Audio version for this article: "Manual Printing Services from Dallas" (for people with visual disabilities or impairments).
Hello, we're gonna talk about printing manuals. We are in here, in the Docutech room.
There is a couple of different ways that you can print manuals as far as the printing process goes.
Most of what you are seeing here in the Docutech room is short run type of stuff. There’s digital which Docutech is doing that’s and there’s offset. One of the advantages of The Odee Company is that we do both those process in the house, digital and offset. That enables us to be in a situation which, based upon your quantities, we can either do Digital on lower quantity type stuff or offset if you are doing higher quantities or trying to do or trying to get your per unit price down.
Types of Manuals: Software Manuals, Technical Manuals, Documentation Manuals, Safety Manuals, basically any kind of manual that you are talking about, we can print.
What we are looking at here is the actual printing work. Manuals can be in color such as this, this was done offset, a large quantity.
It can also be printed full color and can be printed in one color, you know, that’s offset.
Then you can have the black and white. This one is was actually one that was done on the Docutech. Notice, I don’t know if you can see this, but the screens are gonna be coarse on the Docutech. That’s why, if you are doing graphics such as halftones or fine line screening you may want to consider offset or know, going in, that you’re gonna have coarse screens in the Docutech type of environment.
You also are able to do all the tabs on either digital or offset. If you are going digital we actually incorporate the tabs into the actual run of the book.
This book is called a plus cover. This is a color cover. If it did not have the cover, you actually called the self cover.
Again another piece, black and white. This one was done offset on our perfecting press for large quantities so we can get the unit has a four color cover.
This is looseleaf, again, tabs, done in Docutech with some digital color in it. We will do that on our Indigo 3050 based upon small quantities or go to the GTO to run larger quantities required.
Again, manuals are always going to be 8.5x11 , sometimes they have stands, sometimes they have laminated covers. So there’s a number of ways to do it.
I did not talk about binding. Binding, there’s also a number of ways in which you can do binding of the manuals. This actual piece is called wiro, its done basically as a nicer high end type situation.
Looseleaf is gonna be more used on Technical manuals lower end, you're gonna be able to insert the color cover.
Again another wiro, just smaller.
This is the prefect bound. It´s called Perfect because the spine is perfectly square. All we do is we actually print, bound the signatures inside the book, then we’re gonna put adhesive so that the glue is inserted into the spine and then finish as 3 knife trim.
This is called Plasticoil. Again it can be done either in small quantities or larger quantities based upon your doing digital or offset and you can do it black and white or color. Plasticoil also comes in colors.
This manual is actually saddle stitch. You notice as it actually has staples on it. The reason this is called saddle stitching is that the ways this runs down the conveyor It´s just like a saddle on a horse. Then we stitch then turns and 3 knife trims.Again perfect bound, perfect spine.
What I didn’t show you is GBC bound. I would not recommend that anymore. The plasticoil or wiro is competitive price wise to the GBC and quite frankly it looks a lot better.
Hopefully this gets you a little bit of the background of manuals printing. If you have any question on manual printing we can be reached on the internet at www.odeecompany.com. If you have any questions you can also reach us in Dallas 214-340-0415 or 800-486-6333.
