Whats the difference between a service bureau and a print shop?
The basic difference is that one uses computers and the other uses printing presses. Service bureaus basically take your file and print it out to a high-resolution printer — called an imagesetter — that prints to either photographic paper or negative film. If you are going to be printing to an offset press (for a magazine, newspaper, or book, for example) you would then retrieve the negative or print and take it to the print shop, which then creates negatives (if the service bureau didn’t), plates and, finally, the final print on paper. These days, the line between the two kinds of businesses is disappearing and oftentimes either business does every step in the process. • Help them help you. I know this sounds cheesy, but it’s the absolute truth. When you visit the service bureau or pint shop, know your stuff. Designers sometimes have a bad reputation because, more often than not, they go in with a holier-than-thou attitude. Service bureaus and print shops can have a bad reputation b
