Printing Contests — Judging is Art and Science

When it comes time to finding the very best, judges are very unforgiving regarding even the slightest flaws in what may ordinarily be considered a dazzling piece. “The real horror is when you know it’s a great, glorious piece, but maybe due to circumstances, (an entrant) did not look at page 250 and see the hickey there,” Ingram says. “To be the best, we obviously look for every little thing we can find—a change in density, register crossovers, looking at solid colors or built colors, where there may be a red, and it’s really tough to pull off. Those issues can often be a deciding factor.”