Dummy, What does that mean in printing?

In Printing, we love dummies.

That’s always fun to say, but it’s also true. We love to use a folding dummy as a way to help plan out a new print project.

So what is a dummy?

At its most simple a dummy in printing is a model. Printers and designers use them to help see how a print project will look when it is complete. A dummy is a print prototype.

In many instances, folding a print project can get complicated. There can be many pages, there can be areas you want to line up precisely, and there can be areas of graphics or text that you want to fold in a specific way to create an effect. Staring at a computer screen it is easy to lose how things will look as a final product. To this end it is always important to print things out and have a look.

This is especially important for a folding job, because a digital copy won’t show exactly how things will line up. A digital copy cannot show what a final project will feel like and how a customer will experience it.

So a dummy is like a proof?

Not exactly. Although a final dummy can act like a proof and show how a final project will look, a dummy is more of a tool that informs the whole process of putting together a print project.

We encourage customers with complex print projects to create a dummy when they want to communicate their project to our team (just as you would a client or customer). Physically seeing how a piece should fit together in a designer’s eyes helps us prepare the best and most cost effective plans for printing. Whether you are folding, die-cutting, binding, or are planning some other finishing, a dummy helps everyone get on the same page as to what the end project will look like.

A Designer’s Best Friend

A dummy is a tool for communicating what a final print project should look like. It is also a great tool for figuring out what you want a final print to look like too. Using dummies throughout your creative process can help you figure out how you want things to look. We often find it can lead to new ideas too.

Some might read that and think that it’s fairly obvious advice. We feel it’s important to add the reminder though, because we have seen plenty of projects that could have benefited from the use of more dummies.

And a dummy doesn’t just have to be for complex projects. Even for simple projects, actually printing out a piece and trimming it to its finish size will offer insight into how something will look and feel to the end user or customer.

All of which goes to show that even the smartest people need a dummy for printing!

cutpasteandprint Printing, graphic design, binding, and promotional product specialists in Huntingdon Valley, PA. We proudly serve the Bucks and Montgomery County areas with superior quality, great customer service, and a commitment to getting you and your the best possible printed materials. Our services include: Digital Printing, Offset Printing, Graphic Design, Promotional Items, Bindery, and Copying.