Resources & FAQs

Printers and monitors produce color in different ways. Monitors use the RGB (red, green, blue) color model, which supports a wider spectrum of colors. Printers use the CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) color model, which can reproduce around 90% of the colors in the RGB color model. Brighter colors on screen in RGB, like lime green and neon orange, will become dull when printed in CMYK. Request a hard copy/printed proof to ensure that your digital file has translated into the desired color match in your final product.

Refers to the way a book is put together. We offer several different types of binding. Some of the most common binding options are perfect, saddle, spiral, and comb. If you have a specialty type of binding in mind, give us a call and we can further assist you. 

Perfect Binding - This type of binding is common in hard back printing and paper back books such as novels, bibles, and curriculum. Perfect binding is created by adding glue to the edge of the inside pages (the book block) that are inserted in a cover. Perfect binding creates a book spine that can be printed. One of the benefits of perfect binding is the visibility it allows for the title to be seen on a book shelf. Perfect bound books may not always lay flat and over time, the glue can break down and weaken the binding.

Saddle Stitch Binding - this is stapled binding. Common books that are bound this way are magazines and multi-page brochures. These books do not have a printable spine. The staples can be seen on the closed edge of the book. These books usually have fewer pages than perfect bound books. Saddle stitch books must be designed in a number of pages that is divisible by 4. Saddle binding allows for these books to lay flat. Saddle stitched books can only be paperback. 

Spiral Binding - This type of binding is common in school notebooks and journals. These books are bound by one spiral, slinky like, piece of plastic or metal threaded through holes at the left edge of the book. The benefit to spiral binding is the ability to wrap pages from front to back, as well as lay flat when open. Spiral binding is primarily used for paper back books. The spine can not be printed on. This type of binding is generally very secure although plastic and metal coils can bend and break with rough usage. 

Comb Binding - comb binding is similar to the look of spiral binding. Where in spiral binding there is one piece of coiled plastic, comb binding is not a continual loop. Comb binding is punched on the left edge similarly to spiral binding, however, the comb is a spine that has round teeth like pieces that grabs each hole and closes shut to keep the book secure. Comb binding is not as secure as spiral binding.

Document bleed is when color runs to the edge of the trim area. When this happens, there needs to be some color running beyond the final cut size of your print job. Take a look at the image below. The pink box represents the final size. Let’s say the pink box equals 9”x12”. The first image has a white background. No color is printed to the edge of the pink box. This file can be saved at 9”x12”. The second image DOES have color running to the pink box (it bleeds) but is NOT saved properly. The third box shows how it SHOULD be saved. When creating a PDF to print, look for bleed options in your save menu and add .125” all around. The final size of image number three will be 9.25” x 12.25” and will be trimmed down to 9”x12”. 

This refers to the process of creating the identity of your company. Assets of brand identity include your brand colors, logo, mission statement, style of photos and graphics, tone of voice, company culture and personality. Knowing what your company stands for is the first step to branding. Once you understand your mission and target audience, AlphaGraphics Hoover can work with you to design elements that support your brand and develop your image in the marketplace. Branding is an important step to take in the growth of your company because it is the visual language that speaks to your audience and makes them want to do business with you. It is also what makes your business memorable. 

Paper coating can be compared to paint finishes. In basic terms, paper coating refers to how glossy the finish on a paper is. Just like paint comes in matte, satin, and gloss, paper has similar finishes that makes the gloss soft or super shiny. Some specialty coatings can provide UV protection and protect against outdoor elements. 

Uncoated is when there is no gloss finish on the paper, like a paper grocery bag. The purpose of coating on paper is to change the way the ink looks when it is printed. Higher gloss papers yield brighter colors, crisper images and better contrast. Uncoated gives a more natural softer feel. Paper coating should definitely be considered when deciding the look and feel for your printed project.  

This refers to the way colors are seen. Common color profiles  in graphic design are RGB, HEX, CMYK, and GRAYSCALE.

RGB - Red, Green, Blue is the color profile that is supported by screens. When saving images that will be uploaded to a digital display, choose RGB. In the RGB profile spectrum, every color is made of a mixed % of red, green, and blue. 

HEX - Hex numbers are special number codes for colors on the web. HEX colors are representations of RGB, but instead of needing to know the percentage of R,G,B in every web color, a 6 digit number code is given to specific numbers like a spot color ink for a print job. See spot color for reference. 

CMYK - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and BlacK (K) are the primary color of printing. When saving images that will be printed, choose CMYK. In the CMYK profile spectrum, every color is made of a mixed % of these four colors.

Grayscale - Grayscale is black and white and the shades and tints within the black and white gradient spectrum.  

With the development of social media, image sharing has become second nature. However, copyright is something that has to be respected when choosing text and images for any print or digital project. Unless specific permission has been granted in written form OR if you have created the image yourself, someone else holds the copyright of the text, graphic, logo, or photograph, etc and that image can not be used for commercial or personal gain. Copyright or Intellectual Ownership refers to the legal ownership of any original work that has been created and this ownership is retained with the creator unless otherwise stated. 

Also referred to as Trim Marks, crop marks is where the paper is cut to final size. Commercial printers generally print jobs on sheets larger than the actual job. At-home printers print one page at a time, but commercial printers print multiple pages on large sheets of paper and then cut down to size. Crop marks show where the page needs to be trimmed and if the document needs to bleed (see Bleed), if it has been saved properly with appropriate bleeds.

If your printing job requires special shape cuts, our design department will create cut paths in your document to die cut (see Die Cut) the shape of your object. Some common jobs that require cut paths are cut out  letters, custom stickers, and wall decals. You don’t need to worry about adding cut paths to your files because we use a specific profile that our printer recognizes, but if you hear that term in conversation with a customer service representative, you’ll know what it means. Adding cut path for set-up is something that will add a design charge to your final invoice.

The refers to a special shape cut.. Anything beyond a standard rectangle or square will need to be set up for a die cut. Die cutting requires an additional design charge for file set up. 

A logo is the visual representation of your company. Your logo will consist of graphical elements and the name of your company. Logos are the face of your company. The best logos use 1-2 colors and simple graphical elements, and easy to read fonts.. Logos must be created in vector format so they are scalable files for small to large print jobs. 

Rastor images (see Rastor) are made up of pixels. A pixel is the smallest unit of a digital image. A pixel is to a photograph as an atom is to a living organism. Pixels work like pointillism art where tiny dots of color are arranged in a way to make a larger image. Resolution correlates with pixels per square inch (ppi or dpi, dots per inch)  in an image. The higher the resolution of an image, the more pixels per square inch that exists, which means better quality. 

San serif fonts are fonts that do not have extending decorative features, called serifs, on the character. San serif means without serif. Common san serif fonts are Arial, Helvetica, and Futura. In design, these fonts are used to create modern, clean, minimal aesthetics. 

Slogan and Taglines are both short phrases used in advertising and marketing. Taglines are used to describe an overall brand. If a logo becomes a visual reminder of a brand, a tagline becomes an audible reminder. For example, McDonalds’ logo is the golden arches. This image is embedded in our minds to think of McDonalds when we see the logo. We can also think of McDonalds and easily recall their tagline, “I’m lovin’ it.” 

Slogans are temporary phrases to market an event or specific facet of a company. Slogan need to be memorable for the moment but less memorable overtime. In other words, the objective of a slogan is not to become part of the branding of a company, but may be to add a fun line to catch the attention of your audience to promote a campaign.