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The lost art of repro

17 January 2021 Stuart Nimmo Content creation Creative Our ethos Project Planning

Our Stuart unpacks some of the traditional knowledge when applied to digital print, really packs some punch in creating stunning results.

In an age not that long ago, there was a rare breed of skilled craftsman called Repro Technicians. Usually found in something called Repro Houses, or Prepress departments in reputable print businesses. They had a unique skill set, high-level understanding of colour, making the printed image sharp, understanding the magic of half-tone screens and many more mystical things print-related. They were masters of ensuring that that was given to the press operators allowed them to produce top-notch results on press. A classic case of quality materials provided is indicative of quality out.

As technology evolved, Repro Technicians also did evolve. Grasping colour scanning, this was substantially more than your desktop scanner. With equipment which was tuned with fine optical lenses and sophisticated electronics, this produced results which were often tailored to “High-End Repro”. This entailed ensuring good reproduction in the shadows and highlights, correct colour balancing, bringing out detail in mid-tones, sharpening and lots more finessing of quality photographic images to deliver exceptional results. This knowledge is still applicable even in a totally digital environment.

A recent example has been using location pictures from a Royalty Free library. The quality is very mixed due to the content creators being of mixed professional background. Taking some of our high-end scanning and retouching knowledge. A first point can be looking at the details in the horizon line, the point of focus is the edge of the water, so the trees and bushes need to be more defined. The building is rather flat, it is the point of focus of the composition, highlights and mid-tones addressed. The crane on the horizon also lacks the right impression, so removed. Skies evoke so much storytelling, so ensuring an aspirational blue and clouds with contrast and shape, flat of lack-lustre don’t help. Final point, the water needs to reflect the tone of the sky, equally a dirty grey provides no aspiration.

There isn’t a week that goes by, where some of this knowledge is discretely applied to our work. Stuart’s professional development was in this very area; Repro. Ensuring the colour is balanced, points of focus are sharp, retouching is applied to maximise the result. Getting the artwork and imagery right before you print, can really maximise the end result, what goes in, comes out. So why scrimp on your artwork and imaging?

Customer is king, so why do so many businesses forget about the customer experience?

10 January 2021 Stuart Nimmo Customer Service Our ethos

Over the last decade, I’ve watched the business world go very polar in the extremes of customer service. Every time I talk to fellow business owners at any form of networking or subsequent 1-1, the one resounding point is service. Something which the small business world seems to have caught a massive leap over the big box shifting internet sheds.

The simple phrase people like people is at the heart of the small business, we trade with people we like, equally with people of similar values. People understand each other and flex accordingly to meet each other desires. Even Maslow touches upon this in his hierarchy of needs. So the un-educated who drive their transactions only on simplistic reasoning of price, miss the core premises of the underlying intrinsic premise of support, service and satisfaction – I struggle to find an online example which does this truly well.

One point which truly shocked me, was when a professional service provider, a one-man band, said, I need your documents uploading to the portal. This word, portal defines to me bad customer experience, you’re just another number, ticket, automated action, all of which are synonymous with big we don’t value you, internet online businesses.

Go back to my grandparents, they experienced great customer service, and they felt that their hard-earned money was appreciated in their local communities. What makes me say this, they knew their butcher, who would advise and treat them as individuals, they would go in the Co-op and they would be known, their “divvy” would bring them back to spend again as they had a relationship / tie with the organisation/business.

Even if I look back a few decades, in the print business, we had substantially more tied/committed business, purely down to the management of relationships. Interestingly we won business recently, producing a calendar, purely on the ground of how we handled the enquiry, provided answers, questioned their needs. All of this is not an online process-driven, but an individual pathway, from experience and a desire to deliver. The customer said he was put off by the levels of automation. 

The larger the business the greater the need for automation, which is great, but it strips away service and added value that brilliant staff often provided. After all, Richard Branson is renowned for using the phrase look after your staff and they will look after your customers. Which is bang on true. However, we are talking about individuals here, and unfortunately not clone-able. I’ve seen it in many medium-large businesses, who say everyone is replaceable, however, some people require multiple people to step into special shoes of skilled practitioners of customer service.

Capping it off, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. 2020 has shown us that service and support do drive good business, perhaps if you believe in a better pedigree of service, you know where to go.

What to consider when looking for a print professional…

3 January 2021 Stuart Nimmo Print in the marketing toolbox Project Planning

Print when correctly done is a very powerful tool in any business/organisations marketing arsenal. Having the right printer on board is essential, when they understand you, your needs and objectives they can help you achieve more.

Supporting you to get the best from graphic design, production requirements, and your distribution and usage methods. Finding the right print partner can make this easier for you.

Building a great relationship with a printer, you might want to consider the following points

Competence and Quality

Competence and quality are often the most critical factors in weighing commercial print options. Although it can be challenging to evaluate skill levels before you’ve worked with someone, there are several indicators to look for. Look at online reviews, who is talking about the work a printer has done. Look up key staff on Linkedin, this will speak volumes, how much experience have they got? What are they verified for on Linkedin? Request to see samples of jobs done for other customers. Inquire about areas of specialization and if bundled pricing or services are included. Also, ask your printer what work steps they see as critical for obtaining good results. If you know in advance how they prefer to manage projects, it helps ensure good workflow and communication along the way.

Production Capacity

This might seem an odd statement, “real or fake?” be aware of print brokers, professing to print themselves. (A good print broker will have a raft of trade suppliers to help achieve great pricing and performance for you) Does a printer’s social media /website show an actual print studio/press hall? Does their website have a Plant List on it? This will then dictate their specialities and show their potential capacity to perform.

Collaborative power

In this day and age, print companies fall into 2 categories, small artisan boutique or big internet sheds. This will show how they do customer service. The smaller sized firms you will find that the person you are dealing with is hands-on. Equally the bigger the business, you are more likely to have dedicated account handlers. This will affect the style of communication you will be engaged with. Ultimately if you want a relationship which will flex with you, the smaller establishment, once you’ve built up a rapport will reap more results for you.  

Service and performance

When dealing with any printer, they know they are a service industry. Their production capacity will be geared up to meet customer needs (providing they are realistic). However, a valid point to note, if you do require express service, expect to pay a premium, if a business is re-scheduling their work to accommodate you this is a reasonable request. A well-established print house will be able to facilitate a lot more than just print, their connections with logistics and postage services will be advantageous too. 

Environmental Responsibility

A good print house will be committed to environmentally friendly standards and procedures. A wealth of products are available to meet your expectations when it comes to eco-standards, from the specification of paper and ink, and carbon capture. A good print partner will be able to tell you a lot about their processes and their impact. We are signed up to “Printers against plastic” and offer alternatives where possible to plastic in products.

Locality and national reach

For some clients, having a print house in easy reach is essential, it helps them to perform and deliver the right solutions at the right time for their businesses. Equally, some clients do use us from a distance, distance is nothing now with video conferencing. Coupled with efficient courier networks, how you chose to work is down to you. We assist our clients from all over the UK.

The remit of a good printer isn’t just getting the image on the paper. Helping you to achieve more with your marketing or communications is at the heart of what we do. Understanding your organisations brand is key to us. We will ask questions to understand more, make suggestions to further your offering, above all ensuring you get the right results.  

Getting the partnership between you and your printer can drive results which last for years.



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