There’s no doubt about it. We’re in the golden era of buying printing on the cheap.

Pull out the stops. UV coating, process color, full bleed, paper thickness approaching that of 3/8” plywood. Got Photoshop? Go to town! Creative Suite on your PC? The sky’s the limit. Except…

Have you seen the fine print in WYSIWYG? It usually contains the following statement: “your mileage will vary.”

Last week a talented web designer brought in a snazzy new project, a retro-looking photographic business card design. I know what he was going for, and really it looked amazing on screen. How would he know that the final results might approach a mudslide in his living room? A file preflight confirmed that he was way over the legal limit (for ink density, that is).

The slick, powerful software suites we all take for granted have induced prepress amnesia in many a user. The symptom: unfettered faith in the display screen. Sometimes it pays to kick the tires and look under the hood. That might be a lot cheaper than going to press twice.

If you’re a tire kicker, check out this overview of prepress color separation.