Pittsburgh, Pa., June 24, 2002 — Awareness of the basics of a process helps everyone involved understand the time and cost factors as well as the influence of each decision or step on the overall process. The Basics of Print Production, the newest book from GATFPress, addresses this need and provides an overview of the steps required to make a creative concept into a printed piece. The book’s author, Mary Hardesty, stresses that there is more to planning a printed job than just specifying the number of colors, quantity, finished size, and format. Just as important is understanding how each piece of information within a job specification can affect the choice of processes. In twelve chapters, she provides the reader with practical tips and guidelines on each step in the production process, such as: * Developing preliminary and final specifications for a print project * Determining the size and format for a printed piece * Acquiring, scanning, and proofing photographs and other images for a project * Building the digital mechanical * Printing, binding, and finishing the printed piece * Packing and shipping the finished piece to its destination Plenty of sample forms, layouts, and configurations; definitions; and illustrations, offer clarification along the way. For readers interested in a more detailed study of the production process, throughout the book Hardesty includes references to websites providing additional information. As an added bonus to illustrate the effect of paper and spot varnish on the printed piece, an image and surface comparison section shows the same images printed on ten grades of paper. One side of each paper sample shows a black-and-white halftone, duotone, and four-color reproduction of the same color original. The other side shows cyan, magenta, yellow, red, green, blue, Pantone 286, black, and three-color black solid color bars, as well as small, serif type overprinted or knocked out of tints of each of these colors. Hardesty has 30 years of experience in the graphic arts industry, with experience in all areas of print production from building the budget to getting it delivered. In her career she has held positions that allowed her to experience the challenges of production from all sides—vendors, clients, and agencies. She has produced materials in virtually every available process and configuration from collateral to point of-purchase (POP) and continues to learn as the processes evolve with new equipment and technology. The Basics of Print Production (ISBN 0-88362-333-1), Item No. 1714, is a 160-page coil-bound book containing 70 black-and-white and color illustrations and photographs. The book is available for $45 ($35 for GATF/PIA members), not including shipping; prepayment is required for all orders. Orders may be placed by contacting GATF by phone at 800/662-3916 (U.S. and Canada) or 412/741-5733 (all other countries); by fax at 412/741-0609; by mail at GATF Orders, P.O. Box 1020, Sewickley, PA 15143-1020; or online from the GAIN Bookstore.