For many printed items (e.g., books, booklets, etc.), once pages have been printed, they must be collected and arranged in a particular sequence governed by conventional rules (e.g., page numbering) or by following a specific plan. This process of gathering and ordering is known as collating.
Collating is for More Than Books
While the printed pages of books by necessity need to be collated to insure the pages follow the proper sequence before the book is bound, there are other projects where collating is used to insure the finished product’s pages are in a desired order. For instance, promotional folders or packets may combine a variety of printed items (booklets, brochures, flyers, sell sheets, coupons/advertisements, response forms, self-mailers, etc.) that need to be gathered and collated.
Automatic and Manual Collating
Many commercial printers use presses with special equipment that can collate automatically when the press is in operation (online collating). Or, collating can take place after the printing has been completed (offline collating). For more complex projects, like the assembly of promotional packets mentioned above, collating may have to be performed as a manual operation due to the non-uniformity of the items being gathered and organized.
If you have any questions about Collating, give us a call at 330-597-8560. We’re happy to help you get the most out of your printing project.
Photo by Igor Dresjan A.P.
