gah!

One of our printers delivered the Christmas cards we created for a client and to my shock ALL of them were miscolored and misregistered. Obviously, the correct colors are very important (and we should know, we designed the company's logo and the damn material) which is why we go through the color sep/proofing procedure. But since when is pallid pink a replacement for intense vermillion? And the misregistration of images cause vertigo due to double vision. It is profundly upsetting to see thousands of copies of the erroneous material in my office. The printer has to reprint the entire kaboodle, of course. But the impact on our timetable is severe, given the number of projects we're handling and the virus spreading around.

Gah, indeed.

This is the part of my business that I actively loathe - the printing process. Why? Because it is beyond my control and invariably, something happens (even if you stay overnight to oversee a press check). Mad, unholy things can happen durring this time and what can you do? Nothing, until you see the final product. The only people I fight more than printers are surly waiters.

If only digital printing's costs were within reason, I'd jump. Imagine a world with color sep and highly precise computers given perfect registration.

Until then, I'm on the warpath.

The other printers better not screw up my other projects.