books covering almost every aspect of producing a printed image. As the last in the series it is on the final step in the process, that of actually producing the document following: Format, Layout, Typography, Image, and Color.

This book covers the printing process from the standpoint of what you are trying to produce. What does metal printing offer to the printed image that offset does not? And what effect does putting a varnish over the surface create. And what is the effect of folding, die cutting, or various types of binding.

Printing is really a designing project, no less than product design, packaging design (which usually involved printing anyway), or advertising. The authors are expert designers who have further collected a lot of examples of designs from other people and then show a large number and a wide variety of examples of fine work using these techniques.

Wonderful book that not only describes various print and finish techniques but uses itself as an example. From paper to ink - the book is bound with of no less than a half dozen stock types to demonstrate various techniques and stock/ink combinations, and demonstrates the printer spreads used for various sections. Even the cover uses a brilliant blend of die cuts and varnish prints to demonstrate the extent of the techniques described within.

Substrates, printing, finishing, production, binding and resolve... I certainly regret that this book wasn't required reading when I was getting my Graphic Design degree in college.

There are plenty of photographs of more advanced finishing methods, a doubtless source for inspiration. All full color, often with more than just 4 standard colors (as examples of printing with aqueous and metallic inks).

This was the first (and currently the only) book of the series that I purchased, and glancing through the others I do see some repeated information. However, as a stand-alone book, priceless. Definetly a good complement to the required reading in any Printing & Prepress / Design & Production course.

This book is such a good reference that I am going to buy the others in the series. Good design books are hard to come by and this is one I actually use for production ideas and specs. It may be a bit general for pros, but I found it very helpful.