Rant
- Started
- Last post
- 48 Responses
- gramme0
^ ...made mistakes w/ print jobs, I mean. I make other sorts of mistakes as often as anyone else. I just realized that might come across as rather smug in my last post...
- Randd0
I don't even understand how this could have happened--it's outrageous. a job of this magnitude should never be rushed to the degree that so many things could fuck up!
- gramme0
I hear you Spooky. Thing is, I'm not a finger-pointing kind of guy...when I screw up, I own up. I've made mistakes in the past and have been frank and honest about it with the necessary people. The primary source of blame resides in scheduling problems, I think. My boss was travelling a lot and often wasn't able to get me feedback when I needed it. The whole thing was really rushed. We found out 3 weeks before the press date that the entire book had to be translated into French and Spanish, all in the same thing, all while retaining the same format and page count. We made it look good, but going through numerous rounds of proofing with three different languages was a high hurdle in such short time.
I believe the client is getting some sort of discount, dunno how much.
- Then you did what you could, and one step removed I bet the project still looks great.Spookytim
- so applaud yourself for the huge acheivement despite the disappointment of the finishing issues.Spookytim
- does the client have a beef? or their audience? Sometimes, your perfection is their indifference. next time it will be different.capsize
- thanks man :)gramme
- Spookytim0
Fair Do's Gramme. I didn't mean any offence, I just know that sometimes during moment sof anger we all cast about for someone to take the blame when we might need to share a portion of responsibility. I still don't think you're company are entirely faultless even after reading your explanation, but heck, lots of stuff gets lost in translation so what the hell do I know about being there and dealing with it. Hope you get soemthing sorted to your satisfaction with this and I hope it doesn;t eat you for too long... other projects, new opportunities, lessons learned to be applied to future situations etc.
Wow, how sanctimonious do I sound?
- gramme0
Our client uses a pre-press company that pulled in hi-res images. The pre-press people provided final files and confirming HP's to the printer. They told us they "did not have time in light of the quick turnaround to provide us with proofs before going to the press check."
We showed up for the press check and saw all this shit, and because of the hard and fast deadline for launch, we were only able to correct a few of the many errors we came across.
For example – some of the photos stripped in by the pre-press guy were not even the right photos. We fixed stuff like that.
- creative-0
Burn down their print factory (but rescue your books first)
- Dennis_Moore0
I'm going to lighten this thread up with a business meeting that all of you must attend:
- chuparosa0
That is completely and totally unacceptable. If the printer was concerned about the type, they should have contacted you before adjusting anything. If your pieces do not match the ones you signed off on at the press check they have to make it right. A quarter inch shorter! Unreal! It should be reprinted at no cost. If that is not gonna happen then you should get a sizeable amount deducted from your bill.
- gramme0
Spookytim:
Of course we did a press check. We immediately saw that the type was too fat, but because that would have meant pulling hundreds of plates, my boss offered the executive input and the client agreed, that it was not worth pulling plates and taking over a day to reconfigure everything.
The type they fattened is 5 helv. neue bold, all in caps. It's the captions for photos (80% of the book). They thought the type would get lost. They were wrong, esp. since that type was printed in high-metallic spot colors that really stand out.
The reason it was trimmed too much was because it has 5 different paper stocks and needed 2 trips through bindery. Somewhere communication fell off that the bindery team needed to do the absolute minimum trim possible. Instead they took off 1/8" each time through. Apparently the binders didn't know or care that the book s/b the same exact size as each brochure.
I talked to my boss and she is of the firm belief that we bear no blame on this one. I've made mistakes before, but not this time.
- what happened to proofs before the press check, this must have been done well before going to presswordssssss
- creative-0
Rantt™
- brains0
man gramme. that blows.
- Dennis_Moore0
The one that signed off on the piece is the one to blame then.
- robotron3k0
kay sarah sarah, I say.
- tasty0
i heard of this thing called proofs one time....
i heard that one of the best printers in the country also heard of proofs too.
- gramme0
...and in light of the tremendous waste of paper. The printer would have to call their insurance agency for financial support, the job was that costly. Also, the client already sent out a bunch of kits.
- OSFA0
hell yeah! if it looked good at the time of press check it should be easy to demonstrate how they screwed up. Ask for re prints or a nice discount.
- Spookytim0
That sounds to me like such a litany of gross incompetence that I really am left wodnering firstly why nobody went the extra mile to oversee such a biog job on press, and also, why in the hell a printer would be 'fattening up' type?
To lose a quarter of an inch off a book size is beyond comprehension... did they trim it wrong? did they condense the artwork? did they actually go to the trouble of re-designing it page by page to make the page sizes smaller in a 'legitimate' way?
I don;t know gramme... I sense your anger and frustration, but I wonder if its enough to blame the printer here and not look a little closer to home. I appreciate the hours and the passion and energy you put in, but I recently had a 2k simple flyer printed up and made sure I was on press to oversee it.
Sorry.
- 'wodnering' is specialist printing terminology.Spookytim