There are a number of steps in the printing process, starting from before you even submit your copy to the printer. Clear communication with your printer is critical throughout. Depending upon the complexity of your order, you're likely to face at least a couple of stages where you'll have to actively approve the next step in the printing process with the printer.

But first things first. You have something you want printed. Where do you start?

Prepress. Your first step should be to assemble the text, graphics and illustrations that you want printed. If you're designing your own materials and submitting them on disk to a print professional, known as a "printer," make sure to check with the printer on which file formats will work best for his computer system.

Some printers will design your materials for you. Ask to see a portfolio if you're not sure you want to entrust your designing to the printer. If you already have a rough sketch or a printout of what you want, the printer will typeset the page and show it to you, usually just as a black and white paper printout called a prepress proof. For most one- or two-color jobs, such as for stationery, a black and white proof is usually adequate. After you approve ("sign off on") the proof, the printer will convert the typeset page into plates for printing.

Production. The second step is for the printer to run the project on a printing press using printing plates, paper and ink. To read a related article and get an idea of the different kinds of printing methods available for your different needs, click here. If you're getting a complex job like a four-color brochure printed, this is the stage where the printer provides you with a sample of the final unfolded product as it comes off the press - a press proof - so that you can conduct a complete and final check before the print run continues.

Press proofs are expensive, from $75 to upwards of $150, because of the cost of setting up the press. While it's well worth asking for a press proof when a complex job is involved, give yourself plenty of time to scrutinize a proof in the prepress stage - you want your chances of finding a mistake in the actual press proof to be practically nil. Making changes in a color press proof if you earlier overlooked an error costs you both time and money, because the printer needs to make the printing plates for the color separations all over again.

Post-press. The final step in the process is the post-press stage. After waiting a day or two for the ink to dry, the printer collates, folds, trims and binds the printed pages to create your finished product. If you've specified a deadline for the printer to deliver your project, make sure he's taken drying time into account. Otherwise you might just end up with a missed deadline or with boxes of printed materials that smudge on contact and have to be redone.