Thank you all for making this project happen! Here’s a quick update…
I’m finishing up the book, and fact-checking with my sources. The poster is color-corrected, proofed and sent to the printer!
Proofing
Back in the day, we’d send our repro art to a colorhouse. It would be photographed and layers of negatives would be stripped together with tape on large pin-registered sheets called masks. (The old guys who did this work were called “strippers,” I kid you not!)
These layered masks were re-shot into a set of composite film negatives (four negs for full-color process printing, plus extras if you were using spot varnish) and relayed back to us with a color proof.
Today entire, old-school industries are gone — wax-type and photostats from typesetters, even proofs and printing negs from colorhouses. Everything is done on a personal computer with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Just hit the “Save” button.
Printing
Emailed to the printer. Tag. They’re IT…
Received an excited phone call from the printer’s rep after reviewing the file. He refuses to print on felt finish. “It will wick too much and flatten out the details! You can’t print on felt.”
[Wicking – the capillary action of ink absorbing and spreading into the fibres of paper. Softer paper flattens out details rather than a hard-calendared or coated paper.]
“Okay, okay,” I relent. “But I need to number them in pencil. No gloss!”
[Gloss stocks have a coating so the ink does not absorb into the paper as much.]
“You know what the the press foreman will always recommend — a gloss finish to hold the details…”
“No gloss.”
“How about a smooth sheet of the same manufacture, rather than a felt? We can tighten up the dots too. And add a matte AQ for the penciling…”
[AQ – Aqueous Coating is a clear water-based coating that seals the paper and prevents fingerprints. Can be clear, tinted, gloss or matte.]
Anyone opposed to me changing the paper stock from felt-finish to smooth? It’ll look better…
What’s the story on the posters? We’re they ever printed? If so, are any still available?
Yes they were, and yes they are! Go to the top of the page and click on SHOP, or go to https://shop.classicsandiego.com/