A Guide to Filing Art

Abig part of organizing your business is creating an efficient and effective filing system for art.

Most printers favor an oversized envelope or jacket that can easily handle positives, a printed sample of the design and the imprint instructions.
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This solution is great while the job is in progress and these materials are traveling all around the shop, but after the job is done they need to be stored or filed in such a manner that you can find them fast. In fact, storing art where everybody can find it again?just like you do with business records such as invoices and statements?is more than half the battle.

Basic Materials

Start with the envelopes themselves. Generic X-ray envelopes, made from craft paper, can be found in any town with a medical supply company and are a great way to store or route artwork. These envelopes are specifically designed to hold oversized films, and unlike large mailing envelopes, they don't have flaps that get in the way or glue themselves shut on muggy summer days. Nor do they have metal clasps that can scratch the delicate image on your positives.

For a little more money, Smead (www.smead.com), an office supply company based in Hastings, Minn., offers stiff manila folders called X-Ray Jackets that come blank or printed with areas for information.

Foster Manufacturing (www.foster mfg.com) of Warminster, Penn., and Jalema (www.jalemaofficesupplies.com) of Elkridge, Md., offer professional filing systems featuring custom hanging folders designed for storing X-rays. You can also opt to build your own holders?they won't be as attractive as commercial racks, but they'll be much less expensive.

Managing Originals

Filing art entails more than just stowing away the positives. Original art supplied by the customer and computer files each need to be stored and available at a moment's notice. Original art can come in many forms and usually can't be replaced, so part of your procedure should be to list the original art on the work order. Note whether it should be shipped back to the customer when the job is delivered. Such a notation might read, "120 medium red shirts and 2 pieces of original art." This makes the customer responsible for keeping track of the original art; you only have to keep up with the separations you made.

I use three methods to file designs in case there is a re-order: by customer, by design number and by design name. Please notice I used the term "designs" instead of "jobs." A job consists of printing one or more designs on a garment.

A design, however, is special. Each design should have a unique design number, even if it's a different size than the design or a different color.

Sales people and artists may grumble, but I insist each version of a design be issued a unique number. This prevents mistakes when the design is printed again. When a work order requires you to reprint design No. 48192, you can eliminate confusion about image size and colors by simply looking up the imprint instructions for design No. 48192. The imprint instructions will tell you the image size, placement and color.

Record Keeping 101

Of course, you have to keep good records to be able to use the information during repeats or if the system breaks down. This is why I insist that the art department create the imprint instructions before the design goes to the screen room.

No one in your shop will remember the exact name of each design, so start with the customer name and look in the formal invoice records for the last time you printed the design. Sales people can look up the design number when they write up the repeat order. I keep a ledger in each customer's invoice file folder that lists the designs printed for that customer and the dates the job was done. This can speed up the search for the design even if the old work order or invoice is missing from the file folder.

I also label the printing screens with the design name and number (not screen serial numbers or job numbers) so they are easy to find when filed on shelves. Don't forget to shift the remaining screens up as you purge screens for reclamation to make sure they're all still in order.

Further, I label the screen with its order in the print sequence and the number of screens in the design. Design 48192-3-6 is the third screen in a 6-screen set. Not only does this leave little to think about during setup, you can also tell instantly if a screen is missing.

Technological Tricks

In the past I've used hand-written logbooks and vertical-file systems to index design names and numbers. These days, the most powerful method for looking up and cross-indexing records is via computer. I use a scanner, digital camera or the version of the computer generated art itself to record each design in a database program such as FileMaker, Microsoft's Access or FoxPro, or even an HTML file.

Getting the design into digital form is much easier than it used to be because most designs are already generated by computer programs such as CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. All you have to do is save a 200 pixel x 150 pixel version of the design for your records. I save the picture in the JPG format because it is typically 10% the size of a TIF or PSD file that I make the separations from. The image will look fine when printed on a color inkjet or displayed on a monitor. Save the picture using the design number as the name?48192.jpg.

Each record should include a field for a picture saved in a standard image size such as 200 pixels x 150 pixels, or 1/16th of the common 800 pixel x 600 pixel display size. You should also add fields for customer; date; design name; design number; mesh count; blade; and ink colors in print sequence or head numbers if you flash and use cooling stations.

If you're not comfortable working in a database program, you can use a word processing program such as Microsoft Word. Create a template file and insert the picture. Save the document as the design number (i.e. 48192.doc). To save space, link to the inserted picture rather than saving a copy of the picture in the document.

For less than $500 each, you can buy a set of low-powered computers, network them together and place them on the print floor near the press to display imprint instructions for each job. If the details are saved in the computer, you'll never have to look for the design records again. Instead, just punch up the instructions on-screen.

It's simple enough to look up jobs based on any variable, but the design number is best because the number is unique. You'll never have to worry about getting out-of-date imprint instructions because they'll be right there on the computer screen. Even repeat jobs won't require any additional work?the design is already in the computer.

Paper positives from laser printers are popular ways to save printouts of artwork because vellum finish paper costs about about a quarter of what laser film runs. Instead, consider throwing away paper positives when the job is finished and keeping an electronic record of the design and imprint instructions. Not only can this save you the time and expense of filing the design, it's really the ultimate filing system because, again, it's all in the computer.

As you design or change your system, remember to create a flow chart of how the files should ideally move through your shop, even if you only have two people on staff. You'll hire more eventually, and it will be easier for new people to follow the plan if you have it written out.

For some people, filing is a nuisance. For others, it's almost a sacred act. But whether you approach it willingly or reluctantly, the important thing is to get it done.

A screen printer since 1979, Richard Greaves specializes in fine detail printing on textiles and pioneered the four-color printing process on T-shirts. He's also a member of the Academy of Screen Printing Technology. Contact him at rgreaves@lawsonsp.com.