Encompasses all the setup steps on a press before production printing begins. This includes mounting plates, adjusting the feeder and delivery mechanisms, setting ink keys, registering colors, and adjusting cylinder pressure. The time and materials used during this phase are factored into the total cost of a job.
Heard on the job
We spent three hours on make-ready for this catalog because the spot colors were fighting us.
Insider tip
Long make-ready times are the main reason short print runs are expensive on traditional offset presses compared to digital presses.
Also heard as
- makeready