Guidelines for Traditional Newspaper Printing - Newspaper Club (2024)

Our traditional newspapers are printed on our industrial scale web offset newspaper printing presses. Find out more about how our traditional newspapers are printed.

PRINTING FOR THE FIRST TIME?

Remember, newspaper printing is an industrial process designed for speed and economy.

  • Colours won’t look as bright and vibrant as they do on screen.
  • Colours may not be consistent. The same colour may look different on different pages in one newspaper, or in different newspapers in the batch.
  • Newsprint is a relatively low grade of paper. The print quality is not as sharp as other kinds of paper that you might be familiar with (magazines, for example), and it’s not as bright white as office paper.
  • Imperfections are normal and there may be marks or creases on your newspapers.

This doesn’t mean that your newspaper won’t look good, but it does help to design with newspaper printing in mind. We’ve written these guides to help you:

Guidelines for Traditional Newspaper Printing - Newspaper Club (1)

PICK THE BEST COLOURS FOR PRINTING

Our traditional newspapers are printed using a CMYK printing process, so all colours are made from cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks.

  • Exact colour matching is impossible - colours will look different in your printed newspaper to how they look on screen. Simple colours, which use just one or two of the ink colours, work best.
  • Colours with a small percentage of one of the inks are more likely to print inconsistently, and variations can be more noticeable over large, flat areas of colour.
  • We can’t print spot colours
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Each of the CMYK inks is printed by a separate plate. If the plates don’t line up exactly, text and images using more than one colour of ink may look blurry or hard to read. Here are some tips to help you avoid this happening:

  • Use 100%K (black) for all black text and details
  • Use single colours, (either cyan, magenta, yellow or black) for small text and details, and backgrounds for white text.
  • Avoid putting fine details or small text in white on top of colour photos.
  • If your software allows it, set text and fine details to overprint, rather than knock out.
  • Set black and white photos to print greyscale rather than CMYK

CHOOSE PHOTOS AND ARTWORK CAREFULLY

Because newsprint is thin, we have to reduce the ink coverage, so that there’s not too much ink on the page.

  • Choose photos with a good range of mid tones, and enough contrast between important details. There will be less contrast between light and dark areas in your printed newspaper.
  • Avoid artwork with very dark areas. Details in dark areas will merge together into one flat colour in print.
  • Make sure that text and details contrast well with the background, as there will be less contrast in print.
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OPTIMISE YOUR LAYOUT FOR NEWSPAPER PRINTING

Remember that it’s an inky business! Newspaper printing is very fast and freshly printed newspapers are folded and packed straight from the press.

  • Ink will rub off onto facing pages (and onto the reader’s hands!), so avoid placing dark colours opposite light or blank areas, including the front and back covers
  • Ink transfer can happen anywhere in your newspaper, but pressure is heaviest on the spine so avoid dark colours in or near the centre fold.
  • Remember that the risk of ink transfer and marking increases when you have more pages in your newspaper, or if your newspapers are being endorse folded.
  • Your design will show through the paper, so avoid dark areas backing onto pale or blank areas.

Folding and alignment isn’t exact.

  • If your design is a spread printed across separate sheets, avoid having text or important details going across the middle as there might be a gap or misalignment between the two halves.
  • Artwork on one side of a sheet may be a few millimetres misaligned with artwork on the other side.
  • Remember that traditional broadsheets come endorse folded (folded horizontally across the page), so this might affect your layout.
  • Make sure that text and details contrast well with the background, as there will be less contrast in print.

GET A FREE SAMPLE PACK

Get a free sample pack to get a feel for how your design could look in print.

Guidelines for Traditional Newspaper Printing - Newspaper Club (2024)

FAQs

What method is used to print newspapers? ›

Publications with shorter life span and lower quality requirements, such as newspapers, are usually printed using a cold-set web offset printing method. The ink is absorbed into the underlying paper, which means that a newly printed newspaper is not completely dry.

What is the difference between traditional newspaper and online newspaper? ›

Online articles are written specifically for the web and tend to be more concise than print, as it makes it easier to read and scan on a computer screen. Print publications can provide opportunities for longer, more in-depth feature articles.

What are the differences between digital news and traditional print news? ›

Update frequency: Print media is generally updated on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, while digital media can be updated in real-time. There are several key differences between print media (such as magazines and newspapers) and digital media (such as websites):

What is traditional newspaper? ›

Newspapers have traditionally been published in print (usually on cheap, low-grade paper called newsprint). However, today most newspapers are also published on websites as online newspapers, and some have even abandoned their print versions entirely.

How were old newspapers printed? ›

Newspapers started on Gutenberg presses – individual type pieces arranged backwards by hand, secured in a flat bed, inked by hand, and a great leverage force applied to create the impression.

What are the three formats of newspapers? ›

Newspapers can be found across a variety of formats. The three most common formats are print, microfilm and electronic, which are usually accessible online. Another format is newspapers in CD-ROM or DVD format.

What are the two basic types of newspaper formats? ›

Types of newspapers

One classification scheme divides this type of publications into two large groups: broadsheets and tabloids. Initially this classification was only based on the size of the pages. A tabloid is usually half the size of a broadsheet.

How is newspaper different from regular paper? ›

Traditionally printed on cheap, low-quality paper known as newsprint, newspapers are primarily focused on news and are designed to cater to the general public. They cover a wide range of topics, including politics, business, crime, sports, and entertainment.

How is traditional newspaper different from social media? ›

For example, after posting, a social media specialist can edit the post, update it or delete it altogether based on the reception it receives. With traditional media, the content typically stays the same. For example, a company that posts an advertisem*nt in a newspaper can't easily change it after publication.

What is traditional print? ›

PRINTING is the production of an. image onto paper or other substrate. Traditional printing processes include lithography, screen printing, flexography, gravure, and digital. The global print industry is worth $898 billion and drives $3.8 trillion in related services.

What is the difference between digital printing and traditional printing? ›

Digital printing is highly flexible, so it's easy to make changes to the package design quickly. It all goes back to the plates. With conventional printing, any changes would mean creating a new plate, but with digital, it just means opening (and printing) a new file.

What is traditional vs print media? ›

Traditional media refers to print media and broadcast media. Print media includes newspapers, magazines, and books, while broadcast media includes television and radio.

What are the disadvantages of traditional newspaper? ›

Disadvantages of the Newspaper

Paper Wastage: A lot of paper is wasted in publishing news articles. People believe that many things have shifted to online mode, and digital format is easy, handy, and accessible. Advertisem*nt: Some newspaper only contains an advertisem*nt, and the news portion is very limited.

What is the disadvantage of print newspapers? ›

The disadvantages of traditional print newspapers include the fact that they can be expensive to produce and distribute, and that they can quickly become outdated, especially in the fast-paced world of modern news.

What are the disadvantages of traditional media? ›

Disadvantages: Cost: Traditional media can be expensive. Limited interactivity: Traditional media does not allow much consumer interaction. Little feedback: Traditional media does not allow for immediate consumer feedback.

How are newspaper images printed? ›

The process involves applying ink to the metal plates, which are then transferred to the rubber sheets and the newspaper. The ink is attracted to the image areas on the plate and repelled by the non-image areas, resulting in a high-quality printed image.

What is newspaper method? ›

Use this method when writing short articles, communications, emails, etc. to make sure you get the key points of a method across: Start with a headline. Then add the main points you want to communicate. Then add secondary points and/or supporting arguments. Then add minor detail and points of interest.

What is the method of printing? ›

Comparison of printing methods
Printing processTransfer methodNotes
Flexographyrollershigh quality (now HD)
Letterpress printingplatenslow drying
Screen-printingpressing ink through holes in screenversatile method, low quality
Electrophotographyelectrostaticsthick ink
8 more rows

What are the two types of paper printing methods? ›

Printing Methods and Processes

The three main processing types in printing are offset lithographic printing, digital printing, and screen printing. The finish refers to the extra operations performed on the print product after the ink has been applied.

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