Press Check: Day One

Posted by Derek Powazek on 1 November 2006.

In Denver, when you pick up your rental car, there's an ice-scraper sitting on the dash. It was just the first clue that I wasn't in San Francisco anymore.

I'm in Denver to visit the folks at American Web, where we're printing JPG Issue 7. After two years of print-on-demand, this issue of JPG will be the first to be traditionally printed on hardcore Heidelberg offset printing machines. I'm here to do the press check, and I couldn't be more excited.

This is David, our rep at American Web. He gave me the quick tour. American Web employs about 100 people here, and more in Southern California, and prints about 250 different magazines.

One of the first things you notice here is that words you thought you knew suddenly have different meanings. "CVS" is a Color Viewing Station. "Web" isn't the world-wide kind, but the giant printing machines that owned the word first. And a "hickie" is a temporary printing glitch - not a good reason to wear a turtleneck.

American web has fields of giant roles of paper. All of it is recycled to some extent. The paper we're using for JPG contains 20% recycled material (there's that 80/20 ratio again). And the paper they use for test prints gets sent out to be recycled into paper towels and such.

Finally the, moment of truth. Today our cover is being printed, and they brought a test print into the CVS (heh) for me to review. It was just stunning. Huge props go out to Lauren Baljeu whose photo is on the cover. It was just plain fantastic.

The cover is being printed on 10-point paper (aka 100 pound). This is much thicker than most magazines, and will give the magazine a really solid feel. Then it'll get a UV-coating that protects and shines. We're building these puppies to last.

Tomorrow I'll be joined by my colleague Ford and we'll color check the magazine's insides and see the ominously named "binding machines." I can't wait.