Proofing is a very important part of the printing process and should be taken very seriously when received from the sales and project management team. You may request an electronic PDF Proof or a physical first article proof on the actual substrate. PDF proofs are frequently down sized in order to effectively send via email and Internet links. You may see some pixelization in these files because of the downsizing of resolution/megabytes. If you are worried about resolution, you should always see a physical proof on the substrate at actual size.

Large Format proofs are presented in 3 ways:

• Shop Drawings: A shop drawing is a detailed and precise diagram of the graphics which is meant to be printed and installed by our team. Since shop drawings are instrumental to the process of design and printing, they are sometimes called prefabrication drawings. Shop drawings are typically presented by PDF or a Physical Laser Print
  11 X 17 for review and approval.

• Submittals: Are an actual print on the substrate you have selected for your project. We typically select a 24” X 24” area that is printed at 100% on your actual substrate. This provides and accurate check of color fidelity, resolution and overall feel of the ink and substrate combination.

• Large Format Physical Proofs: Are typically a 10% -25 % reduction of the actual size of the finished size for review of layout, color and substrate approval.

All 3 of these proofing methods have their pros and cons. You should work closely with your sales and project management team to select the right proofing method for your project. We believe it is imperative to have a proof that provides you confidence to approve and manufacture your project. We frequently recommend a combination of these proofing methods for your project.