Why should I or my designer go to the press check?

And what am I looking for?

A press check is when you go to where your job is being printed and you view it coming off the press. It is very important that you or your designer goes to the press check to insure the job is looking just as you expected.

You are looking at the colors in the job and the quality.

Color.
If your job contains a color selected from a swatch book, you should be looking at the swatches of the colors chosen and comparing it to the press sheet. If you are running a 4-color process job, you should be double-checking everything to the color proof that was provided to you before it went to press.

Quality.
You should also be checking the quality of the paper selected and that it is the correct paper. Also make sure that all the sheets coming off the press are "dust free". (You would see marks on the paper) Finally, the press operator will ask you to sign a sheet to keep for their records that you have seen the job and it is up to your standards. Make sure you ask for a couple of sheets to take with you at that time so you will have record of what you signed off on.