FAQ Frequently Asked Questions about colour printing, litho printing and digital printing
 
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of your printing needs: 01457 778788  
 
Main products

'A' Boards
Beer Mats
Booklets
Bookmarks
Bookplates
Boxes
Business Cards
Canvas Prints
Card Badges
Card Folders
CD/DVD Sleeves
Circular Cards
Compliment Slips
Display Boards
Duplicate Forms
Envelopes
FlexiMagnets
Flyers
Labels
Leaflets
Letterheads
Loyalty Cards
Membership Cards
NCR (Carbonless) forms
Pallet Wrappers
Playing Cards
Postcards
Posters & Banners
Printed Leaflet Dispensers
Roller Banners
Scratchcards
Shelf Wobblers
Smile™ Products
Swing Tickets
Tent Cards
Wi-Fi Airtime Cards

Accessories

Other services

An Introduction to QR (Quick Response) Codes

About Colour Printing

Information to Include on Business Stationery

Is your print job standard- or zero-rated for VAT?

Process-Compatible Pantone® Colours

List of all articles

Free articles

Pricing and Payment

Turnaround/Delivery

Preparing Artwork

Frequently Asked Questions

Please remember: if your question is not answered here, just call 01457 778788 or use our other methods of getting in touch. Thank you.

Ordering questions

Do your prices really include all charges?

Yes. Our policy is always to show prices which are fully inclusive of friendly advice to help you get your design right first time, file-checking, top-quality printing and packaging. The only additions to the prices you see on our site are for carriage, which is charged at cost, and VAT where applicable.

Please note that our payment provider charges a 3% surcharge on credit cards, which can equate to a considerable sum on larger orders. We recommend using a debit card or bank transfer in such cases to avoid the surcharge.

Do I have to add VAT (Value Added Tax) to your prices?

Prices shown on our website exclude VAT because most of our customers are registered for VAT.

Some products, notably leaflets and booklets, are zero-rated for VAT and so the price shown does not attract VAT. You can view our pages about VAT and a list of about 400 items to check whether the item you are ordering is zero or standard rated for VAT, or alternatively feel free to contact a professional designer for help.

Can I have my printed work delivered at a particular time?

Yes. We use overnight couriers to ensure your printed work arrives on a guaranteed date and we charge carriage at cost. These couriers will deliver during the hours of 8am and 6pm.

For an extra charge, we can arrange for your print to be delivered before 12noon, before 10.30am, before 9.00am or on a Saturday before 1.00pm. Please call us on 01457 778788 for a quote including delivery costs. Other ways to get in touch with us.

What payment methods can I use?

We accept cheques, credit/debit cards over the phone or via our secure website gateway, postal orders and of course cash. Please note that our terminal surcharges credit cards by 2% (this payment is made straight to the bank; we do not profit from it) but debit cards attract no surcharge.

We also accept payment by direct bank transfer. Please contact us for our bank details.

Printing questions

What print processes do you use?

The majority of our work is produced using a lithographic printing process, which uses aluminium printing plates to form an extremely high-quality image on a variety of papers and cards. We have several full colour (CMYK) and spot colour presses to accommodate every kind of print requirement. For an explanation of these terms please see our article, About Colour Printing.

For smaller quantities we have three digital presses which are very cost-effective on runs of 250 or less.

Our data cards, used for phonecards or membership cards, are produced on a dedicated production line which can provide variable data overprinting, scratch-off strips, signature strips or magstripes (with our without encoding) or any combination.

What is your over/under-run policy?

We operate a 'baker's dozen' policy which means we will always supply more prints of a job than you ordered. For example, if you order 2,500 leaflets, we will always supply you with more than 2,500 at no extra cost. This does not apply to digital printing where we will supply you with the exact quantity you ordered.

Do you offer a discount on future print jobs?

Our prices are fixed from year to year, so whether you are placing your first order or your tenth, the price remains the same. Our research has shown that customers appreciate this consistency, which is why we don't offer special offers and the like – because while they may seem special at the time, future reprints at full price tend to come as a nasty shock.

At Plain-Talk Print, you have the reassurance of knowing that all of our prices and custom quotes are fixed until the end of the calendar year, guaranteed.

Can you print spot colours?

Yes; we are one of only a few full colour printers with the capability to print spot colours as part of a full colour job, including metallic and fluorescent colours. Please contact us with your requirements on Design Advice Line 01457 778788 for an instant, all-inclusive quote and advice on preparing your artwork.

Can I supply my own artwork for you to print?

Certainly. We prefer artwork prepared according to our specifications (below) so that it can enter our workflow directly.

If you artwork is not in the format prescribed below we can alter it for you, but this attracts a £20 conversion charge.

Information for designers

Artwork specifications

If you intend to supply print-ready artwork please follow these specifications:

  • PDF format
  • CMYK colour or separations for spot colour printing
  • Text embedded or converted to curves
  • Images at least 300dpi (1,200dpi preferred)
  • 3mm bleeds
  • 3mm quiet zone (5mm preferred, particularly on small items such as business cards)
  • Crop and fold marks shown
  • Rich/printer's black: 40C 40M 40Y 100K

Downloadable templates (PDF format)

You may wish to use a template to ensure your artwork meets our specifications. This is not obligatory providing your file meets the specifications above.

To use any of these templates, right-click on the link and select 'Save File As' or 'Save Target As'.

Standard Sizes

Bag Headers

Beermats

A6
Third A4 (99 x 210mm)*
A5
A4
A3
*sometimes called 'DL'
.

Type A (short)
Type B (long)

Round
Square

Boxes

Business cards

CD/DVD Products

B1
B2
B3
B4
B5
B6
B7
Playing card box
.

85 x 55mm
90 x 50mm
Double (110 x 85mm)
Double (170 x 55mm)

Booklet
Tray insert
Label
Sleeve A (open-ended)
Sleeve B (wrap-around)

Datacards

Envelopes

Folders

All types

C4 plain
C4 windowed
C5 plain
C5 windowed
C6 plain*
DL plain
DL windowed
*not available windowed

F1, no gusset: A4 | A5
F2, no gusset: A4 | A5
F3, 2mm gusset: A4 | A5
F3, 4mm gusset: A4 | A5
F4, 2mm gusset: A4 | A5
F4, 4mm gusset: A4 | A5
F5, no gusset: A4 | A5
F6, 2mm gusset: A4 | A5
F6, 4mm gusset: A4 | A5
F7, no gusset: A4 | A5
F8, 2mm gusset: A4 | A5
F8, 4mm gusset: A4 | A5
F10, no gusset: A4 | A5
F11, 2mm gusset: A4 | A5
F11, 4mm gusset: A4 | A5
.

Shelf-Edge Wobblers

Tent Cards

Wristbands

75 x 50mm
75 x 75mm
125 x 100mm
150 x 150mm
200 x 100mm
200 x 150mm

Type A (landscape)
Type B (portrait)

All types

Sending files to us

Our email address (mail@plaintalkprint.com) will accept files of up to 15MB, which should be adequate for most files. If you need to send larger files, please upload your file using a service such as YouSendIt Link opens in a new window and then contact us with the download link so we can retrieve your file.

We can of course accept files on CD or DVD by post but please be aware that the turnaround time will only start from when we receive your disc. Due to the low cost of media we do not return discs unless specifically requested.

Plant list

Prepress

  • Kodak Creo Prepress with Adobe Acrobat rips
  • Kodak Magnus VLF platesetter with square spot laser
  • Two Kodak Creo Quantum B1 platesetters with square spot lasers

Press Hall

  • KBA 162a five colour and coating press
  • KBA B1 five colour press
  • Roland 700 B1 six colour press (perfecting after the first unit)
  • Roland 700 B1 five colour press
  • Heidelberg SM52 five colour press
  • Heidelberg SM52 four colour press
  • Heidelberg SM52 GTO two colour press

Digital Press Hall

  • Indigo 1000 press
  • Xeikon 5000 A2+ press
  • Canon IR105 high speed press
  • Agfa inkjet poster printers (dye and solvent based)
  • B0 laminating and encapsulating equipment
  • CMC six station direct mail envelope inserter

Finishing

  • Polar 176 programmatic guillotine
  • Two Polar 137 programmatic guillotines
  • Polar 90 programmatic guillotine
  • Five Heidelberg platen machines with hot foiling, numbering and cutting adaptations
  • B1 autobond perfecting laminating machine
  • Heidelberg SRA1 cylinder cutting and creasing machine
  • Two Lamina paper-to-board hairline register mounting machines
  • Atlantic Zeiser plastic card numbering, signature strip, scratch off and magstripe line with full feedback checking
  • Spartanics plastic card cutting machine
  • MBO folding system with A1 to A4 folding capability
  • Coltec 56 station horizontal collator
  • Wohlenberg hot glue perfect binding line
  • Muller Martin gather, stitch and trim line
  • Bernhardt box gluing machine
  • Busch B4 ram punch

What do our customers say about us?

All of our paper is produced from sustainable sources. Our Environmental Statement explains more about the steps we're taking to minimise our impact on the environment.

We accept Mastercard, Visa and UK debit cards

 

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