Nothing Hard About Hard Copy: November 1998 Overnight Lite

It's really easy...

There's Nothing Hard About Hard Copy

Even though our name says "Copies," we don't do any copying, per se. Copies Overnight is a 100% digital printer, and as such, we must scan and "redigitize" all hard artwork.
Digital technology is a marvelous tool. Each day we receive electronic files on disks, removable media or through modem transmissions. Each document we produce is a laser-sharp original.
However, some of our customers prefer to send us laser prints for reproduction because they eliminate the text reflow problem, along with other headaches such as font substitutions, missing graphics, etc. This is especially true for applications like Microsoft Word, the undisputed king of text reflow. Hard art is also an effective way to produce work from applications Copies Overnight doesn't support—Corel WordPerfect, for example.

Can't Find the Fonts?

The lesser the graphic content of the piece, the more qualified it is for hard-copy reproduction.
Hard copy is especially appealing to folks who are not totally comfortable in the publishing environment and may even have trouble finding the fonts and graphics files needed to produce the job.
Some applications are not meant for publishing at all and cause many problems when sent to a high-resolution printer. These include slide presentation software like PowerPoint, as well as database and spreadsheet programs.
And finally...there are some people just "old-fashioned" enough to prefer furnishing mechanicals for printing.

Hard Rules

Here are some simple rules to follow for hard copy preparation:

Provide original laser prints in 81/2" x 11" format so they can be run through a mechanical sheet feeder. No art on boards, please.

Make sure the copy is straight on the page...crooked copy will produce crooked books!

Remember...you're still dealing with a second generation. Reproduction will not look better than your originals.

We can correct spots and bad artwork, up to a point. But, retouching is tedious, time-consuming and expensive.

Avoid fine screens...coarse screens, such as 65 or 85 line, produce the best results, because the "big" dots are easy for the scanner to resolve. If those newspaper- quality screens are too coarse for your taste, then digital files are the solution.

Don't be fooled by your 600 or 1200 dpi laser printer's output. These units produce great-looking graphics because the pixels are so small. So small, in fact, that they look like continuous tones to the scanner and reproduce blotchy and gray.

Many people mistakenly think that the better their laser output looks, the better our reproduction will be. Not so in this case. The problem is solved again by the use of a proper line screen value (see above).

Use a good, clean, bright 20# or 24# bond paper. Remember, if there are spots on the paper, they'll be scanned in the document. Recycled stock is not recommended for the same reason.

Single-sided output is generally best, though not essential.

That's all there's to it.
So when you need looseleaf or bound documents produced from digital files or hard copy, call the company that can meet all your special needs. Call Copies Overnight.

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Don't Forget...

Copies Overnight runs hundreds of thousands of tabs in various tab sizes and styles...single or multiple banks...plain or with clear or colored Mylar. We stock index sheets on the floor, but also offer you a variety of other stocks in different colors and weights.
We can set type and use our standard layout templates or work from your artwork.
And...we can imprint and insert tab dividers in-line on the Docutech as your document is reproduced. It's faster and more cost effective. Call us for details of our complete indexing capabilities.

Thanksgiving Holiday

Copies Overnight will be closed Thursday, November 26 and Friday, November 27 for Thanksgiving. Have a great holiday!

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