I recently discovered the cornucopia of free, online documentaries from the Frontline television series here, and watching several of them crystallized my thinking about mass media. You shouldn't trust any of it until you know, with certainty, who paid for it. I didn't really need Frontline to tell me this, they just hammered the point home.
In the printing business the functional equivalent of mass media is direct marketing. Financial service companies, for example, spent millions of dollars every year to print and mail solicitations for credit cards, etc. As with other media, no one receives these messages by accident...the recipients are carefully screened to insure high ROI. The banks, who care a lot about results, use printed direct marketing because they know it works well when the audience is sufficiently targeted.
Hold that thought for just a moment, we'll come back to it after what will seem like a non sequitur.
I have enjoyed following a very smart guy in Tallahassee named Michael Calienes. His two endeavors are Transplant here and The Conversation Factory (on facebook) here. Michael has a lot to say about the one-to-one, organic marketing opportunities available via social media. His approach might be summed up as, (if I may be so bold), 'You develop an honest message you can take directly to actual people, and, if they identify with it, they will pass it on to the like-minded'. No one is coerced, no one has the wool pulled over their eyes, and no one is bamboozled into doing anything. It is, in fact, just like a conversation, or series of conversations...let's call it Micro Media so it can be juxtaposed to its' evil big brother, Mass Media.
Why does a social media approach appeal to someone in the printing business?
It's because I believe the successful, (though ethically dubious), model from the credit card companies can be scaled down to a Micro Media level, and work just as effectively for a Micro user. If the contact data is sufficiently targeted, a well designed printed item can reach out and touch people in a way which is uniquely effective. If the quantity is low, the postage cost is, (for once), manageable, as is the design expense for something simple.
In a marketing environment gone mostly online, a high quality printed item is now somewhat unique. The fact that you take this step builds confidence that your product or service is for real...it's tangible and perceived as part of your genuine, honest message. Most important, because of new printing technologies, it doesn't have to cost a lot or take a long time to produce.
Take a look into micro printing...this post just skims the surface of what's possible. How about 200 handouts to serve as take-away from your conference presentation? No sweat, it's done in a few days. As I said, Michael Calienes is a smart guy, and that is exactly what he did two weeks ago.
Looking forward to your comments online,
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
What does your next best friend look like?
Ever notice the excitement when two young dogs meet for the first time? Tails wagging, eager to approach, but maybe a little apprehensive because it's a new situation? Ever feel a little jealous about that feeling? We should.
It would be simple to say that young dogs are excitable because they're not as smart as people who work at print shops, (or ad agencies, whatever). They will soon learn that life isn't that full of possibilities, and you might as well chill out. I beg to differ.
I have been around the small business community long enough to know that it's truly impossible to know who will be your next, best customer or client. Profiling doesn't work, and can rule out a lot of good possibilities; the past is not prologue.
At my previous job I went on a sales appointment to a prestigious law firm in Manchester, New Hampshire. I was crestfallen to discover I'd be giving my suit-and-tie sales pitch to the elderly mailroom attendant in her tiny basement office. I figured "What the heck, I'm here", and discussed all the things I'd planned to tell the firm administrator. A week later the actual firm administrator called to say he planned to switch all their printing to our shop, (they had 12 partners and about 50 associates). He said "anyone OK with Mrs McKenzie", (not her real name), "is OK with me".
Getting back to the dogs, I recommend we adopt their naive, idiotic sense of possibility when we meet new people in business. We'll find out soon enough, as will the dogs, whether they play nicely or not. Until we find out for sure, we give them the benefit of the doubt and wonder "are you my new best friend"?
As my wife, Melinda, is fond of saying: More Wagging, Less Barking.
I hope your summer is going well, and look forward to your comments online.
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
It would be simple to say that young dogs are excitable because they're not as smart as people who work at print shops, (or ad agencies, whatever). They will soon learn that life isn't that full of possibilities, and you might as well chill out. I beg to differ.
I have been around the small business community long enough to know that it's truly impossible to know who will be your next, best customer or client. Profiling doesn't work, and can rule out a lot of good possibilities; the past is not prologue.
At my previous job I went on a sales appointment to a prestigious law firm in Manchester, New Hampshire. I was crestfallen to discover I'd be giving my suit-and-tie sales pitch to the elderly mailroom attendant in her tiny basement office. I figured "What the heck, I'm here", and discussed all the things I'd planned to tell the firm administrator. A week later the actual firm administrator called to say he planned to switch all their printing to our shop, (they had 12 partners and about 50 associates). He said "anyone OK with Mrs McKenzie", (not her real name), "is OK with me".
Getting back to the dogs, I recommend we adopt their naive, idiotic sense of possibility when we meet new people in business. We'll find out soon enough, as will the dogs, whether they play nicely or not. Until we find out for sure, we give them the benefit of the doubt and wonder "are you my new best friend"?
As my wife, Melinda, is fond of saying: More Wagging, Less Barking.
I hope your summer is going well, and look forward to your comments online.
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
Thursday, July 23, 2009
PDF, the Rosetta Stone, and a cute little dog
Is it wrong to love a computer file format? I hope not.
Introduced by Adobe Systems in 1993, and now available as an open standard, the PDF (portable document format) has become the mainstay of document interchange. In our business it fills two key roles: to facilitate the transfer of layouts from the customer to the shop; and to give printing vendors an efficient way to handle large complicated layouts internally. Whether you know it or not these files are everywhere, and it's helpful to know a little about them.
At the simplest level, PDFs allow you to view or print a file created on someone else's computer, and have it render correctly. This amazing feat can be accomplished even if you don't have the same software used to create the file, because all the data needed is contained, (in a very efficient way), in the PDF itself. You don't need to be running the same kind of machine or the same operating system. Windows, MAC, UNIX...don't matter.
Again, at the simplest level, the viewing of the file is done by Acrobat Reader, which is available on countless websites including this one...you can get it for free here. The viewing capability is also embedded in web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox, etc. No one should ever have to say "I can't open that file...it's a PDF". If you do, call me and we'll get it fixed.
Creating a PDF is not possible using Acrobat Reader, however, so you'll need the full Acrobat software, or have PDF generating capability built into another application you use. This step is not a "save as" function, where you select PDF as the file type. Rather, PDFs are created by a process called "distilling" which translates the file into postscript language; it's just like what your computer does to process a page for your laser or ink jet, but with a specialized driver which creates the PDF file.
This is why creating a PDF is usually done by "printing" the document, but selecting "Adobe PDF Writer" as the printer. At this point you have access to "Properties" which, like any printer dialogue box, presents you with a bewildering set of choices, and we'll discuss a few of the settings you may need to tweak. The other options are to use an "Export" function or other single-button choice built into the application used to create the document in the first place.
In the print shop, PDFs serve two critical functions: to allow us to take in files from otherwise postscript-unfriendly programs such as Word, Publisher, and even PowerPoint; and to give us a way of processing all page files efficiently. Most modern shops now have a PDF-based workflow, so if you can load the driver specific to their system you may be able to save some money at the pre-flight stage. At some shops this step is mandatory. Be sure to ask your rep.
Allowance for bleeds, may not be automatic. If the trim size of your document is 8.5 x 11 and includes bleeds, the final size of the PDF must be slightly larger. This close-up shows the correct extra allowance for bleeds, with the interior set of tick marks for the final trim from the oversize sheet. This problem is the number one reason files get bounced back for re-work, and shows up almost every day at our shop. Please stick with it until the file is correct, or ask for help if you can't solve the problem yourself.Click image to see full size.
Fonts not embedded is another problem. One of the critical factors of a PDF is that it contains all the information required for faithful reproduction on someone else's machine. For this to be true all the relevant fonts from your system need to be included, but, unfortunately, the default setting sometimes excludes some or all typefaces. The result is that the missing fonts will be scrounged from those available on the other person's computer, with a possible mis-match and unpredictable results. This is bad...REALLY BAD, because resulting errors may not show up at first glance even if they exist throughout the document.
Black which isn't really black. This is the last area of concern, and is mentioned because you can use a neat tool in Acrobat to check for it. Files born in an RGB color space often end up with black which is not a single, solid color, but a blend of CMYK when distilled. If you're trying to use the PDF as a bridge from Word, for instance, that CMYK black won't print properly since the black value in the mix is a percentage, not solid. It'll look gray.
Acrobat will allow you to check the output colors with one of the Print Production tools called "Output Preview" which is very informative. You can click "off" the colors in the file one by one and see the result onscreen. If you uncheck the black ink box, you will hope to see all the black copy disappear. If it doesn't, that's a red flag. There is another tool to fix this, but that's for my printing geeks only. Otherwise, it's probably sufficient to mention the potential problem to the printer, who may have other ways to cope with it.
The PDF is the closest thing we have to a "Rosetta Stone" in print production. Although it isn't foolproof, and can be frustrated particularly by those applications which need its' help the most, it solves an immense number of problems. From a customer point of view, this means the ability to get your job into the print shop quickly and accurately, whether your running Creative Suite 4 or Word '95.
I know a designer who named her dog "Adobe". With the constant flow of good ideas from this company, and their real world usefulness, all I can say is... "Good Dog"!!!
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
Introduced by Adobe Systems in 1993, and now available as an open standard, the PDF (portable document format) has become the mainstay of document interchange. In our business it fills two key roles: to facilitate the transfer of layouts from the customer to the shop; and to give printing vendors an efficient way to handle large complicated layouts internally. Whether you know it or not these files are everywhere, and it's helpful to know a little about them.
At the simplest level, PDFs allow you to view or print a file created on someone else's computer, and have it render correctly. This amazing feat can be accomplished even if you don't have the same software used to create the file, because all the data needed is contained, (in a very efficient way), in the PDF itself. You don't need to be running the same kind of machine or the same operating system. Windows, MAC, UNIX...don't matter.
Again, at the simplest level, the viewing of the file is done by Acrobat Reader, which is available on countless websites including this one...you can get it for free here. The viewing capability is also embedded in web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox, etc. No one should ever have to say "I can't open that file...it's a PDF". If you do, call me and we'll get it fixed.
Creating a PDF is not possible using Acrobat Reader, however, so you'll need the full Acrobat software, or have PDF generating capability built into another application you use. This step is not a "save as" function, where you select PDF as the file type. Rather, PDFs are created by a process called "distilling" which translates the file into postscript language; it's just like what your computer does to process a page for your laser or ink jet, but with a specialized driver which creates the PDF file.
This is why creating a PDF is usually done by "printing" the document, but selecting "Adobe PDF Writer" as the printer. At this point you have access to "Properties" which, like any printer dialogue box, presents you with a bewildering set of choices, and we'll discuss a few of the settings you may need to tweak. The other options are to use an "Export" function or other single-button choice built into the application used to create the document in the first place.
In the print shop, PDFs serve two critical functions: to allow us to take in files from otherwise postscript-unfriendly programs such as Word, Publisher, and even PowerPoint; and to give us a way of processing all page files efficiently. Most modern shops now have a PDF-based workflow, so if you can load the driver specific to their system you may be able to save some money at the pre-flight stage. At some shops this step is mandatory. Be sure to ask your rep.
"The problems we encounter, however, deserve some attention, and usually concern bleeds, fonts, and color."
Allowance for bleeds, may not be automatic. If the trim size of your document is 8.5 x 11 and includes bleeds, the final size of the PDF must be slightly larger. This close-up shows the correct extra allowance for bleeds, with the interior set of tick marks for the final trim from the oversize sheet. This problem is the number one reason files get bounced back for re-work, and shows up almost every day at our shop. Please stick with it until the file is correct, or ask for help if you can't solve the problem yourself.Click image to see full size.
Fonts not embedded is another problem. One of the critical factors of a PDF is that it contains all the information required for faithful reproduction on someone else's machine. For this to be true all the relevant fonts from your system need to be included, but, unfortunately, the default setting sometimes excludes some or all typefaces. The result is that the missing fonts will be scrounged from those available on the other person's computer, with a possible mis-match and unpredictable results. This is bad...REALLY BAD, because resulting errors may not show up at first glance even if they exist throughout the document.
The best generic choice for settings, to embed fonts and for other reasons, is "Press Quality". After creating the PDF, open it in Acrobat and look at the "fonts" tab in File>Properties. Any font properly embedded will be listed with "embedded subset" following the name. If that term is missing, the situation needs to be resolved.
Black which isn't really black. This is the last area of concern, and is mentioned because you can use a neat tool in Acrobat to check for it. Files born in an RGB color space often end up with black which is not a single, solid color, but a blend of CMYK when distilled. If you're trying to use the PDF as a bridge from Word, for instance, that CMYK black won't print properly since the black value in the mix is a percentage, not solid. It'll look gray.
Acrobat will allow you to check the output colors with one of the Print Production tools called "Output Preview" which is very informative. You can click "off" the colors in the file one by one and see the result onscreen. If you uncheck the black ink box, you will hope to see all the black copy disappear. If it doesn't, that's a red flag. There is another tool to fix this, but that's for my printing geeks only. Otherwise, it's probably sufficient to mention the potential problem to the printer, who may have other ways to cope with it.
The PDF is the closest thing we have to a "Rosetta Stone" in print production. Although it isn't foolproof, and can be frustrated particularly by those applications which need its' help the most, it solves an immense number of problems. From a customer point of view, this means the ability to get your job into the print shop quickly and accurately, whether your running Creative Suite 4 or Word '95.
I know a designer who named her dog "Adobe". With the constant flow of good ideas from this company, and their real world usefulness, all I can say is... "Good Dog"!!!
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and a 30 page booklet...
Question: What do Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and a 30 page booklet have in common?
Answer: We don't deal with them in the same way we do normal reality; we can talk about them and have a mental image, but we can't hold them. I hate to be blunt...they don't exist. Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are too metaphysical for this blog, but the booklet is fair game.
Simply, a booklet like this is printed four pages at a time (or in multiples of four). The total number of pages must be divisible by four. That rules out three, five, six, seven, nine, ten, etc. Including 30.
Here's a short list of other things with dubious existence:
20 pound gloss paper. Bond paper comes in 20, 24, 28, and 32 pound weights. Gloss paper comes in 60, 70, 80, and 100. Plain old book paper, equivalent to bond, comes in 50, 60, and 70. The best way to keep all this straight is to refer to swatchbooks. If you need some let me know...I'll fix you up.
Proof copies that are marked "OK to print as is" with a list of changes which are required. Like pregnancy, you either is or you ain't ready to print "as is". If changes are required be sure to know who will approve them, bearing in mind that if you decline to see another proof YOU are still responsible if anything goes wrong.
Blueline proofs. This terminology is obsolete. The modern proof comes from a computer driven plotter, and is much easier to understand. These new proofs, and the platemaking technology that follows, require no film or chemistry and are more environmentally friendly than the bluelines they replace.
Ads for which print quality doesn't matter. At proof stage people tend to be dismissive about whether ads look OK when quality issues arise. "It's all they have" or "I'm sure it'll be fine" are easy to say when looking at the proof, but remember whose signature is on the approval slip. Friendly advertisers can become very fickle when disappointed, and may see you as a convenient scapegoat for their poor quality artwork.
The fun-to-use onscreen color picker! For projects going to print, a color defined in an image or layout by means of the onscreen color picker is about as dependable as books which help pick lottery numbers. It might be a winner...or it might not. You have no way to know. Buy, beg, borrow, or steal a Pantone (or similar) guide.
Camera-ready copy. Another antiquated term. It's modern equivalent is the print-ready computer file you submit on disk or via FTP. Although old school art boards were prepared with great care, a properly compiled print-ready InDesign folder is just as awe-inspiring, and a big step forward in terms of quality.
So, now that we've exposed these myths, what's left for you to count on with absolute certainty?
Murphy's Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time. It's always a factor in our business. You can hedge your bets, though, by learning as much as possible about the print process and staying engaged with your vendor.
High quality makes up for a bumpy road to the product. Low quality does not, and neither does a low price. You shouldn't have to suffer in order to save money.
Difficult discussions are always harder after the fact. Speak up if you think something doesn't look or sound right. You have a right to expect straight talk from your vendor.
Having your project printed should be fun and exciting! Maybe not as fun as a visit from Santa or the Easter Bunny, but rewarding at the very least. That's been my philosophy for twenty five years, and I'm sticking to it!
Since my last post a few people expressed interest in a plant tour, and I'd like to see if we can get a group together for next Thursday, the 16th. Send me an email if you would like to participate.
Thanks for your visit, I hope the summer is going well for you all!
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
Answer: We don't deal with them in the same way we do normal reality; we can talk about them and have a mental image, but we can't hold them. I hate to be blunt...they don't exist. Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are too metaphysical for this blog, but the booklet is fair game.
Simply, a booklet like this is printed four pages at a time (or in multiples of four). The total number of pages must be divisible by four. That rules out three, five, six, seven, nine, ten, etc. Including 30.
Here's a short list of other things with dubious existence:
20 pound gloss paper. Bond paper comes in 20, 24, 28, and 32 pound weights. Gloss paper comes in 60, 70, 80, and 100. Plain old book paper, equivalent to bond, comes in 50, 60, and 70. The best way to keep all this straight is to refer to swatchbooks. If you need some let me know...I'll fix you up.
Proof copies that are marked "OK to print as is" with a list of changes which are required. Like pregnancy, you either is or you ain't ready to print "as is". If changes are required be sure to know who will approve them, bearing in mind that if you decline to see another proof YOU are still responsible if anything goes wrong.
Blueline proofs. This terminology is obsolete. The modern proof comes from a computer driven plotter, and is much easier to understand. These new proofs, and the platemaking technology that follows, require no film or chemistry and are more environmentally friendly than the bluelines they replace.
Ads for which print quality doesn't matter. At proof stage people tend to be dismissive about whether ads look OK when quality issues arise. "It's all they have" or "I'm sure it'll be fine" are easy to say when looking at the proof, but remember whose signature is on the approval slip. Friendly advertisers can become very fickle when disappointed, and may see you as a convenient scapegoat for their poor quality artwork.
The fun-to-use onscreen color picker! For projects going to print, a color defined in an image or layout by means of the onscreen color picker is about as dependable as books which help pick lottery numbers. It might be a winner...or it might not. You have no way to know. Buy, beg, borrow, or steal a Pantone (or similar) guide.
Camera-ready copy. Another antiquated term. It's modern equivalent is the print-ready computer file you submit on disk or via FTP. Although old school art boards were prepared with great care, a properly compiled print-ready InDesign folder is just as awe-inspiring, and a big step forward in terms of quality.
So, now that we've exposed these myths, what's left for you to count on with absolute certainty?
Murphy's Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time. It's always a factor in our business. You can hedge your bets, though, by learning as much as possible about the print process and staying engaged with your vendor.
High quality makes up for a bumpy road to the product. Low quality does not, and neither does a low price. You shouldn't have to suffer in order to save money.
Difficult discussions are always harder after the fact. Speak up if you think something doesn't look or sound right. You have a right to expect straight talk from your vendor.
Having your project printed should be fun and exciting! Maybe not as fun as a visit from Santa or the Easter Bunny, but rewarding at the very least. That's been my philosophy for twenty five years, and I'm sticking to it!
Since my last post a few people expressed interest in a plant tour, and I'd like to see if we can get a group together for next Thursday, the 16th. Send me an email if you would like to participate.
Thanks for your visit, I hope the summer is going well for you all!
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Sweet home, Graphateria
I think it's appropriate, after eight months since my first post, to introduce you to where I spend my days: Graphateria.
As you know, my blog is aimed at improving the experience of print buying. Because much of the information I post has been gained during the last 15 years while working at Graphateria, I am devoting this installment to what I feel is Tallahassee’s premier customer-centered print shop.
If you have never worked with us, I hope this will be one of the most useful posts yet. If you have worked with us before, I hope to reveal some new capabilities that you will find valuable.
With the addition of a 100% digital printing system, we are fully equipped to handle the full range of printing needs typical of a Tallahassee business, association, or non-profit organization. From as few as 50 copies, as the job quantity increases, we are able to transition from one machine to another to provide seamless capability. If your project is very large or technically complex, we also have access to regional and national vendors whose track record we're familiar with. In short, if we can't do it here, we'll help you find someone who can.
Our interactions are based on a one-to-one relationship between a contact person from the shop and each customer. We feel strongly that you should only have to call one person to get your order under way, or get your questions answered. We are happy to come to your office, (we make house calls!), or, if you appreciate the chance to get out of the office once in a while, we're always happy to see you here. (If you have kids, bring them along, they can play with Molly and Otis.) We also offer plant tours for those interested in seeing first hand how their job is produced.
We have very high quality standards. In any business the human element makes all the difference to the quality of your experience. Our production people have been with the company an average of ten years, and understand the value of longstanding customer relationships. From proofing to production and final packaging, we are always paying attention to the details in order to keep your job looking its best.
We archive everything we print, and have done so since at least 1996. For a nominal fee, we can pull back your project from its last printing and work with you from there. Customers who have experienced widespread system failures can tell you how important this feature can be, as our archive files may be the only ones in existence.
We support both MAC and PC files in their native environments, and are experts at helping people move their projects from their own systems to the shop without errors. From programs which are less printer-friendly (e.g. Microsoft Word or Publisher) we can work around the inherent problems by helping you create production grade PDFs. For any layout, we offer help creating templates, and have some standard templates for download at our website, here.
We work with a large network of graphic designers, and also offer in-house services for simple layouts. Using this approach we help keep your costs as low as possible and match your project with the appropriate design capabilities. If your job is not ready to come to the shop, we can set you up with a design pro who will make you look great!
The cost of local delivery is included in our basic pricing, and many other distribution options are available. We are online with FedEx, UPS and Benton Express (LTL), and regularly drop-ship jobs to multiple locations for a nominal fee, (plus the actual cost of freight).
We're flexible. Our way of doing business is whatever works best for you. In these uncertain times there is no longer a "right way" or "wrong way" to do things. We understand the pressures of budgets and deadlines, and work with clients everyday to help them move forward by utilizing the unique advantages of printed material, while acknowledging the necessity of keeping costs under control.
I feel strongly that Graphateria has a lot to offer. We welcome inquiries about our services and pricing, and are always excited about a new challenge.
What's yours?
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
As you know, my blog is aimed at improving the experience of print buying. Because much of the information I post has been gained during the last 15 years while working at Graphateria, I am devoting this installment to what I feel is Tallahassee’s premier customer-centered print shop.
If you have never worked with us, I hope this will be one of the most useful posts yet. If you have worked with us before, I hope to reveal some new capabilities that you will find valuable.
With the addition of a 100% digital printing system, we are fully equipped to handle the full range of printing needs typical of a Tallahassee business, association, or non-profit organization. From as few as 50 copies, as the job quantity increases, we are able to transition from one machine to another to provide seamless capability. If your project is very large or technically complex, we also have access to regional and national vendors whose track record we're familiar with. In short, if we can't do it here, we'll help you find someone who can.
Our interactions are based on a one-to-one relationship between a contact person from the shop and each customer. We feel strongly that you should only have to call one person to get your order under way, or get your questions answered. We are happy to come to your office, (we make house calls!), or, if you appreciate the chance to get out of the office once in a while, we're always happy to see you here. (If you have kids, bring them along, they can play with Molly and Otis.) We also offer plant tours for those interested in seeing first hand how their job is produced.
We have very high quality standards. In any business the human element makes all the difference to the quality of your experience. Our production people have been with the company an average of ten years, and understand the value of longstanding customer relationships. From proofing to production and final packaging, we are always paying attention to the details in order to keep your job looking its best.
We archive everything we print, and have done so since at least 1996. For a nominal fee, we can pull back your project from its last printing and work with you from there. Customers who have experienced widespread system failures can tell you how important this feature can be, as our archive files may be the only ones in existence.
We support both MAC and PC files in their native environments, and are experts at helping people move their projects from their own systems to the shop without errors. From programs which are less printer-friendly (e.g. Microsoft Word or Publisher) we can work around the inherent problems by helping you create production grade PDFs. For any layout, we offer help creating templates, and have some standard templates for download at our website, here.
We work with a large network of graphic designers, and also offer in-house services for simple layouts. Using this approach we help keep your costs as low as possible and match your project with the appropriate design capabilities. If your job is not ready to come to the shop, we can set you up with a design pro who will make you look great!
The cost of local delivery is included in our basic pricing, and many other distribution options are available. We are online with FedEx, UPS and Benton Express (LTL), and regularly drop-ship jobs to multiple locations for a nominal fee, (plus the actual cost of freight).
We're flexible. Our way of doing business is whatever works best for you. In these uncertain times there is no longer a "right way" or "wrong way" to do things. We understand the pressures of budgets and deadlines, and work with clients everyday to help them move forward by utilizing the unique advantages of printed material, while acknowledging the necessity of keeping costs under control.
I feel strongly that Graphateria has a lot to offer. We welcome inquiries about our services and pricing, and are always excited about a new challenge.
What's yours?
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
Thursday, June 11, 2009
How to use cheap paper and not save money
Answer: Make that choice on a short run. The fact is that cheaper paper will always save some money, but it's often an insignificant amount, and the choice may do more harm that good. The main factor to consider is run length, and therefore how much paper you're buying. Let's talk about an average brochure by way of example: a letter size brochure, full color on both sides and folded.
At a quantity of 1,000 printed on 100# gloss text, this job will cost about $360 at our shop. It's a great sheet of paper for a self mailer or rack brochure...substantial, but not quite card stock. If you tinker a little, and change to 80# gloss text, you'll save a whopping $8, and the paper will be a little floppy. That's a savings of about 2%.
Go to the illogical extreme of the paper spectrum; run the same job the same way on 20# copier paper, and you will absolutely sacrifice the quality of the printing to save $19, or about 5%. In return you'll get a job which looks, for want of a better term, "homemade". Translation: death at the mailbox when it shows up next to that mailer from the Gap, or Pottery Barn.
The same comparison doesn't yield the same result at a higher quantity. At 10,000 brochures the cost savings from switching paper is $115, or 12%. The more paper involved in the job, the more potential savings can be found and balanced against the detrimental effect on quality. (I'm not saying it's a good idea to run anything on copier paper...just to point out that, as the quantity increases the percentage of the total cost devoted to paper increase as well.) As always, this is best investigated in a discussion with your print vendor.
A significant, and often hidden, cost regarding paper is a customer specification of "Recycled". Particularly in the coated grades, these papers come at a steep price premium and limited availability. My recommendation if you seek a quote specifying "Recycled Paper" is that you also ask for an optional proposal for "Non-Recycled" and compare the two. That way you can balance your agencies "green" aspirations against it's budget. We quoted a job recently where the cost difference amounted to almost $2,000.
Further, if you decide on the "Recycled" option, ask for a written statement of exactly what paper was used:
One final note on the subject of paper...it's heavy! If you are mailing, the weight per piece will jack up your postage every time you go to the next ounce, and if you're shipping the total weight can turn out to be quite impressive. An awareness of this physical aspect of your job can help you control these costs, and prevent surprises at a point, where I always hate to point out, it's too late to do anything about it.
One side effect of new printing technologies, and the lowered cost of full color printing, is that paper has become a truly secondary concern. Just as the choice you make about which kind of cone to get with your ice cream, the paper is not the main attraction. Paper companies, adjusting to new economic realities, are keeping fewer items in inventory and at lower levels. You can't print without it, however, and an active, informed choice about paper is always preferable to going with a default.
Thank you for continuing to visit "Your friend in the printing business", and for supporting this all-original content. Please take a moment to rate this post in the poll at the upper right corner, and let me know what you think. Until then,
See you online!
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
At a quantity of 1,000 printed on 100# gloss text, this job will cost about $360 at our shop. It's a great sheet of paper for a self mailer or rack brochure...substantial, but not quite card stock. If you tinker a little, and change to 80# gloss text, you'll save a whopping $8, and the paper will be a little floppy. That's a savings of about 2%.
Go to the illogical extreme of the paper spectrum; run the same job the same way on 20# copier paper, and you will absolutely sacrifice the quality of the printing to save $19, or about 5%. In return you'll get a job which looks, for want of a better term, "homemade". Translation: death at the mailbox when it shows up next to that mailer from the Gap, or Pottery Barn.
At a small quantity of 500 or 1,000 you should always pay for the good stuff, maybe even upgrade the stock...the effectiveness of the brochure will be a good return on the investment of less than $20.
The same comparison doesn't yield the same result at a higher quantity. At 10,000 brochures the cost savings from switching paper is $115, or 12%. The more paper involved in the job, the more potential savings can be found and balanced against the detrimental effect on quality. (I'm not saying it's a good idea to run anything on copier paper...just to point out that, as the quantity increases the percentage of the total cost devoted to paper increase as well.) As always, this is best investigated in a discussion with your print vendor.
A significant, and often hidden, cost regarding paper is a customer specification of "Recycled". Particularly in the coated grades, these papers come at a steep price premium and limited availability. My recommendation if you seek a quote specifying "Recycled Paper" is that you also ask for an optional proposal for "Non-Recycled" and compare the two. That way you can balance your agencies "green" aspirations against it's budget. We quoted a job recently where the cost difference amounted to almost $2,000.
Further, if you decide on the "Recycled" option, ask for a written statement of exactly what paper was used:
Among less scrupulous vendors it will sometimes happen that a job is priced one way and run another, and it may be impossible to tell the difference afterwards. It's a good idea to take concrete steps to remove this temptation, and allow all your vendors to compete on a level playing field.
One final note on the subject of paper...it's heavy! If you are mailing, the weight per piece will jack up your postage every time you go to the next ounce, and if you're shipping the total weight can turn out to be quite impressive. An awareness of this physical aspect of your job can help you control these costs, and prevent surprises at a point, where I always hate to point out, it's too late to do anything about it.
One side effect of new printing technologies, and the lowered cost of full color printing, is that paper has become a truly secondary concern. Just as the choice you make about which kind of cone to get with your ice cream, the paper is not the main attraction. Paper companies, adjusting to new economic realities, are keeping fewer items in inventory and at lower levels. You can't print without it, however, and an active, informed choice about paper is always preferable to going with a default.
The right choices about weight, finish, color and texture can all enhance the effectiveness of your project, and sometimes at a cost which makes you wonder why you didn't switch a long time ago.
Thank you for continuing to visit "Your friend in the printing business", and for supporting this all-original content. Please take a moment to rate this post in the poll at the upper right corner, and let me know what you think. Until then,
See you online!
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Welcome to a new world of professional printing
It's faster, less expensive, and the quality has never been better!
From a technological standpoint this is the golden age of professional printing, and your printing dollar has never gone farther. The only part of the business people may be nostalgic for is simplicity; as with most features of modern life technology blurs all the boundaries making your choices harder to see. It has a lot to do with terminology...let's see if we can sort it out.
100% digital is a horse of another color, and is extending the capability of a modern printshop to shorter runs:
A modern, production grade, digital printer is really an outstanding piece of equipment. Although the fundamental technology is the same as a digital copier, it makes about as much sense to call them "copiers" as it does to call an IPhone a "telephone". Digital printers produce high quality images at an affordable rate, and the product can be trimmed and folded the same day it's printed. Here are some things you need to know in order to take advantage of this technology.
Make sure your digital printing is done by a responsible professional. Digital printing systems vary A LOT in terms of the color they produce, and the quality of their images. This is partly a machine issue (is it a good one?) but mostly a professional service issue. The people who set up the workflows must have a high level of graphics knowledge, and the operators must take care meticulous care of these fragile machines. The machines should be dedicated to the proper kind of work and not used outside their parameters, where the quality could be degraded.
Insist on a proof copy. It's generally good news that digital printers are calibrated for "pleasing color". However, keep in mind that this is not a hard and fast standard, compared, for instance, with Pantone inks. If you have corporate colors, or you think it's important to maintain consistency across your printed products, this may be a chance to go astray. The only way to know, and decide if color tweaking is called for, is to see a proof copy before you proceed. Be sure to see a proof copy of a digital printing job just as you would for a longer run to be printed offset. This leads us to the next critical point.
Give careful consideration as to whether your project belongs on a digital printer. First, nnot every job will fit on a digital printer, so be sure you know the capabilities of the print shop you're looking at. (If your job exceeds 18 inches in width or 12 inches in height you may run out of room.) For example, if your job has a flat size of 22 inches, and you only need 150 copies,you may have to run offset and be prepared to pay many hundreds of dollars for those 150 copies. If you know this beforehand you can decide whether the design or the budget needs to be adjusted. Second, not every paper stock is digital compatible. This is yet another fact you don't want to learn when your job is on deadline.
Finally, don't go digital merely for the sake of new technology. Although digital printing is particularly cost effective in short runs compared with offset, it's not universally less expensive. The lower cost of getting the job up and running (don't need to make plates, remember?) will eventually be overcome by the higher cost per sheet run through. Also, the sheet size is small, limiting the number-up that can be run. Generally, offset will beat digital, price wise, at about 1,000 copies, depending on the particulars.
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
From a technological standpoint this is the golden age of professional printing, and your printing dollar has never gone farther. The only part of the business people may be nostalgic for is simplicity; as with most features of modern life technology blurs all the boundaries making your choices harder to see. It has a lot to do with terminology...let's see if we can sort it out.
"Up until the past few years, most of the advances in printshop technology concerned the steps required to make a set of offset plates. Further advances are giving us the ability to print without conventional metal plates, or without plates at all. Let's call the range of options conventional offset, hybrid digital/offset, and 100% digital."Conventional offset has been covered in past posts (click here for background). Hybrid digital/offset simply means that plates are laser-imaged inside the press. By eliminating laser-imaging of the plates as a separate step, the "getaway" time for hybrid is shorter and the cost of getting to the first good sheet is low. This is a critical step in getting the unit cost of short run offset printing to an affordable level.
100% digital is a horse of another color, and is extending the capability of a modern printshop to shorter runs:
A modern, production grade, digital printer is really an outstanding piece of equipment. Although the fundamental technology is the same as a digital copier, it makes about as much sense to call them "copiers" as it does to call an IPhone a "telephone". Digital printers produce high quality images at an affordable rate, and the product can be trimmed and folded the same day it's printed. Here are some things you need to know in order to take advantage of this technology.
Make sure your digital printing is done by a responsible professional. Digital printing systems vary A LOT in terms of the color they produce, and the quality of their images. This is partly a machine issue (is it a good one?) but mostly a professional service issue. The people who set up the workflows must have a high level of graphics knowledge, and the operators must take care meticulous care of these fragile machines. The machines should be dedicated to the proper kind of work and not used outside their parameters, where the quality could be degraded.
Insist on a proof copy. It's generally good news that digital printers are calibrated for "pleasing color". However, keep in mind that this is not a hard and fast standard, compared, for instance, with Pantone inks. If you have corporate colors, or you think it's important to maintain consistency across your printed products, this may be a chance to go astray. The only way to know, and decide if color tweaking is called for, is to see a proof copy before you proceed. Be sure to see a proof copy of a digital printing job just as you would for a longer run to be printed offset. This leads us to the next critical point.
"So far, what I'm saying is that you should look for a high quality machine being run by serious printing professionals. The concept is that there is a full-fledged shop there, which uses digital printing in its overall production scheme. This insures that the quality standards are high, and that your job will get the support it deserves."
Give careful consideration as to whether your project belongs on a digital printer. First, nnot every job will fit on a digital printer, so be sure you know the capabilities of the print shop you're looking at. (If your job exceeds 18 inches in width or 12 inches in height you may run out of room.) For example, if your job has a flat size of 22 inches, and you only need 150 copies,you may have to run offset and be prepared to pay many hundreds of dollars for those 150 copies. If you know this beforehand you can decide whether the design or the budget needs to be adjusted. Second, not every paper stock is digital compatible. This is yet another fact you don't want to learn when your job is on deadline.
Finally, don't go digital merely for the sake of new technology. Although digital printing is particularly cost effective in short runs compared with offset, it's not universally less expensive. The lower cost of getting the job up and running (don't need to make plates, remember?) will eventually be overcome by the higher cost per sheet run through. Also, the sheet size is small, limiting the number-up that can be run. Generally, offset will beat digital, price wise, at about 1,000 copies, depending on the particulars.
"As with everything we discuss here, the best approach is to talk to your vendor before you invest a lot of work in your project. Conversations about paper, color, price, and layout can be fun when you're at a preliminary stage. If you're on deadline, and the job is not turning out the way you hoped, the same topics can be painful. They don't need to be."The past two posts have had record setting readership at "Your friend in the printing business" and I'm grateful to everyone who has subscribed, or forwarded the link to friends and colleagues. Please remember that this can be a forum to get your questions answered, and that I will attempt a post on any topic you request.
Hugh Butler
Your friend in the printing business
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