More relevant now than ever!

Despite digitalisation influencing all aspects of our everyday lives, the physical and tactile in-home relationship readers have with catalogues and magazines dominates preferences.

Roy Morgan Single Source Survey (2017-2018) shows that 69% of Australians, across all ages, prefer printed catalogues and magazines while only 9% prefer digital content.

83% of Australians take a Catalogue or Magazine home to read

Catalogues ranked as the Highest performer across all other media channels.

Catalogues reach over 20 million Australians every week.

In a world where anybody can launch a website or send you spam the expertly crafted Catalogue or Magazine is highly valued and, most importantly, trusted by all Australians.

Paper is one of the few truly renewable products.

Read more here. https://printgraphics.com.au/why-we-do-it/ethical-paper-choices/

Yes. We are one of a small number of printers in Australia that have been accredited.

40 glorious years

Yes. SAI Global measure all our environmental outputs, energy, industrial waste through the ISO 14001 standards.

Opacity is the technical term for how “see through” a particular paper is.

Also commonly known as “show through”, opacity is a measurement of how impervious paper, and other materials, are to light. Ideally, the print image from the front side should not show through to the other side of the sheet.

Opacity is particularly significant when printing on both sides of the paper.

To make paper less “see through” manufacturers use fillers such as kaolin, talcum or titanium dioxide. They might also use a greater proportion of pulp which will make the paper thicker.

Photos must be “screened” if they are to be successfully printed with various shades or tones.

Screening is when an area is broken down into printing & non-printing picture elements where the size and/or number of dots per area vary according to tone values of the original.

Screening is a process which Printgraphic’s clients should be familiar with.

Screens are measured as a number of lines per inch or centimetre, eg: 133 lines per inch. This means the numberof dots that could be drawn along a straight line one inch long.

The two main kinds of screening are amplitudemodulated

(AM) screening and frequency-modulated

(FM) screening.

In amplitude-modulated screening, the dots are positioned in uniform rows and the size of each dot increases to create a heavier colour.

Frequency-modulated screening uses the same size dots but, by using what appears as a random placing of dots, more dots are placed in the same area to create a heavier colour.

As the ancient art of origami shows, there are a lot of different ways to fold paper.

In the printing world, we have a number of standard folds. Where possible, paper should be folded parallel to the grain of the stock. If folded across the grain, cracking can occur. Paper can also crack when it (or the coating on the paper) is stretched beyond its tolerance. To prevent or reduce cracking on heavier stocks, paper can be mechanically creased before it is folded.

FOLDING

4pp fold.

Standard 8pp fold (French fold)

Concertina fold

Roll fold

Gate fold

Double gate fold

Double Parallel

Saddle stitch

Securing pages by wire staples through the centre of the book. In saddle stitched publications, the printed sections are inserted one inside the other. This is the least expensive and most common binding method.

Perfect binding

An adhesive-binding method. Signatures (sections) are collated and the spine of the book block is sawn off to create loose-leaf pages. This edge is then roughened before adhesive is applied and the cover is added. Note that three millimetres are ground off the inside margin of the pages during this binding process.

Burst binding

A method of binding similar to, but more durable than, perfect binding; where the spine of each folded section is slotted or perforated during the folding operation. Glue is pushed up between the perforations during binding and the cover is then drawn on.

Wiro binding

Continuous double series of wire loops run through punched slots along the inside margin of a publication.

This binding method is useful for books that need to be laid flat or folded back on themselves.

Spiral binding

Binding with wire in a spiral form through pre-punched holes along the inside margin.

Wiro binding has virtually replaced this method of binding.

Case binding

A publication bound with a stiff, hard cover which is covered by fabric or other material. This binding gives a prestigious result and is ideal for coffee table books.

Sewn books

A bookbinding method using threads to hold signatures (sections) together. This method can be used in either hard cover or soft cover and is the strongest method of binding.

It is used for books that will have repeated use. As an example, the Melways street directory is section sewn.

Covers can be either glued on or casebound.

Thread seal

A method of sewing where each section is sewn together but the sections themselves are not sewn to each other.

This method can be used in either hard cover or soft cover. It is not as strong as a sewn book, but still stronger than a burst-bound book.

Lithographic varnish (Machine varnish)

The process of either gloss, matt or satin sealing a job on the printing press. Printgraphics uses vegetable-based varnishes in all cases, with a volatile organic compound (VOC) of between 6 and 8 per cent.

Good effects can be created with both gloss and matt varnishes and is the most environmentally friendly result.

Cello sheen

A plastic film lamination (in either gloss or matt) offering flexibility, tear resistance and long term durability. Used extensively on magazine covers, postcards, annual report covers and presentation folders.

Ultra violet (UV) varnish

Hi-gloss varnish using UV dryers. This coating is more economical on larger runs than cello sheen but is prone to cracking on folds and can chip when the sheet is trimmed in the finishing process.