Understanding the differences between printing make ready and run processes is paramount to grasping the relative strengths and weakness of the the three main production methods for magazine printing: digital, sheet-fed, and heat-set web printing. There is another method used for printing magazines, but it's for very large quantities (more than about 250,000 copies) and will not be discussed here. The knowledge you acquire will aid your quest for purchasing cheap magazine printing.MAKE READYThe make ready is everything that must be done to prepare the job for press, up until it's ready to start the actual printing process. It includes, preflighting, ripping and imposing the file, and making and hanging plates on the press, if necessary. All the make ready processes take place in the prepress department, except hanging plates which occurs in the press room.Preflighting the files is the first step after the magazine printer receives the files. Its purpose is to make sure the files are correct and ready to start the production process by sending the files to the raster image processor (RIP). Enfocus, a leading preflight software provider, conducted a survey in 2008 of over 4,500 printers to determine the most common file errors they experienced from their clients. The results were very similar to files problems documented in a study 15 years earlier. The most common file problems were fonts not embedded in the files, low resolution images, and incorrect color mode images (RGB images supplied instead of CYMK).Once the files are correct, the prepress technician uses a software program to impose or arrange the file to be printed on the sheet. This accomplishes several tasks. It assures that the correct number of similar images are on a sheet to maximize press efficiency. It assures that after the job is printed, it can be bound properly with the front and backs aligned. Finally, for a magazine, it places the pages in the right location so once the printed sheet is folded into a book, the pages are ordered correctly.Submitting the correct files to the RIP is the first step in the actual production process. A RIP is either software or firmware that converts the file into a high resolution raster image, also called a bit map. This image is sent to a printing device usually a printer, image setter, or plate maker. The RIP is where the color separation occurs, providing four different plates, one for each of the four colors (CMYK) in a four color process file.The majority of printers now have computer-to-plate systems which permit them to send the ripped file directly to a plate maker to burn the plates for the press. This increases efficiency by skipping the steps of outputting film to an image setter, stripping four pieces of film (CMYK), and burning the plates manually. In addition to saving time, the computer-to-plate system minimize errors by skipping production steps and increasing automation.The final step in make ready is hanging the plates on the press which is performed by the press department. The plates usually are made of aluminum, and are bent to conform to the plate cylinder on the press, and secured.PRESS RUNNINGOnce the plates are hung on the press, the paper is loaded in the press, the ink is placed into the ink wells, and the water is balanced, the pressman starts the press slowly to make his registration and color adjustments. This is called the press pull-up. Once the copies are commercially acceptable the pressman starts saving copies, and increases the press speed to its running speed.Now that you have a basic understanding of the make ready and press running processes, you're well on your way to learning the secrets of cheap magazine printing.As you probably know, printing unit prices decrease when the number of magazines printed increases. This is true because the make ready costs are distributed over a larger print volume. This is a very important point. The make ready costs are the same for two similar jobs, one that prints 1000 copies and one that prints 5000 copies.For example, you may want to buy 1000, 16 page magazines for $1,100, broken down as $900 for make ready and $200 to run. The total unit cost is $1,100/1000 or $1.10 each. The make ready unit cost is $900/1000 or $0.90 each and the run unit cost is $200/1000 or $0.20 each.Now let's say your magazine was a smashing success, demand has increased and next month you order 5000 magazines. The run charge of $0.20 each remains constant, and the make ready charge of $900 remains constant, but now it is distributed over a larger quantity, $900/5000. Thus, the make ready unit price drops to $0.18 each. Therefore, the overall cost is the make ready of $900 ($0.18 each) plus the run of $1000 ($0.20 each) or $1900 total. This reduces the unit cost from $1.10 each for 1000 magazines to $1900/5000 or $0.38 each for 5000 magazines, or a unit cost percent change of ([$0.38-$1.10]/$1.10) x 100 = -65.5%!Thinking in terms of make ready and run manufacturing processes and their respective charges will help you understand some of the major advantages that one manufacturing method of magazine printing has over the other and help you secure cheap magazine printing.