FAQs
General Administration
1. Can I obtain a print quote online?
Yes. Simply click on ‘Request an Estimate’ and fill out the form. Someone will get back to you within 24 hours. For complicated projects, or to reach us immediately, please feel free to give us a call.
2. What’s the best way for me to get an estimate from you?
Our recommendation is to give us a call and speak to one of our qualified sales representatives. All of them have been in the printing business for many years. Once we hear the details of the project, we may be in a position to improve your project or save you money through a series of questions, all of which are designed to maximize your printing dollar.
3. What if I have a problem with my project? Is your work guaranteed?
Our work is 100% guaranteed. Your complete satisfaction is our only goal.
4. I’m in a time crunch. What rush options do you have?
Our array of world-class digital printing engines allows us to provide same day service for both color and black & white printing projects. We produce color projects on the Xerox Igen, the most robust digital printing engine currently in operation. We are able to achieve offset quality in both personalized and static formats.
5. My order is relatively small. Should I be worried that I will get lost in the shuffle?
All customers and all orders are treated with the same level of attention to detail and concern. We are honor bound to exceed your expectations.
6. I don’t keep the most regular business hours and sometimes I need to manage project logistics after hours. Is there a way I can do this?
Yes. Estimate requests can be initiated 24/7 on the web. Our sales associates are flexible to accommodate after hours requests, if needed.
7. What are your forms of payment and do you require a deposit?
We require payment upfront on the first order. Once the credit application is approved, our terms of sale are 1% 10 days; net 30. We accept all major credit cards and wire transfers. Typically most jobs are remitted by check to our lock box.
8. What advantage do I have going to you versus a quick printer down the street?
There are layers of quality checks in our production process that guarantee you will receive high quality printed materials. Our metrics are scientifically calibrated to ensure that your printed materials are totally compliant with contemporary color management practices. This type of scrutiny does not typically exist at local instant print shops.
9. Can I stop by your facility to approve my jobs as they are being printed?
Yes, we encourage our customers to stop by for press approvals or just to tour our facility. We do this on a daily basis.
10. What does FSC® stand for?
FSC® is an acronym that stands for Forest Stewardship Council™. We have this certification that ensures the paper we purchased is purchased from companies that observe responsible forest management practices.
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Digital and Offset Printing
1. What is your turn around time?
For Offset print jobs, we typically turn jobs around within three working days after proof approval. For digital printing, 24-hour turnaround is the norm. Mailing projects are typically deposited in the mail stream within 48 hours after receipt.
2. What is a “proof”?
This is a tool used in the printing business that allows a customer to review the color and content of a printing job before it is produced. Typically, for routine projects, customers will approve a “Soft Proof” or PDF that is sent as an email attachment. This is very effective for speed and convenience. More color-critical print jobs require a high resolution digital proof. Because our company is G7 certified, you can rest assured that we will match color on press with our G7 matching capability. With digital jobs, we can furnish a “press proof” that is an exact replica of what can be expected as the final product.
3. What kind of printers and materials do you use?
We have a wide variety of printing, bindery and mailing machines at MidAmerican. Please refer to the equipment list under About Us/Facility for a complete description.
4. What does G7 certification mean?
G7 Certification is a special status that essentially ensures that we will match the preliminary proof to the final press sheets. You can read more details about this on our home page. MidAmerican is one of 30 printers with this certification in the State of Illinois.
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Mailing, Fulfillment & Warehousing
1. Can MidAmerican store and distribute my product for when I need it?
Yes. We offer onsite warehousing along with comprehensive inventory reporting that allows for same day shipments of your stored materials. We store for MANY of our clients.
2. How much do you charge for shipping? Fulfillment?
We provide our customers with a variety of shipping options, such as UPS (Ground, 2-Day Air, and UPS Overnight). We also have our own driver along with bicycle messengers. Larger orders ship via common carriers. Pricing is sensitive to the total weight of the order along with the level of service requested.
3. Do you pick up and deliver and is there a charge for that?
We have bicycle messengers and van drivers combing the streets on a daily basis. The shipping charges we bill to customers are very fair, but if you prefer, we can render quotations FOB destination, if that’s your preference.
4. Do you save my art files in the event I need to reorder in the future?
Yes, all jobs are archived under a job number. MidAmerican currently manages more than 85,000 printed jobs. Edits and enhancements to any of these are no problem.
5. If I want to do a mailing, can you help me find a database that serves my target market?
Yes, we can tailor a mailing list to suit your needs. As an example, we recently helped a major apartment complex purchase a mailing list. We were able to identify adult children that lived at home between the ages of 21 and 28 (our customer was ecstatic to get this list). The mailing was a complete success.
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Design and Prepress
1. Do you offer design services?
Absolutely. We have talented graphic designers and professional copywriters on staff. In addition, we offer strategic marketing services as well as campaign development, execution and measurement.
2. What is the Pantone Matching System?
The PMS (as it is most often referred to) System is comprised of 15 base colors that are mixed in precise formulas to create hundreds of color permutations. It essentially replicates the paint mixing process at the paint store. Because of our large volume, we purchase pre-mixed PMS colors from the ink manufacturer to ensure exact PMS match compliance. MidAmerican has PMS swatch books in both coated and uncoated stocks that will guide you with precise guidelines for color selection.
3. Do you create ads? Logos?
Yes, we have an in-house design staff and copywriters on retainer. We create effective ads, logos, illustrations and have access to thousands of photos from our archives. Collectively, they can assist with the design and writing of brochures, direct mail pieces, newsletters, or any other marketing related collateral.
4. What are MidAmeircan's Graphic File Preferences?
Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat (PDF), QuarkXPress. We also support applications that work in Freehand, Microsoft Office, Corel Draw.
5. What are the differences between native files and PDFs?
Native files are 100% editable as long as all components are included (fonts, images and graphics). A PDF file is exported or distilled from the native file application and is harder to edit once created since it embeds the fonts and art inside. MidAmerican can do some edits, but not as freely as with the native file.
6. When submitting photographs and graphics, what is the preferred format for optimal print reproduction?
Photographs and scans are always going to be Raster files. The best formats for these files are: TIFF, EPS and PSD. JPEGs are also common yet these are compressed files and some of the clarity in the picture is lost to save file size. The preferred formats for Graphic files are EPS, AI and PDF. These file formats support the Vector format. (little known factoid – a PDF file is actually a compressed native Adobe Illustrator file).
7. If my photos are taken from a digital camera, what do I need to know?
Most new digital cameras take good photos for pleasing color. It is important to use the quality or high setting to get the most resolution in the picture. The higher number of mega pixel the camera has, the better. A lot of the smaller cameras have small lenses and don’t let in much light. It is important to take the pictures in well lit spaces and use the flash.
8. What are the requirements for enlarging a Rasterized image or photograph?
If a rasterized image or photograph is going to be enlarged, it is important to have enough resolution when adjusted to its final printed size in order to achieve desired quality. In a perfect world the file should be 300 dpi at the final size for printing production.
9. Does MidAmerican have color correction capabilities?
We have a variety of tools at our disposal that can manipulate and enhance color. For best results, please communicate color enhancement requests at the job submission stage. This saves time and money during the process.
10. Can I send my graphic files as an email attachment?
Files larger than 10 megabytes should be submitted through our FTP Site. File sizes that are 10 megabytes and smaller can be sent as an email attachment.
11. How do I attach fonts and graphics in Adobe InDesign?
With the file open, go to File, then Package, Continue; Check: copy all fonts/graphics/update graphics links in package. Then click Package.
12. How do I attach fonts and graphics in QuarkXPress?
With the file open go to File then Collect for Output.
13. How do I attach fonts and graphics in Microsoft Publisher?
With the file open go to File then Pack and Go – Take to a Commercial Printing Service.
14. How do I attach fonts and graphics in Microsoft Word?
Microsoft Word has no Pack and Go feature. The art files/photographs are embedded and the program tries to find the fonts on each computer. When using Word it is best to send the art files/photographs/fonts with the job, if possible.
15. Does MidAmerican have specific requirements for bleed allowances?
An eighth of an inch works well with 99% of the jobs. We can usually work around the other 1% by adding bleed or subtracting depending on the situation.
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