Paste up printing and publishing techniques involve assembling text and images onto one page and pasting or adhering them onto a backing sheet, which will later be attached to larger sheets of paper or card.
Paste up is the physical act of assembling text and images on a page before sending it off for printing. Before computers were invented, paste-up was the go-to way of creating print layouts; paste-up artists would arrange text and images onto pages before gluing them down, with photographs being taken of their design after its completion to produce printing plates from negatives taken during that process.
Due to desktop publishing and digital printing technology, paste up has increasingly become more commonly used for mockups and prototypes rather than final prints. While desktop publishing allows designers to produce print-ready layouts without paste up, paste up can still provide valuable insight into what the final design will look and feel like before printing takes place.
Paste up was once widely employed in the printing and publishing industries before desktop publishing software such as Adobe InDesign became widely available, which made page layout possible electronically.
Some publishers still use Paste up, particularly those producing books with many illustrations, such as children’s books. Paste up provides greater control in placing text and images across pages than other methods.
Paste up can be intensive and time-consuming, leading to higher costs than electronic publication.
Paste up is an integral component of book publishing, as it facilitates the physical production of books that can be sent off for printing and binding. It’s an efficient and cost-effective way to produce books as it eliminates costly printing plates from production processes.