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Photo courtesy of Netflix[/caption]
If you print through a commercial printer regularly, you will have surely come across a situation where something was printed wrong. There are many reasons why a misprint can happen, but true to all situations, it can really be a headache. This type of oversight was highlighted on an episode of NBC's show 'Parks and Recreation' starring Amy Poehler, in which a stubborn sign printer, Walter, errantly prints a long form URL to a JPEG file instead of the actual picture.
Leslie: So as you can imagine, we would have never ordered a sign with all of this complicated nonsense, because, you know... we're not insane.
Walter: See right here on the order form? It says "HTTP://WWW.KNOPE2012.COM/IMAGESCMYK/CAMPAIGN/1239U/09230032/POSTER/.JPEG"
Leslie: ...JPEG. Yes, Walter, it does say that. You're right, but using basic logic, and human intelligence one can surmise that this is a link to an image. This isn't what we wanted printed on the sign.
Walter: Whatever's on the order form, I print. In this case, it was a long string of letters and numbers.
When shown the original image that was supposed to be printed, Walter responds,
"...that's a good sign. You should have used that."
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Here's the both hilarious and frustrating result.[/caption]
It's funny of course, but if anything like this has every happened to you, you know how absolutely frustrating it can be. In this case, the printer clearly should have realized that he was printing something incorrectly, but he likely didn't feel like taking the time to find out or fix it.
At
AlphaGraphics Chicago North we have a situations that could turn into a mistake like this daily (
so does every other printing company), but we try put processes in place to make sure that this doesn't happen. Here are three ways we will make sure that you will never be the victim of this kind of oversight.
1. Send a proof!
It's a necessary step for us to send our clients a digital or hardcopy proof after our graphic design team works on a new piece. This is the opportunity for the client to check spelling, image choices, and everything else. We also check it internally with the client's account manager, just in case we can catch something even before we send out the proof.
2. Skilled and Cautious Printing Machine Operators
The people that run our machines are some of the best. Their years of expertise and experience equip them to be able to catch those errors before they become a big issue. Unlike some massive web-based printing solutions, we have the time and focus to look over each piece carefully before it's sent out to make sure that everything is just the way the client wants it.
3. Commitment to Happy Clients
You'd like to think that all businesses would operate on this principle, but sadly many do not. We partner with a lot of small businesses that depend on our services to grow their business. Because of that, we understand what a responsibility we have when partnering with them, to make sure that everything we print for them is just the way they would like it and at the quality they need to help their business grow. Because when their business grows, we know they will be happy.
We hope you enjoyed a little bit of comic relief and we want you to know that we take partnering with your business seriously.
Click here to find out more about our printing services.