My fiancee and I just installed a movie standee for an upcoming animated film, Madagascar. What makes this particular installation noteworthy is that this is the first standee we have installed that actually moves. In addition, it incorporates almost every aspect of printing I can imagine.
A client recently came to me with a print book proposal. She wants to create a notebook for American soldiers deployed abroad. She came to me for advice, perhaps some design work, and connections to commercial printers. I thought several aspects of the job might interest readers of this blog.
I think it's fair to say that a RIP is one of the more important elements of a successful commercial printer's prepress workflow. A RIP translates the arcs and curves of PostScript code into a matrix of dots that can be printed by the custom printing vendor's platesetter or imagesetter. It is a universal translator, a Rosetta Stone for printers. It can print the pages you compose in InDesign or Quark, or if your files are not created appropriately, the RIP can choke and not print your work.
I recently solicited bids for 3,000 copies of a 600-page casebound print book. The estimates I received ranged widely from about $12,500 to $22,500.
When you're a print buyer, nothing is better than a book printer willing to step up and make things right when a job goes South.
In addition to my print brokering, design, and writing work, I install movie “standees” and signage. This side work gives me a unique view of a number of printing processes, up close. It lets me see first hand exactly how a number of promotional items have been designed, printed, and assembled.