Design It

Do-It-Yourself-ers often enjoy developing their own print material, whether by investing in layout software or even simply creating the designs by hand to speed up the layout process. Modern printing generally requires that a print job, at some point, gets turned into an electronic file, and technology eliminates the gap between your desk and our print shop.

The D.I.Y. method has two key benefits:

  • Save the cost of design time. By doing it yourself, you can cut down on—or eliminate—the labour fee associated with layout and graphics work. A one-time purchase of the right software, along with some time spent learning how to use it, can enable you to go to print with a production-ready file.
  • Get it right the first time. You know your business and industry best so custom work (such as unique forms) will make the most sense to you when making design decisions. You get all the time you allow yourself for trying out different ideas, so you can land on the right design to bring to print.

Use a Computer

Design software has gone mainstream in recent years so that professional graphic design and layout is within reach of most computer users. Or, for certain types of print jobs, the ubiquitous Microsoft Office (and other standard wordprocessing programs) can suffice.

The Paste-Up

At one time, this was the way EVERY print job was prepared in order to make printing plates! Nowadays, creative customers will often provide a paste-up of their design, for our Graphics Dept. to turn into digital files for proofing and printing. This can be a useful method when you have a general idea of what components should be part of the layout, but you need to experiment with how they are arranged.

Simply tape or glue copies of your images to an appropriate page size, to give an impression of how they are to be set up, then our Graphics Dept. will take it from there.

Just a Sketch

This is the simplest method for providing some guidance on what your print design should be like. Draw out what you need—such as a rough draft of your new form, or a general design for your new logo—and let our Graphics Dept. set up a digital proof for you to review.