What are the correct densitometer readings we should use to make sure our printing matches the proof?
A.: In the sheetfed job work market there are only some guidelines that you might use as a starting point, but there are no actual numbers that will assure success. Depending on who you ask, the following numbers will often be cited: Yellow, 85-95, or 90-115; Red, 125-135, or 135-145; Blue, 135-145, or 125-135, or 125-150; Black, 160 to 180, or so. As you can see, there is enough variation to totally mess up most printed jobs, just judging by the percentage of range of the numbers. The reality is that you must first get the job made ready, then make a decision about how you will be printing it, particularly the density of each color. Then you use the densitometer reading you took off of your own press sheet, and that becomes your target. I ran one job where I had to run the red and blue at a density over 200 to plug the screen enough to match what another printer had previously printed. It looked horrible, but they loved it. In fact, it was a rerun because when we first printed it to a
