On print quality, paper strives to make the grade
Sunday, February 19, 2012 | 12:01 am
The Herald has been printed in Snohomish County for 111 years.
Through this time, its presses also have printed outside publications – from the Navy Dispatch and the Seattle Weekly to a monthly newspaper for the Washington Education Association and the weekly paper serving the community of Concrete.
In 2010, the Herald Co. added USA Today to its list of printed products.
If you pick up a copy of USA Today almost anywhere in Washington, Alaska or Western Idaho, it was probably printed in downtown Everett. Every weekday, the same presses that print your daily paper also produce 32,000 copies of USA Today. And on Friday, that increases to 40,000 copies.
USA Today, a national newspaper owned by the Gannett Co., uses 34 printing plants across the country, and it has strict guidelines to keep the quality uniform in all its papers.
"They are newspaper people, and they have standards," said Sue Strong, Herald production director. She said the working relationship with USA Today has brought some positive changes to The Herald during the past two years.
"The Herald has strived for quality for our readers and advertisers, and printing USA Today has provided us with additional tools," Strong said.
"Quality is the responsibility of the pressroom."
The focus on quality has carried over onto the printing of The Herald and its family of products, including The Weekly Herald, La Raza and the Snohomish County Business Journal.
During a typical press run of 50,000 papers, a copy is pulled from the presses every few thousand papers (or every 30 minutes) to assess the quality and make necessary adjustments.
The paper is then graded every day by a variety Herald employees for quality in three areas: visuals, mechanics and registration.
The visual grade assesses how the overall paper looks. Do the printed colors match the original? Is the page clear or fuzzy?
The grade for mechanics assesses things like wrinkles, blemishes or defects on the page caused by the press.
Finally, the registration grade assesses how well the four colors used in the paper align.
Newspapers create full color by combining four ink colors from four separate printing plates. The average person might describe the colors as blue, red, yellow and black. But in the printing business, they are called cyan, magenta, yellow and black – or CMYK, for short.
If these four plates align perfectly, color images are crisp with accurate details. If any of the four plates is off by a fraction of an inch, a page looks fuzzy or "out of register."
"A lot of people think the press is a like a Xerox," said Pressroom Manager Mat Orbeck. "They don't realize the size and scope of printing two daily papers a night. The daily miracle is an impressive feat with a lot of maintenance and attention to detail."
"It is like keeping four cars running in unison," Strong added.
USA Today creates a detailed report to grade the quality of papers at its 34 plants. Strong said that when grading the visual quality, USA Today demands a standard of 85%. The Herald started at 86% and is now up to 92%. Strong added that December was The Herald's best month for quality and performance in printing USA Today, ranking 11th out of the 34 plants.
"The presence of USA Today and their standard for quality has heightened the awareness of all Herald employees when printing our products," Orbeck says.
Each week, Here at The Herald will provide an inside peek at your newspaper -- its people and the work they do. Is there something you'd like to know? Send your idea to Executive Editor Neal Pattison, npattison@heraldnet.com.
Through this time, its presses also have printed outside publications – from the Navy Dispatch and the Seattle Weekly to a monthly newspaper for the Washington Education Association and the weekly paper serving the community of Concrete.
In 2010, the Herald Co. added USA Today to its list of printed products.
If you pick up a copy of USA Today almost anywhere in Washington, Alaska or Western Idaho, it was probably printed in downtown Everett. Every weekday, the same presses that print your daily paper also produce 32,000 copies of USA Today. And on Friday, that increases to 40,000 copies.
USA Today, a national newspaper owned by the Gannett Co., uses 34 printing plants across the country, and it has strict guidelines to keep the quality uniform in all its papers.
"They are newspaper people, and they have standards," said Sue Strong, Herald production director. She said the working relationship with USA Today has brought some positive changes to The Herald during the past two years.
"The Herald has strived for quality for our readers and advertisers, and printing USA Today has provided us with additional tools," Strong said.
"Quality is the responsibility of the pressroom."
The focus on quality has carried over onto the printing of The Herald and its family of products, including The Weekly Herald, La Raza and the Snohomish County Business Journal.
During a typical press run of 50,000 papers, a copy is pulled from the presses every few thousand papers (or every 30 minutes) to assess the quality and make necessary adjustments.
The paper is then graded every day by a variety Herald employees for quality in three areas: visuals, mechanics and registration.
The visual grade assesses how the overall paper looks. Do the printed colors match the original? Is the page clear or fuzzy?
The grade for mechanics assesses things like wrinkles, blemishes or defects on the page caused by the press.
Finally, the registration grade assesses how well the four colors used in the paper align.
Newspapers create full color by combining four ink colors from four separate printing plates. The average person might describe the colors as blue, red, yellow and black. But in the printing business, they are called cyan, magenta, yellow and black – or CMYK, for short.
If these four plates align perfectly, color images are crisp with accurate details. If any of the four plates is off by a fraction of an inch, a page looks fuzzy or "out of register."
"A lot of people think the press is a like a Xerox," said Pressroom Manager Mat Orbeck. "They don't realize the size and scope of printing two daily papers a night. The daily miracle is an impressive feat with a lot of maintenance and attention to detail."
"It is like keeping four cars running in unison," Strong added.
USA Today creates a detailed report to grade the quality of papers at its 34 plants. Strong said that when grading the visual quality, USA Today demands a standard of 85%. The Herald started at 86% and is now up to 92%. Strong added that December was The Herald's best month for quality and performance in printing USA Today, ranking 11th out of the 34 plants.
"The presence of USA Today and their standard for quality has heightened the awareness of all Herald employees when printing our products," Orbeck says.
Each week, Here at The Herald will provide an inside peek at your newspaper -- its people and the work they do. Is there something you'd like to know? Send your idea to Executive Editor Neal Pattison, npattison@heraldnet.com.
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