Laser Imaging Guidelines Helpful Tips for planning your next laser project. Compact Information Systems 7120 185 th Ave NE Redmond, WA 98052 425-869-1379 425-558-2639 www.cisdirect.com
Compact Information Systems 7120 185 th Ave NE Redmond, WA 98052 (425) 869-1379 (425) 558-2638 Dear Customer: With so many details to consider, planning a laser project can be overwhelming Paper size, paper type, pre-printing, perforating, scoring, orientation, etc. Poor planning of a laser project can cause delays and can be very expensive. This booklet is meant to serve as a guide to help you in this process, providing answers to the most common questions asked. On our web site www.cisdirect.com in our Document Library you will find a number of publications that may be of help to you. The Printing Guidelines Sheet is intended to provide your printer with as much information as possible about the specifications for our Xerox laser printers. You may want to fax this sheet to your printer on your next order. The second sheet is a Job Specification Sheet, this is a quick list of common questions we may need you to answer when processing your order. At this site, you will also find information about Media Specifications, Data Conversion, Pre-sorting, FASTforward SM, File Transfers, Occupant List Order Forms as well as numerous other forms that you may find useful. You can print these documents or view them on-line by downloading and installing Adobe Acrobat Reader. You will find a link at the bottom of our List Services Page that will take you to Adobe s web site where you can download this software for FREE. We hope you find this booklet helpful. Of course, if you have any other questions please feel free to call 425-869-1379. Thank you, from all of us at CIS 2
General Information Image Area Laser copy must print at least ¼ away from the edge of the form. Portrait or landscape orientations can be lasered. Portrait Landscape Lasering can be done on one side only (simplex) or on both sides (duplex). Graphics, logos, signatures and pictures can also be lasered. Collating Both the 4635 and the 4890 Color Laser printers have the ability to pull up to 4 different types of stock in the same run. This allows you to have up to four pages lasered and collated at the same time. In addition, the 4635 Laser Printer can provide odd paper sizes for all sorts of direct mail projects. Booklets Brochures Business Reply Cards Catalogs Employee Benefit Booklets Envelope Conversions Flyers Letters Marketing Bulletins Newsletters Postcards Product Bulletins Proposals Questionnaires Reports Service Bulletins Statements Technical Documents Paper Grade/Weight/Inks Any stock that does not meet the following criteria should be tested prior to offset printing; please submit 500 sheets for testing. Acceptable paper weight range from 16-pound bond to 110-pound index/60 gsm to 200 gsm, cut sheet paper. Use oil based ink(s) ink must be able to withstand 400 degrees F. temperatures and 125 pounds of pressure for 35 milliseconds. Never use water or rubber-based inks. Metallic offset inks may chip or flake off during laser printing. 3
Minimize the amount of ink/fountain solution to reduce the possibility of wavy paper. Paper should be allowed to dry for at least 3 days when possible. A smooth stock significantly improves print quality. Avoid rough or linen stocks as they will degrade image quality. All attempts should be made to use Laser Guaranteed paper. No varnishes or coatings. No offset (anti-set off) powder or spray (no talc). Request paper that is 100% grain long. Grain direction of paper must run the length of the form, IF the form is 14 or shorter. If the form is longer than 14, the grain direction must run the width. Perforations must be 13 to 16 tooth, perf down to the non-laser print side of the form. (all perfs must be toward the same side of sheets for all sheets) and perfs should be rolled to prevent problems in feeding and delivering. Micro perforations work the best. No Embossed cards added to stock. No die cuts (must be done AFTER lasering) Scores, if used, must be light and scored down to the non-laser print side of form. Stock should be packed flat and always in the same orientation. Whenever possible send samples (to size) of the paper. If the back of the letter is going to be offset rather than lasered, make sure we can match the font size and type you choose first. We recommend that you allow us to set up both sides and provide you with camera ready art for your printer. If a signature will be pre-printed, have us give you a proof for signature placement prior to printing. Perforated Forms Successful lasering of a form with perforations requires that certain considerations be met in the perforation (perf) process. Try to use 20-pound or heavier paper, and never plan to laser within ¼ of the perf. Always try to use a perforation that allows the sheets to retain as much stiffness as possible: Perforations must be 13 to 16 tooth, perf down to the non-laser print side of the 4
form. All perfs must be toward the same side of sheets for all sheets, and perfs should be rolled to prevent problems in feeding and delivering. Do not perf within ¼ inch of the edge of the sheet; this could cause the perforated section to tear off during lasering. Request a Micro perf when possible. Scoring Scores, if used, must be light and scored down to the non-laser print side of the form. Never plan to laser within ½ of a score. Ink Forms and letters should be printed with laser compatible inks that dry well, are not tacky, and do not offset. When pre-printing forms use oil based inks with a dryer when possible. Never use wax or rubber based inks as they cannot withstand the heat from the laser printer and will smear during lasering. Ink must be able to withstand 400 degrees F. temperatures and 125 pounds of pressure for 35 milliseconds. Metallic offset inks may chip or flake off during laser printing. Always try to minimize the amount of fountain solution to reduce the possibility of wavy paper, which will not run through the laser printer. Communication with your printer is very important. It s a good idea to let your printer know that your printed pieces are going to be lasered. There care many laser compatible inks now on the market that your printer can help you with. Database Preparation Data should be provided in one of the following formats and must be accompanied by a record layout: Magnetic Tape, 3480 Cartridge, 3490 Cartridge or 3490E Cartridge. Label...Standard IBM or None Density...1600 or 6250 BPI Translation...ASCII or EBCDIC Format...Fixed Record Length Block...Fixed Block Size Diskette Formats Size...5 ¼ or 3 ½ or Iomega Zip Operating System...IBM Compatible (DOS 6.0 or earlier) Translation...ASCII Format...Comma Delimited/Fixed Field Compression...PKZIP/WINZIP accepted We can also accept data via; e-mail, FTP, BBS and Modem. See the Transfering Data Information sheet in our Document Library at www.cisdirect.com for more information. We CANNOT accept: variable record length, variable field length, or packed numeric fields. 5
Other Considerations Think about how your piece will be mailing. If it needs to fit in a window envelope make sure that there are no more than 6 address lines, including the endorsement line and the barcode if applicable. This is important to know because the number of address lines may make a difference when determining the point size of type to be used for the lasered piece. Try to provide as many instructions as possible, the more complete the instructions the quicker the turnaround time. These are some of the questions that often hold up a job while waiting for answers: How should we format the salutation? Do you want the file upper/lower cased? How do you want the file sorted? If more than one file/version, do we need to keep the files separate? Does the piece need to fit in a window envelope? If so, did you send a sample of the envelope? Make sure you provide plenty of stock to set-up and complete your job. It s a good idea to provide at least 500 sheets of extra stock--more if possible. In order to help you quickly organize your laser project we have provided a Job Specification Sheet, located at the back of this booklet. Feel free to copy it and send it in with your next job. Scanning Signatures, customized messages, and logos can be scanned and lasered. Artwork can also be created for you, if necessary. Artwork for scanning logos should be provided as cameraready art (the cleaner the original, the cleaner the output). For signature scans, sign several times on white paper using a medium point pen with black ink. Fonts We have a wide variety of fonts available. Our system allows us to use any True Type font. If you have a special font request, send it along with your job. We will try to match it as closely as possible. Proofs During the set-up process of a laser project you will receive a text proof as the first stage of proofing. It is extremely important that you and your client proof the text very carefully. If there is a font decision to be made, or some copy that needs to be changed, this is the time to make those changes. Once the text has been proofed and signed off on, we will begin setting up the variable portion of the lasered piece. After the variable portion has been set-up we will send you a Live Data Proof that contains both the fixed text and the variable data. When proofing live data samples, make sure that you have given us all necessary information. For example: Does it fit in the window envelope? Are the letterhead and letter versions correct? Is the salutation formatted as specified? Are we using the correct signature? 6
It is at this time that you have your last chance to look over the item. Remember What you see is what you ll get, so make sure everything is correct. You are ultimately responsible for your own mailing. Samples We can provide you with live random samples of your mailing. Please request these samples at the time of the order. Special request sample, e.g.; John Q. Samples can also be provided. However, there is an additional tape charge for these samples. Xerox 4635 Laser Printer Specifications Paper Size The 4635 laser printer is unique because of its ability to laser many different paper sizes, ranging from a minimum width of 8.0 to a maximum width of 17.0 and a minimum height of 10.0 to a maximum height of 14.0. Maximum Height 14.0 * Portrait Minimum Height 10.0 Landscape Maximum Width 17.0 Minimum Width 8.0 * VERY IMPORTANT: Since the maximum height is 14.0, if the paper length is over 14 the paper width must be at least 10 wide so that it will fit within the printer s paper path when running in landscape mode. Ink Colors The 4635 Laser Printer prints in black ink only. Speed The 4635 Laser Printer can print up to 8,000 pages per hour. The larger the width the slower the output. 7
Xerox 4890 Highlight Color Laser Printer Specifications The 4890 HighLight Color Laser Printing System offers highlight color printing, shades of one color plus black, all with unique one-pass technology. At up to 92 pages per minute, capable of duplex printing on paper of varying sizes, weights and colors. This production-class laser printer is compatible with host computers, workstations and PCs, and can be operated in both on-line and off-line modes. The on-line mode allows us to accept a document that is in Post Script format. Paper Size The 4890 Highlight Color Laser Printer can accommodate the following sizes: Portrait 8½ x 14 (US Legal) 8.62 x 11.69 (A4) Landscape 8½ x 11 (US Letter) Orientations The 4890 Highlight Color Laser Printer can handle Simplex and Duplex, Portrait and Landscape modes. Ink Colors The 4890 Laser Printer allows for the addition of one color currently available in Red (PMS Warm Red) or Blue (PMS 286). Speed The 4890 Highlight Color Laser Printer can print up to 5520 pages per hour. Folding CIS has a GBR 420 Smart Feeder/Folder capable of folding up to 21,000 sheets per hour. It can accommodate paper sizes from 7.0 x 7.0 up to 12.0 x 14.0 and can pull up to 5 pages, for a single fold. It can perform a number of different folds including fold types; C, Z, V and Double V. The intelligent, microprocessor controlled, GBR 420 reads computer printed codes to accurately assemble documents into address groups. The address groups are then nest folded into packages for inserting. It is capable of pulling up to four sheets for nesting and folding. 8
Cutting CIS has a programmable electronic knife on site. This cutter has the ability to cut sizes up to as large as 30 x 30 and as small as 2. We can begin cutting your job as it comes off the laser printer. This will save you the added step of sending the job to a Bindry after lasering. 9