Answered by Suzanne Morgan, founder, Print Buyers Online.com

Question:
What are folding strikes?

Answer:
Folding strikes are used to communicate the correct fold of a printed piece. A print buyer could use folding strikes on a mock-up of her print job to clearly indicate the order in which multiple folds on a piece should be made. More often printers use these folding strikes as a communication tool internally or on the proof sent to the print buyer. The strikes are used to avoid the potential problem of having someone unfold the dummy (or proof), refold it the wrong way, and then fold the entire print job incorrectly based on this mistake.

Here’s how it works: Mark one short line (or strike) with a pen on the first fold of the printed piece. The line should overlap or touch the two sides of the paper where the fold meets. The next fold is indicated with two strikes, the third fold with three and so on. Then when the dummy or proof is refolded properly, the strikes line up. An alternative to using strike marks is to label each fold (on each side of where the fold meets) with an "a" for the first fold, "b" for the second, "c" for the third and so on.

Suzanne
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