6 Fat Men on the move!

They may be chubby, but these 6 jolly men are setting a fast pace!  Yesterday we looked at 2 sets of printer proofs (color and black/white).  After making one minor change and approving those, the printer got things ready for the press.

I use different printing processes for different products, mostly depending on the quantity required. I have 3 local printers who are all awesome, and all super helpful. When I print Flip-its, it is a LARGE press run, so I use the BIG printing press. To make things as cost effective as possible, I try to fill the entire press sheet, jamming the whole Flip-it series and anything else I have ready that will fit.

Here's the pressman standing in front of the BIG printing press. The press is the big long machine behind him. It even has a little stairway and platform all around it that he uses to keep things running smoothly. Behind him (rather hidden in this photo) is where the finished printing emerges. 

When I have a job on the press, I am "on call" with the printer. (Sounds important...HA!) They told me yesterday to expect a press time today, then called this morning with an exact time for me to arrive.  Before I get there, they have already made the plates with the L*K goodies and put the job on the press. Then they have start preliminary printing, carefully adjusting color so it matches the proofs I approved yesterday. By the time I arrive, everything is looking colorful and nice.

This table is next to the giant printer in the previous photo. On top is the L*K press sheet for our approval. You can see there are a zillion little knobs and adjustments that the pressman uses to get things "just right". I rarely make changes at this stage, but it is possible to make all sorts of color adjustments...on the whole sheet, or selectively on certain parts of the press sheet. 

Here we are...the whole happy gang! Left is my printing rep, then me holding up the pretty press sheet, then the 2 pressmen. We're all happy because I just signed my name and they can proceed with the printing. They tell me it's pretty rare for someone to want their photo. I remind them that I'm their only cross stitch client!

Tomorrow's itinerary...field trip to the bindery!  Remember your permission slips!