Help

Quality

  • What type of printing press is used at ASUKABOOK?

    We use a Digital on Demand printing process. ASUKABOOK are printed on a HP Indigo Digital 6-color press. We use electronic inks, halftone dot, and 175 lpi. A color profile has been specially developed for the ASUKABOOK press.

  • What is the print quality of a digital on demand press?

    Digital On Demand printing produces color and texture like an offset press. Our quality is like any professional photography book you would find at a large bookstore such as Amazon Europe.

  • Do you have a printer profile available?

    Yes. You can now download the printer profile and install to the following locations:

    In Windows, right-click a profile and select Install Profile. Alternatively, copy the profiles into the

    WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\color folder (Windows XP) or the WINNT\system32\spool\drivers\color folder (Windows 2000).

    In Mac OS, copy profiles into the /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Color/Profiles/Recommended folder. You can also copy profiles into the /Users/username/Library/ColorSync/Profiles folder.

    After installing color profiles, be sure to restart Adobe applications.

  • How can I be sure that the color ASUKABOOK prints matches what I see on my monitor?

    You should calibrate your monitor regularly to avoid any color differences. Keep in mind that you can see a close approximation of what the printed page will look like by following these steps, however you can't literally make a print match what you see on your monitor exactly as the CMYK printing space is much different than the RGB color space of your images. By following these steps, however, you can make your Photoshop preview what the printed book will look like so you can make any adjustments to the files if needed before sending them. We find the soft proofing process here usually provides about 95% accurate matching:

    1. Open Photoshop and go to View > Proof Setup.
    2. Select Custom.
    3. In the Proof Setup window, Choose "ask_fvo_a.icc" from the Profile menu.
    4. Choose "Perceptual" from the Intent menu.
    5. Turn "Use Black Point Compensation" on.
    6. Leave the other options off.

    You can save this setup so that each page you build can be viewed with the proofing. Generally, it should be very close to your original image. Having a properly profiled monitor is key to a good color match.

    This process is for soft proofing your images on screen only. DO NOT SAVE YOUR FILES WITH THE SOFT PROOF SETTING APPLIED.

    In other words, when saving the files, simply keep them in sRGB or Adobe RGB color spaces.

  • How and why should I use ‘Perceptual’ as the rendering intent when soft proofing my design?
    To access ‘Perceptual’ in Photoshop go to File - Print with Preview - More Options - Color Management – Rendering Intent. Selecting ‘Perceptual’ will give you a "natural" view of how colors should look. This setting must be selected to obtain correct/desired color in your layouts.
  • Can you provide a proof sheet from my album order before it is printed?

    No. But we can mail you a flyer printed on the press with the type of paper used. You can also download the digital file that matches the image on the flyer here. All you need to do is to load the digital file into Photoshop, use the proof preview method mentioned above, and you should see an approximation to what will be printed. This is a good indication of your monitor calibration.

  • Does the color shift during production?

    Color consistency and accuracy is our first priority. The printing press is calibrated every 100 printed pages. This type of control is very rare in the printing industry. Slight shifts in color can occur from batch to batch, but it is very slight. Our frequent calibration helps to minimize any shifts. Most people will never notice it. Keep in mind that we are printing with a CMYK color process, which requires a conversion process from your RGB files. Slight shifts can occur here, and this is normal for any CMYK print process. Using the soft proofing above will allow you to see how the color might change during print.

  • What type of paper is used in the ASUKABOOK?

    ASUKABOOK uses a glossy paper that is approximately 150 gm2 weight. The paper will then be laminated or applied a varnish coating for added protection.

  • What about discoloration and color fading?

    We use special inks that outlast the life of widely used press inks. A surface varnish coating or laminate is also applied increasing durability and quality. Expect your book to last at least as long as any standard high-quality printed book.