Service Center
Folding digitally-produced documents
UST’s production digital printing capabilities are very strong and bring with it economy and excellent quality. However, the occasional problem of cracking on the spine/fold of invites and brochures is an ongoing issue for everyone in the printing business.
Here are some of the things that the Service Center can and does do to improve the chances of a crack-free fold:
- Use paper that has the grain running parallel to the fold- (this can result in an unfavorable cutting out of the parent sheet which can increase price)
- Use lighter-weight paper- (however, this may not fit with the look and feel of the intended design)
- Create a design that eliminates or has less image (toner) on the fold- (this may not fit with the look and feel of the intended design)
- Print the piece using an offset press or a digital inkjet printer rather than a toner-based digital printer- (This can increase cost and turnaround time. Also, each printing method has a slightly different look and color-rendering)
- Score/crease the piece before folding using a letterpress if possible- (This can increase cost and turnaround time)
We always try to use correct-grain paper, and then use one of 2 different scoring machines on projects that are cracking. If this does not suitably fix the problem, we have the option of sending the pieces out to a specialty bindery that has a letterpress machine that can provide a deeper and wider score. Their process requires about 100 additional pieces for setup plus 2% - 5% running waste.
If this is not possible, or doesn’t fix the problem to the client’s standards we can run it on our new digital color inkjet device which does not use a heated fuser roller. It’s the heated fuser roller in all toner-based digital color printers that dries-out the paper which contributes to the cracking. Also, toner is inflexible plastic and sits on the surface of the paper rather than sinking into the paper fibers like offset ink and inkjet ink.
Your satisfaction is essential. We will do whatever we can to make you happy with the printing project that you get from the Service Center. As always, good communication is important, so feel free to let us know if you have any questions, and we’ll do the same.
John Barron
Director, Printing and Mailing Services
2-6584
cell 612 578-6915
