ProjectCenter

When working in Photoshop, one of the things to note before a new canvas is started would be resolution. Resolution here refers to the number of dots used in an image, per inch or what is often termed as ‘dpi’. For an image to print in good quality on paper, it needs to have at least 300 dpi. Generally, this is set as the standard and would bring about a good finish for say, a magazine. For newspapers, the dpi can be brought down an acceptable level of 200 or even 150 dpi for the same image. That’s because the quality of the print also depends on the quality of the paper being used, and the better the paper, the lesser the spread of the ink across the paper during the printing process. So generally, it is good to take note of resolution when preparing work – source images from any stock library, or the settings on the camera and the canvas in Photoshop. The finished image can always be resized downwards for lower quality prints or even screen, but it will be a headache if it needs to be enlarged.

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Verso is the left-hand page of a book or magazine. Recto is the right-hand page of a book or magazine.

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Choke is a term used when a printing image is slightly reduced to prevent a dark overlapped border on a lighter background.

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‘Print-ready’ refers to a graphic design file being formatted to a printer’s needs, so that the printer can make their adjustments in order to print the file appropriately. Although all printers have a pre-press department that can fine-tune files and batch up jobs to a printer, and broker/client must make sure certain actions are taken before it goes to a pre-press department.

The first action is to include “bleed” in the artwork (previously described in post http://projectcenter.wordpress.com/2007/11/01/what-is-full-bleed/), which is about 1/4″ of extra border on the background of the artwork, so that the printer can then print and cut down to size, resulting in a page where the color goes to the edge of the printed piece.

If a PDF is not being sent, but rather an EPS file, Illustrator file (AI), InDesign file (INDD) or PhotoShop file (PSD), then it is recommended that the artwork be outlined (Select > All, then Type > Create Outlines). Outlining is a function that embeds the fonts in the artwork, so that a receiver of the file does not need the incorporated fonts in order to open the file.

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As mention in a past posting (http://projectcenter.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/web-design-flash/), Flash is an animated component that is usually used as intro to a website, but can be implemented within web pages as well.

Keep in mind that entire websites can be created from the Flash software, but there are big issues with that approach. First, it means that your site will probably need more bandwidth over the internet for a viewer to load the website. Second, once the Flash website is created, it is cumbersome to make any changes at a later time. Third, if a client needs to change designers (i.e. the designer goes out of business or does not provide good customer service), the client needs to have and give access to the Flash source file. Without the source file, Flash needs to be recreated rather than revised, which increases the cost of the project.

As a suggestion, it might be a good idea to ask a prospective designer what softwares they will use to create a client website.

Check out ProjectCenter’s services at www.makepapereasy.com.

Bidding is common is most industries, mainly because some industries are based on commodity products. A great example might be the hardware technology industry, where any number of suppliers could be selling the exact same items. This, of course, encourages clients to bid out to get the best price possible.

Unfortunately, clients tend to forget that printing is a service business, and proceed to bid small jobs out to a bunch of service providers. This can and will eventually cause problems for the client for two reasons: 1) the printing business tends to be local in nature, so printers usually know each other and talk often; 2) the printing industry has historically done very well at maintaining it margins.

Printers will catch up to what a client is doing rather quickly, and will take measures, such as coming together with other printers, to prevent a client from taking advantage of the system. Here is a great example:

A prospective client requested to have printing done for their display/exhibit. The client could not or would not provide the specs for the tension banners that were needed for the it, so the printer was left having to contact the maker directly. Their response was that they had already quoted the client directly, and “3 other printers had already called” about this client requesting specs.

So the maker knew they were being priced out, which means they closed out the printers, making the printers looked foolish, which means the printers will most likely avoid the client in the future.

By the way, the end result of this real-life example was that the maker ”screwed up” the client’s exhibit, and now the client has no alternative vendor to work with. 

Check out ProjectCenter’s services at www.makepapereasy.com.

Print On Demand is a term that has been thrown around for some time now. It typically relates to online internet purchasing, where a client can log into a website, load or choose artwork, sometimes allow text information to be inserted and then print and ship to the client.  This is a great source for those that do not need personal service.

There are some drawbacks, such as the aforementioned lack of service. A lot of POD outlets provide very little or no customer service, and rightfully so since they tend to have to sell their product at razor-thin margins.

Sometimes there are stipulations such has having to buy a minimum amount of stock (i.e. shells) that is printed with basic information, with variable information to be inserted online later and printed again. Also, with products such as business cards, it is very common for a client to have to enter information and place an order for each card needed, rather than being able to enter and print multiple cards at a time.

People seem to like the ‘whiz-bang’ features of Print On Demand. Most online sources have a function where a template proof appears on the screen, and when information is changed, the changes take place in real time as you are viewing the proof.

Check out ProjectCenter’s services at www.makepapereasy.com.

Carefully planned predatory pricing practices have allowed national chains to establish virtual monopolies as they drive local competition out of business. And then they raise their prices.

-www.LocalFirstAZ.com

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Can a printer and/or broker rush an order?

The answer is yes, as long as a client is willing to pay more, and increase their risk of error. The important part to note here is the increase in risk. Pressuring anything or anyone to reduce turn-around time tends to allow eyes to stray from the details of a project. The problem seems to begin with the primary requestor (i.e. someone’s boss) because they don’t understand that printing begins as a service, not a tangible product like a grocery store item. Or it begins with a secondary requestor (a person fulfilling a request for the primary requestor, such as a purchaser) that was given a deadline, but let the deadline slide, and are now in a pickle to get the job done.

The moral of the story is that lack of detail begets lack of detail.

Check out ProjectCenter’s services at www.makepapereasy.com.

Shells refer to preprinted stationery (typically business cards) that are stocked for future additional printing. As an example, a client might want to maintain a certain image for the materials, but have a lot of employees to manage.

A client like this would have shells printed, that would include images and text that would not change from piece to piece (i.e. company logo, license information, tag lines, etc.).  These shells would be stocked at the printer’s facility, and when a client’s employee needs stationery, the shells are then run through the printer again, only printing the employee’s the variable info (i.e. contact information).

Some companys offer an easy way for client’s employees to add their own information online (see www.makepapereasy.com and click “Stationery Reorders”). Websites like this offer the employee and/or client a real-time visual example of the piece that are creating. Once the employee approves the online proof, printed materials are shipped directly to the client.

Check ProjectCenter’s services at www.makepapereasy.com.

Independent businesses provide meaningful service with a personal touch. It matters to them that you are satisfied and will come back again.

-www.LocalFirstAZ.com

Check out ProjectCenter’s services at www.makepapereasy.com.

Flash is a wonderful tool to make a website more attractive, but clients need to be aware that there is a cost associated to such a feature. Flash is an animated component that is usually used as intro to a website, but can be implemented within web pages as well. Here is an example of a website with Flash: http://www.cavancommercial.com/.

It is hard to say how much more Flash can cost, but it can add anywhere from 10% to 30%, depending on how much is being created.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

Blowback is the practice of printing electronic documents to paper (blowing them back to tangible form). The typical scenario is when hardcopy documents are scanned, but then hard copies of the scanned electronic documents are needed.

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Independent businesses are unique enterprises that contribute to the character of our community by offering a more diverse selections of goods and services.

-www.LocalFirstAZ.com

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For a Consumer Data Mailing List, there are multiple geographic selections to choose from:

Zip Code, Zip Range, Carrier Routes, Radius, City, State, County, Multi-Location Radius, Area Code, Phone Prefix, DMA Code, Census Tract, CBSA.

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Some clients get put off by being asked about the quantity of their project. It could be that they feel the broker is judging them.

The fact is that quantity determines how a broker (that is to say, a good broker) is going to handle the job in a price competitive manner. Generally speaking, any job under 1000 units will be taken to an iGen printer (a color copier on steroids). Any job between 1,000 and 10,000 units will most likely be taken to an Offset printer (the most typical printing method). Then, any job over 10,000 units will most likely go to a Web printer, that specializes in high quantity and quality.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

Blighted empty shopping areas are created in your community when chain stores re-locate to a more lucrative shopping center, or leave altogether. Literally hundreds of big stores are abandoned each year across the United States.

-www.LocalFirstAZ.com

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If you are new to Design and the print industry, you may already know how frustrating it is to find the right software to keep up with the industry standards and know what each program is designed for since definitions tend to be very vague.

Adobe has long been the industry standard and become synonymous with print. While there are many programs available that offer similar features, sticking with Adobe products will ensure consistency with most print shops. That being said, knowing the differences between the programs and what they are designed for can save a lot of wasted time in preparing artwork. Below is a list of the 3 most commonly used Adobe programs as well as a brief description of each.

Adobe Illustrator:
Adobe Illustrator is a vector based program meaning it is designed to create line art graphics and drawings. It is great for creating logos, graphs, and intricate artwork with higher precision and execution than other programs. As long as the artwork was created in Illustrator (as opposed to being imported) it can be reduced/enlarged to any size without quality loss and the file will remain small. While it has some of the features that other programs have, it does not support them as well . For instance, it has effects and filters but they are much harder to manage and tend to make the file much larger than necessary. It also has type features but doesn’t support multiple pages so it is more complicated to create layouts.

Adobe Photoshop:
Adobe Photoshop is a raster based program. It is designed to apply effects and filters to existing artwork and photography. It is a very powerful program for creating realistic textures, artwork and effects and is equally as good for creating web graphics. Like Illustrator, it combines some of the features that the other programs have, but also like Illustrator, it does not support them as well. In order to achieve the quality and resolution of a vector image, the file could end up being 20x the size of a vector file, so it essential to know what the file will be used for before creating (ie; print or web). Once it has been created at a certain size, it cannot be enlarged without the quality suffering. It also does not support multiple page documents, simply because of the file size constraints.

Adobe InDesign:
Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing program which basically compiles and links artwork, graphics and text into one file. It is designed to layout single and multiple page documents for print. It has a preflight feature which diagnoses any issues you might have before sending to a printer. It also has a collect for output feature which collect all linked artwork and photos along with the file itself and fonts used into one folder. It supports style sheets, rules, page numbering, etc. As with the others, it has several outside features but does not support them as well.

In a nutshell, each program has similar features to the other programs, but is individually designed with one core function that works in tandem with the other programs. If used to their full potential, they will compliment each other rather than compete.

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Lithography is a printing process that uses an ink & water process to create an image. The positive part of an image is an ink, while the negative image is water. When the plate is introduced to a compatible ink and water mixture, the ink will adhere to the positive image and the water will clean the negative image. This allows for a relatively flat print plate which allows for much longer runs than the older physical methods of imaging (e.g., embossing or engraving).

Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithography

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Millions of dollars of tax revenue subsidies handed to chains by financially-starved local governments drain even more tax revenue from our community and state.  

-www.LocalFirstAZ.com

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There are printers in the industry, typically in the commercial space, that will tell a broker that they “work with brokers”. What they don’t tell brokers is that it won’t stop them from calling broker’s clients directly. This tactic is called ‘poaching’, which is a despicable approach to business. Not to mention, it condones a bad reputation of the entire broker community, which is not a surprise when you consider the direct model of print business. 

As an example of how disloyal and diabolical these printers can be, there is a local Phoenix printer that, at one time, went so far as to recruit all the best print sales people in the area, offering higher salaries than the competition. All those sales people brought their clients with them, and after a year, the printer fired most of the sales staff in an attempt to retain the clients.

This is definately the kind of company that brokers need not deal with. Should a broker need to do business with a direct-model printer (maybe they have an offering that no one else has), then definately get a non-compete written up by a lawyer.

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Everything in the world of tradeshow displays is dependant on size, but here are some budgets numbers to work with:

$1400-$2000 for a curved display, depending on size.

$500-$1000 for the graphics of the display, depending on size.

There are also non-curved displays that start at $500.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

Independent businesses raise the standard of living in your community because they take their profits and buy products and services from other local businesses, thus creating more and more tax revenues needed for the community to thrive.

-www.LocalFirstAZ.com

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For those clients looking for that gold, copper or other metallic color, there is a solution. Albeit, a solution that will cost a little more and needs guidance.

MetalFX Technology (www.metal-fx.com) manufacturers a “special” ink that results in a metallic shiny look. Printers have to be licensed by MFX in order to print with their inks. Designers need to get with the licensed printer, to get the software they need to create the artwork appropriately. MFX offers samples through online request. Check them out, and ask your broker to help guide you through this process.

Note that MFX is not the only company out there providing this kind of ink. Metallics Unlimited is another brand that apparently achieves a metallic look by simply adding a silver spot color to existing inks, which may be more of a cost-effective route. The brand that is used is usually dependant on what the printers are offering.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

There are different levels of service and pricing when scanning is needed. Here are some brief details to help clients understand the scanning processes:

Straight Run Auto Feed- Originals that are rubber-banded or loose documents. This type of work does not require any preparation by the operator to being scanned. The orginals must be in excellent condition (one-sided, same size with no staples, clips, tabs or folders).

Light Litigation- Originals that are thick stapled and clipped sections of documents. Occasionally, small sections of stapled or clipped documents of only a few pages may be mixed in, but not to the extent of slowing the output of the scanning. This category includes originals that are all 2-sided, even if considered “auto-feed”.

Medium Litigation- Originals that are primarily stapled and clipped sections of both letter and legal size documents, including file folders, folder tabs, numeric and alpha tabs, which are to be scanned. These jobs require more handing and organization. Occasionally, small receipts or smaller-sized originals may be mixed in, but not to the extent of slowing the out put of the job.

Heavy Litigation- Originals described as “Medium Litigation”, but with fewer pages in the stapled or clipped sections (5 pages or less), mixed sizes of originals, such as receipts, envelopes, half pages, and poor contrast documents that will require adjustment to product an acceptable scanned image. Included in this are documents marked, “Scan Tagged or Clipped Documents Only”.

Hand on Glass- Originals require that the operator place the documents directly on the scanner glass for scanning more than 50% of the time. Extremely poor quality originals, receipts, checks, etc., that require extensive handling and analysis on a page-by-page basis in order to produce a quality image.

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When you shop locally-owned businesses, your money is re-circulated over and over and creates up to 75% more tax revenue to our community and state.

-www.LocalFirstAZ.com

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There are many types of folding, some of which have more than one name. Here is a good cheat-sheet to help understand the basic folds:

Accordian Fold or Z-Fold: Both are similar, but the Accordian fold is typically referenced when there is more than 2 folds per page.

Half Fold: Simply stated, this is folding a page in half.

Trifold or Letter Fold: This has two folds with the panels folded towards the same side of the page.

French Fold or Cross Fold: This is basically two Half Folds.

Double Parallel Fold: This is a way folding the page within itself.

Gate Fold: As the name would suggest, this fold allows a person to open a page like two gates.

Barrel Fold: This is like a Letter Fold, but with three folds.

Then there’s Ben Folds…..just kidding.

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Business mailing lists typically only have a 80% accuracy rate. This is due to the fact that most business data is voluntarily offered by the businesses to D&B, rather than a company pulling information from a database.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

Yes, that is him, which is not surprising since he is now a part of the Phoenix Suns organization.

For every two jobs national retailers bring to a community, three jobs are lost as a result of local businesses closing down.

-www.LocalFirstAZ.com

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Other than trees, most people do not understand the process of paper and how it gets to the printer (printers do not make the paper). Suprisingly, the paper industry is not much different than many other businesses, where there is a manufacturer, distributor and reseller.

Like any other business, the process begins with the paper manufacturers, which converts pulp into paper.

The paper manufacturers sell to distributors called paper merchants. Paper merchants basically warehouse different types of paper from different paper manufacturers.

Then the printers buy their materials from the merchants.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

Local First Arizona (www.localfirstaz.com), who used to be known as Arizona Chain Reaction, is an organization that advocates for the support of local businesses. As they state on their website, “You have a choice of where to spend your hard-earned dollars, and we want to encourage you to “put your money where your house is.” When you shop at a locally owned business, 45 cents of every dollar stays in state - versus only 13 cents of every dollar spent at a national chain”.

We are incredibly happy to be a part of such an organization. Phoenix is a great city, and some have commented that is ‘New York in the 1940’s’, meaning the city has outstanding potential. In turn, we would like to thank Local First AZ for allowing us to be a member.

More to come on the subject of local business…….

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

Reprographics is the reproduction and duplication of documents, written materials, drawings, designs, etc., by any process making use of light rays or photographic means, including offset printing, microfilming, photography, office duplicating, and the like (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=reprography).

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Acrylic has plastic-like feel, but has a glass-like appearance. In other words, it can bend like plastic (it will snap if bent too much), but colored acrylic will look like colored glass, where a person can see their reflection.

Acrylic signage is typically used for display purposes.

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When using the household income variable while running an Occupant List (a basic list of all addresses in an area), be sure to know that the general minimum should be 70k ($70,000) for the list to provide thorough information. If a client is looking at a household income of less than $70k, then it is best to run what is called a Consumer List.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

It is very common for an attorney or legal client to make a request regarding Concordance or Summation. This request is usually part of a project that would possibly entail scanning, Bates labeling, indexing, image conversion, etc. A common example would be a paralegal requesting to have legal documents picked up, scanned, electronically Bates labeled (i.e. BS001-BS1001) and brought back on a CD/DVD in a Concordance (or Summation) format.

Concordance and Summation (http://law.lexisnexis.com/concordance and http://www.summation.com/) are proprietary softwares to the legal industry that allow a firm’s staff to organize case files in an electronic format. Hence, legal firms will request one of the two formats, so that they can automatically load the electronic images in the database. That is to say, if they own one of these software packages.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

Some clients may have heard a broker or printer mention an iGen in the past, along with many other names in the industry. An iGen, or what is currently known as the iGen3, is a digital printing press (http://www.xerox.com/digital-printing/digital-printing-press/color-printing/xerox-igen3-110-90/enus.html). 

Orginally, the iGen was meant for copy shops, that were consistantly running upwards of 5 color copiers at a time, and were looking to consolidate. That said, the iGen has a reputation of being a souped-up color copier, but with fast speeds, no set up (which means no minimum quantities), and better quality print than a copier.

With these attributes, the iGen has become a very popular solution for short-run (less than 1000 units) print and variable data (personalized printing) projects. Real Estate firms and Title agencies love this print offering, because these sort of companies are based off the individual, and individuals don’t necessarily have the money to dish out for large-quantity print work. At the same time, the competitive nature of their businesses does not give them time to wait 3-5 days for a print job. The iGen has become a great solution for these situations.

The iGen is most commonly used to print brochures, books, flyers, postcards, newsletters, catalogs, manuals, Point of Purchase materials, sell sheets and more.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

A Real Property Data List is an extensive list of verified homeowners, and is compiled from county and assessor files. Like the Occupant List, the Real Property List is determined by area.

There are chargeable selections to choose from such as Total Loan Amount, Loan to Value Range, 2nd or 3rd Mortage, Loan Amount, Loan Date, Loan Interest Rate Type, Loan Lender Type, Owner Type, Housing Type, Home Purchase Date, Home Purchase Amount, Available Home Equity, Home Market Value, Delinquent Tax, Delinquent Tax Year, Square Footage or Lot Size, Number of Bedrooms, Number of Units, Year Built, Length of Residence, Fireplace or Garage, Pool, Heating & Cooling System, Age, Gender, Marital Status, Estimated Household Income, Age of Children, etc.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

It is very common for clients to push for sooner-than-expected project completions. This can be directly correlated to insufficient planning, which can be directly correlated to an unintended lack of printing awareness.

Let it be known that, as a general rule of thumb, simple offset print jobs take 3-5 days to process. This 3-5 days would include the printing process and delivery, but does not include designing, prepress designing, mailing, or finishing services such as folding, binding, foiling, embossing, etc.

As for designing, there can be no general estimated time given. Each project is treated separately and requires an individual estimate. Prepress designing, which includes the proofing process, can take as little as 1 day if the proof is approved in an immediate manner.

For each finishing service provided, it is suggested to add 2 more days to the project.

For mailing services, if the mailing list is provided in a prompt manner, adding 2-3 days to your project is customary.

Check us out at www.makepapereasy.com.

Specialty lists are available to clients seeking to get ahead of their competitors. These lists include New Movers, Pre-Movers (people that have put their house up for sale), New Homeowners and New Borrowers.

Have you ever received a printed marketing piece in the mail that is specifically personalized with your name?

Welcome to Variable Data, a process by which each unit of a printed material has revelent information pertaining to each person receiving the mailing. Most commonly, the receivers name will appear in the artwork. Other examples might be birth dates, addresses, a reference code, etc.

This process is done the combination of excel spreadsheets, artwork and mailing software.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

Believe it or not, business card magnets are not that expensive, as long as a client is willing to print via the digital process (as opposed to the thermographic process).

A client should anticipate about a $25 to $75 increase in price when comparing regular business cards. Also, add a couple of days to the printing process, due to the magnet application.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

A Consumer Data List is a list that provides information on non-business related people. As the name would suggest, this data is best used when businesses are trying to get the attention of the consumer.

Some of the free selections that can be made to fine-tune a list:

-Age

-Income

-Gender

-Marital Status

-Households with children

-Age & gender of children

-Households with seniors

-Homeowner or renter

-Home value

-Year home built

-Length of residence

-Verified homeowner flag

There are other chargeable options such as Date of Birth, Education Level, Occupation, Number of Children, Investors, Net Worth, Ethnicity, Religion, Email Users, Housing Type Detail, Home Purchase Date, Loan to Value Range, Available Home Equity, Hobbies & Interests, Ranking Invitiation to Credit Approvals, Credit Card Users, New Bank Card Issued, Mail Order Buyer, Types of Retail Purchases, PC Owner, DSL/High-Speed User, New Parent, Recent Mortgage Borrower, Recent Home Buyer, Child Nearing High School Graduation, etc.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

Clients and brokers alike have probably heard the term “gang-printing”, which refers to a printing process. Years ago, printers discovered that if they took multiple jobs from different clients and ran them all at once, money would be saved because there would be better organization and less waste. By piling up the jobs and printing in batches, printers can schedule and manage more efficiently. Less paper is wasted because all the space is filled up by the different artwork projects. To summarize, the printers will take multiple projects and strategically place them in a format to fit as many jobs possible on one large sheet of paper. They then divide the projects up by cutting the sheets accordingly.

There are three main drawbacks with gang-printing:

(1) Limitations in quantity- because different clients are coming together on one print-run, clients are given specific quantity choices (i.e. 1000, 2500, 5000, etc.). In other words, it would be impossible for a printer to manage effectively and prevent waste if one client wanted 1500 units and another wanted to 2000 units.

(2) Limitations in stock- for the same reasons in point number 1, the printers will only allow for certain stock choices. This is not too big of an issue, because the printer usually provides quality stock anyway.

(3) Limitations in time- because a printer tries to fill up space, they will typically hold off on the actual printing until they get enough jobs to fill up that space.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

An Occupant Data List is simply a list of all addresses within an area. Occupant Lists typically do not include names, and are usually used for the purpose of saturating an area with printed marketing materials.

Common selections available for Occupant Lists are as follows:

-Radius by distance or drive time

-Dwelling type (single-family homes, multi-family, trailers, businesses)

-Route type (city, rural, p.o. box)

-Median income

-Median home value

-Percentage of households with children

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

ProjectCenter recently had a common client project where color images were to be scanned to a digital format, image-keyed, and given back to the client in a specified format. The hard copy images were scanned into a PDF digtal format.

Unfortunately, there arose an issue where eScanIT would not recognize a great portion (98%) of the images brought into the program. eScan IT would pick 2 random pages and key them, but leave the rest unrecognized. This was the only occurance experienced.

The solution to this issue was to simply convert the PDF files to individual TIFFs. Once that was completed, the IPRO eScan-IT program was able to recognize all the images.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

All business mailing lists are compiled through D&B data. Although not the most concise of lists, it is still a great tool for marketing purposes.

Some free options to help tailor a list are:

Employee Size

Sales Volume

Year Started

Headquarters or Branch

Minority Owned Business

Other options with a premium are Exact Employee Size, Exact Sales Volume, Franchise, Cottage Industry, Import or Export, Owner’s Ethnicity, Women Owned, Small Business, Gender of Contact, Legal Status, Owns or Rents, Public or Private, Square Footage, Subsidiary, Phones, Contacts, Job Titles, Franchise Name, Fax Numbers, etc.

Check out ProjectCenter’s website at www.makepapereasy.com.

www.IHeartPrint.com just made mention (http://www.iheartprint.com/2008/01/03/lang_en-my-5-print-related-thoughts-for-2008-lang_en/) of ProjectCenter’s blog (projectcenter.wordpress.com), saying that that companies like ProjectCenter “are proving that it’s worth [it] to share knowledge and engage conversations”.

ProjectCenter would like to thank www.IHeartPrint.com for this compliment.

We would also like to thank others (i.e. www.unioncopy.com) that have been sharing our posts to the public. We really appreciate your help.

As always, we greatly welcome your comments on our blog, and hope you will take the time to do so.

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ProjectCenter recently bidded on a project that included a request for 1500 units of one-sided color flyers (4/0, if you like). The prospect had stated that they just wanted them to be copier quality, which suggested that they were trying to save money. In this situation, the client would be better off taking the flyers to an offset press. To exemplify the difference in cost, these options were quoted to the client (pricing not exact):

Offset: 2500 units (some offset presses will only allow certain quantities, such as 1000, 2500, 5000, etc.)- $400

Copier: 1500 units (ProjectCenter has a .45 per color copy special for January)- $700

As one can see, not only is there a major price difference, but a client can get more units and the paper stock is much better (offset offers 100lb Gloss Book vs. copy paper).

The only drawbacks in this situation are time and quantity limits. Offset presses can take anywhere from 3-7 days to process, while copy work can typically be done the same day, and as stated above, a lot of offset press printers will only allow certain tiers in ordered quantities.

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It should be stated that almost all shirt companies will charge more for shirts that are less than Small, more than Extra Large (XL) in mens shirts, and less than Extra Small (XS), more than Extra Large (XL) in womens shirts.

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As a general ‘rule of thumb’, embroiderers recommend that any text on a stitched piece be at least 3/16 of an inch in height. 3/16″ is the smallest size that will allow verbiage to be clearly visible on any type of apparel or promotional item.

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Some folks are in search of folders that have the reenforced edges, where the sides are scored, folded and glued. This doubles the material  resulting in a sturdier product.

There is a cost associated to this process. First, unless the die-cutter already has a premade die, there will be a charge to create a custom die. Next, this process requires what a die-cutter calls “handwork”. Handwork refers to manual labor, where a person needs to guide and/or fully process the job, rather than a machine doing it unattended.

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Learning how to use color correctly and accurately is paramount in the print and design industry. What you see on screen does not always represent what will be produced on a print press. A lot of time and resources can be waisted when color is not done properly. Below is a quick guideline for preparing color correctly and accurately for print:

The first step is to calibrate your monitor to ensure the closest representation to the printed color. While calibration tools can be expensive, there are many online techniques to achieving an accurate monitor calibration, a good starting point would be Adobe Gamma which comes with Adobe Photoshop,  if you do not have access to Adobe Photoshop, try using an online monitor calibrator.

Once you have successfully calibrated your monitor, the next step would be to determine a color scheme that will work for your project. There are several publications that can assist in determining the right color for your needs. The most popular of which are part of the Pantone Color Resources series titled COLOR: messages and meanings. There are also online color generators that will aid in the choosing of a color scheme, (this is not a swatch color picker, it is simply a basic tool for getting started in determining a color scheme).

Finally, you would need to determine how many colors will be used. If you are working with line art/vector graphics (consists of solid shapes and colors), typically choosing a Pantone color swatch saves money and ensures color accuracy, you can purchase a swatch book from Pantone or request samples from your printer, keep in mind the number of colors used will determine the number of plates used on the press so for cost reduction you would want to keep your colors limited. If you are working with projects that include photographs or images with continuous tones, the most cost effective setup would be CMYK. CMYK is a color process/model involving 4 plates; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Since your monitor produces RGB values most programs will default to this color model, so when preparing artwork for print, you should always create or convert your artwork accordingly.

This is a very quick and basic guide for preparing color correctly. It’s always best to consult with your Project Center representative first before submitting any artwork.

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It important to note that providers will often charge the same price for quantities of 1000 or less. As an example, 250 business cards could very well cost the same as 1000 business cards.

There is a cost associated to setting up the printers for each project, and that charge does not always melt into the overall cost until the project reaches 1000 units.

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In the digital printing process, there is no bleed charge per side. Generally speaking, this is due to the fact that there isn’t as much manual labor involved with digital printing, as opposed to offset printing.

Once in awhile, a client will create artwork that incorporates a color they call copper. Unfortunately, copper is simply not a color and it cannot even come close to resembling the real thing, which is a material.

When an art piece is printed with copper, clients will often be disappointed in the end result-  the copper color looking more like a brown color. The only true way of accomplishing a copper color on a printed piece is to incorporate foiling services. Foil is just as one would imagine- a foil material that is pressed on to a printed piece of work.

The likelihood that someone would use foil for something like a newsletter is very slim, because it can be an expensive service. Foiling is usually used for business cards, since they are smaller in size and foil sticks better to cardstock.

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If you want to move an anchor point on an object, in Illustrator, and have the lines follow without creating curves, here are the steps:

1) Create your object if you have not created one already.

2) Select the Direct Selection Tool, which the white-filled arrow from your tools palette.

3) Choose a space outside the artwork and click once. This will deselect the object.

4) Move arrow over the anchor point you want to move. A tiny square will show up indicating that you have the arrow in the right place.

5) Click and hold, and you should see the tiny square and the tail of the arrow disappear.

6) Drag anchor point where you wish to place it and release the mouse button.

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As simple as laminating may sound, there is some information that is definately needed in order to complete a quality project. Are are some general questions that should be answered before a project begins:

1) What thickness does the laminate need to be (i.e., 0.25-2.25 mm)?

2) Edge seal (laminate goes beyond the edge of the document), or flush cut (laminate stops at the edge of the document)?

3) Apply glossy film or matte film?

4) What is the type of paper stock that is being laminated?

5) Was the print work done with an ink printer or a digital printer (if you know, what type of printer was it printed on)?

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The pricing from embroidered apparel and goods is quite simple;

One portion of the price comes from that actual material you are stitching on, meaning there is a cost associated to the goods (i.e. hats, shirts, etc.). To keep costs in control on this matter, it is best to order by the dozen, and of course, the more you buy the lower the unit cost.

The other price comes from the embroidery, and that price changes according to how many stitches are needed to complete the application. To keep costs in control on this matter, keep your design as simple and small as possible. Naturally, the pricing will increase as the artwork becomes larger or more involved.

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A comment was made about the “print feature that allows me to create one business card and print it 12 up wihtout having to make more then one” in Microsoft Publisher.

The commenter is absolutely right, but it is important to understand the appropriate audiences when comparing any Microsoft (i.e. Publisher, PowerPoint, etc.) and Adobe (i.e. PhotoShop, Illustrator, InDesign) graphic products.

Microsoft products are specifically geared towards the consumer sector of business, allowing people who have little to no experience in graphic design a chance to create materials for themselves. They are incredibly simple to use and output.

Adobe products are geared specifically to the business community, where limitations are few as long as you know and understand how to utilize the program. There is a larger learning curve in understanding these products, and sometimes education or training is needed.

These different sectors don’t necessarily work well together, and that is the reason for the last posting. In other words, it is often that a consumer with an MS creation will expect the same results when delivering that creation to a business with Adobe. Although it can be done, it is a challenge to overcome, because the programs don’t talk to each other well. It is very common to have to completely recreate a graphic project in order to take a job to print.

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Some may have seen television commercials by a large national copy company (rhymes with Plinko’s), offering a .45 per color copy special. Some ProjectCenter clients took their projects over to this copy provider, and the result was not impressive in their opinion. This is what they had to say (paraphrased):

“They use low-quality thin paper that you can literally see through. If you want the normal paper, it costs more.”

“They use a low-quality wax-based copier, and it looks horrible.”

Adage: You get what you pay for.

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ProjectCenter is starting a marketing campaign to increase revenue. The campaign is to last 6 months and is focused on businesses within a 2-mile radius of our main location. Currently, the mediums we already have in place are: face-to-face sales visits, emails, postcard direct mailings, transit shelter advertising and bus bench advertising.

We are accepting comments as to what other mediums, or marketing ideas, might help us with the above mentioned criteria. We welcome your feedback.

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Here is an association that print brokers can take advantage of:

The Printing Brokerage/Buyers Association International

www.pbba.org

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It is amazing, disappointing and quite revealing, when end-users have a negative opinion about print brokering. More specifically, when the end-user has the notion that somehow prices are higher when doing business via a broker, which is testament to how much they truly know about the business. To explain……

How many times has anyone heard someone say ‘I hate my health insurance person. He/She charges too much because he’s/she’s a broker. I order straight from the insurance provider’, or ‘I hate my mortgage person, because he’s/she’s a broker. I go straight to the underwriter for my deals’. Let us even get more ridiculous: ‘I hate my grocery store. I buy my toilet paper straight from the manufacturer’.

The common theme here is that people think that they are somehow being charged more because of that addition layer of service. The fact is that printers offer special pricing to brokers that end-users cannot typically access. Printers would rather that brokers handle the consultation and customer service, so that they can concentrate on what they are good at: printing. This is common practice, an it will never go away.

This structure of business is no different than any other business out there. Looking at the tech industry, there’s always a manufacturer, then a distributor and then a reseller/VAR. Looking at something as simple as soda, there’s the maker and distributor, and then the store and vending machine (do people really get pissed about putting .50 in a vending machine?). Some of the biggest print companies out there (i.e. names that rhyme with Blinko’s and AltaTraffic) are print brokers! Amusingly, graphic design companies like to denounce brokers, simply because they are considered competitors in the print space, but it is very common for them to broker out their design work to freelance designers (it gets incredibly tiring to witness people wasting their energy trying to spread guilt and negativity, when the industry really needs to come together)!

Printing brokering is a legitimate business. It is up to the end-user to decide who they find best to deal with.

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Full bleed refers to printed artwork extending all the way to the edge of a hard copy material (i.e. paper). In other words, no blank border exists on the printed piece.

This effect is usually accomplished by printing artwork larger than the intended size, and then cutting the material down to size. 

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