Printing Guidelines & Policies

To submit you print orders, please visit our online storefront at cpb.art.vcu.edu

Anyone can create an account using a working email. It is strongly recommended that you login with your VCU eID if applicable. That will be the black button that says “Sign in with VCU CAS”

On the storefront, you can select from the variety of printing services we offer and fill out the job form to submit your order. Once placed, you can easily track the progression from your dashboard, and pay online when it is ready.

Remember, Print-Ready files should be .PDFs

EXCEPTIONS: We do ask for an outlined .AI folder if requesting vinyl. For booklets, please send a packaged InDesign folder.

Not sure what type of job you need to ask for? Read more about our services under our “CPB Services” page.

Printing

The CPB will print your files as they are submitted.  Please check your size, colors and copy before submitting a file to prevent misprints. We cannot add bleeds or white borders. We recommend working in color space RGB for inkjet printing, and CMYK for laser printing.

Test Strips

Customers are welcome to print test strips on our inkjet media, up to 6″x42″ inches. Fill out an inkjet order form, attach a .pdf of your asset sized properly and specify in the notes that this is a test strip. Only one free test strip allowed per project.

Up-chargES

In efforts to minimize inventory waste, we carry limited sizes of our media. So if your inkjet print leaves a large amount of excess paper, the CPB will include a $5.00 up-charge. Feel free to email us and inquire if your job’s size will incur up-charges. Vinyl cuts should be at least one square foot to avoid up charges for material.

When possible, the CPB nests multiple prints together to prevent waste. The act of nesting is placing one or more prints along the width of a roll to be printed.

reprints

It can happen occasionally where our printers, vinyl cutter, or other services experience problems. We work hard to catch and avoid these problems. However if something slips our notice, it is still the student’s responsibility to check their prints before leaving the Bureau. If there is a print error, the student must request a reprint before leaving. If the problem can be immediately resolved, a staff member will take the defective print and reprint the file in question without delay. 

If the defected print is due to a printer malfunction or technician error, our lab will provide you with a free reprint. If you wish to keep the defect in addition to the reprint, you may do so for half of its original price.  

In the case of reprints, no changes to the original file will be allowed. The reprint will follow the original print specifications.

The Creative Print Bureau rarely accepts claims of defective prints once they have left the studio.

Once the print leaves the bureau, complaints regarding fingerprint marks, scratches, paper dents, color or resolution will not be considered.

If the misprint is ruled to be the designer’s error, you will still be charged for the print and any reprints.

However, if a printer-specific defect (example: wrong paper type, printer smudge, incorrect pagination) is discovered after leaving the lab, bring the print back immediately. Students have three (3) business days to return the defective print. If a defective print is reported more than three (3) business days after picking up the job, management will not consider a reprint or credit.