Your Friend has a new home!

At the end of April, 2017 my former employer retired, and closed the shop he had run for almost thirty years. As I write this, the sale of the equipment is complete and the final sale of the building is pending. All the former employees have found new jobs, mostly in printing as there were very talented people there.

I'm proud to have become associated with Gandy Printers, also in Tallahassee, Florida. We are a second-generation local job printer, and completed a $1M equipment upgrade during the second half of the year.

This blog will continue at gandyprinters.com/blog, and be mirrored at friendintheprintbiz.com. Unless life throws another curve ball, this blogger site will remain as is.

Thank you for reading, and best wishes for 2017.

Type in Black and White: Lost in Translation Redux

This issue is not black and white. It's Red, Green, and Blue.

This is a post about customer files which seem so simple nothing could wrong, until someone like me says "your file looks great, but you have CMYK black". Customers typically respond in two ways: 'That's just not possible, it looks fine onscreen' or, 'What difference could it possibly make...leave me alone'. It's not that we enjoy nagging...it's an issue worth looking in to.

Files born in RGB (Red/Green/Blue), such as Publisher, PowerPoint, or even venerable PhotoShop (in RGB mode), do not formulate black as a discrete color. To show you "black" onscreen, (their usual target), they display 0-Red, 0-Green, 0-Blue. The absence of all three colors which drive your monitor appears as black. The problem is that we can't print from RGB, and the translation from RGB "black" to the printer's CMYK color model is faulty.

Because life is inherently unpredictable, RGB "black" translates into CMYK of approximately 75-Cyan, 68-Magenta, 67-Yellow, and 90-Black. Onscreen it may look fine, but from a printer's point of view there is not enough black, and too much of everything else. If we print all four colors as is, (full color printing), any type in that color has to be in perfect register or it begins to look like a 3-D comic book, as in the image below (click to see full size, and imagine a whole page of copy looking like this). In addition, there is something like 300% ink coverage, most of which is doing nothing more that making the drying time unpredictable.


On the other hand, if we're printing just black, and pull that color alone from the file, we get a 90% tint, which appears gray, as in this image:



What to do?

First, learn to think in CMYK and how to initiate your files in that color model, which, in simplest terms, means selecting CMYK as your working space for the project and choosing black as a discrete color. Second, learn how to spot check your PDF's before sending them off to the printer. The easiest way to accomplish the latter is "Output Preview" in Adobe Acrobat (not Reader, alas, the full-fledged Pro versions). The Menu sequence, in Windows, is Advanced>Print Production>Output Preview. It'll look something like this, and you can move the cursor anywhere on the page reading the values directly in the panel:

Another snazzy feature is the ability to see any stray spot colors, (or intentional ones), and turn off various colors to verify what is made of what. Maybe I'm a nerd, but I have this feature on a shortcut.

Sometimes it's useful to define a "Rich Black" swatch in your document, which can overcome the tendency of even 100% black to appear gray when the coverage is extensive. Here at our shop we find that 100% Black and 25% Cyan makes the most efficient rich black; it renders a smooth, uniform, dark black without excessive coverage. (Adding the other process colors doesn't seem to enhance the depth, and, in fact, tends to go brown.) We still recommend staying away from type with this swatch, however, unless the point size is considerable.

This topic is esoteric, I know, but the issue comes up once or twice a week, and sometimes causes a major headache. At the very least: the more you think in CMYK the fewer your surprises. Whether the issue is CMYK black, blues that shift to purple, or solid colors which print dark, Output Preview is an included feature which will teach you something each time you use it. Unlike your monitor, the numbers don't lie.

Wishing everyone only pleasant surprises when you see your colors in print!

Hugh Butler
Your Friend in the Printing Business

Digital vs. Offset Pricing

By now most people are familiar with the capability of digital print production; that it's fast, high quality, and, at low quantities, very affordable. Those of us who work in printing are so enthusiastic about this process that people probably wonder why we print anything with plates anymore. The answer is that the low-quantity price advantages of digital don't scale up very well and, past a certain point, offset printing is still the best value. Here's why.

Any price for printing is a calculation of fixed costs, which are incurred regardless of quantity, (e.g. proofing or machine set up), plus running costs which are directly tied to the amount to be printed, (e.g. paper, press or copier time). The key to understanding the dynamics of print costing is to examine the main driver for each type of production. For digital it's the ubiquitous "click charge", or cost per impression. For offset they are proofing, plate making, and machine setup.

There are three factors which limit the digital print model's ability to render a low unit cost at medium runs.

The first factor is that digital printing costs almost nothing to set up but is expensive per impression, due to high purchase, maintenance, and consumables costs. The second is that digital is usually limited to a smaller sheet size (e.g. letter size 2-up) whereas offset is often twice or four times that size, cutting the run length proportionately. The third factor, not unrelated to cost, is speed. In an environment oriented to a high quantity of small jobs it's not cost effective to tie up a slow digital system for an extensive run. They just plain don't run fast.

Let's look at theoretical pricing for a job which can be easily printed by either method; a 16 page saddlestitched booklet, 8.5 x 11 with bleeds, full CMYK color on 100# gloss text. This is a typical annual report or catalog and we do a lot of them. You can see that the crossover point is about 1,000 copies, which is a pretty good rule of thumb.



In a nutshell, digital printing starts quick but runs slow, has expensive consumables, and the unit price hits a plateau quickly. Conventional offset is just the opposite; once you're over the big hump of getting the job set up the unit cost continues to decline nicely. The real treat is that a modern print shop can now provide affordable prices across the entire spectrum at a level of quality customers love. As I've said before, there has never been a better time to buy printing!

Best Wishes for your New Year as we embark on 2012,

Hugh Butler
Your Friend in the Printing Business.

Variable Data: Printed just for YOU

Recently, at the end of a particularly frustrating week, my wife and I visited a favorite local jewelry store. Given that we were in a bad mood, it came as something of a surprise when Melinda spotted something attractive and modestly priced. To make a long story short, we walked out of the store happy and satisfied customers. The more interesting part of the story however, from a printing point of view, arrived a little more than a week later.

In the mail came a beautiful card from Pandora thanking Melinda for the purchase. The card was remarkable in that her name was incorporated into the printed design, both outside and inside, and that it arrived so soon after the purchase. This is an example of what the industry calls "Variable Data Printing", and I'm going to call "Personalized Printing".

I'm sure you've all seen cards like this, and Melinda said it was no surprise that Pandora could produce something creative and clever. The point of this post is that variable data technology is available at the local level, and does not have to cost a fortune. The key to cost effectiveness can be as simple as thinking small, and insuring your list is extremely fine-tuned; for example, people who made a purchase, registered for an event, or sent your organization some money.


One question that comes to mind is "why market to someone who already made their purchase"? The answers are manifold: To reinforce your brand; lay the groundwork for their next purchase; and fight a rear guard action against competition and brand dilution. All this can be done for an up-front single fee for the layout, and a per piece rate of about $3 including the card, an envelope, and postage.

The mechanics of this process could not be simpler, because once the layout is developed all that's required is to email a data file for each mailing and get back to more important tasks. The file could contain as few as 10 names or as many as 1,000. Once the project is in the hands of a qualified printer your worries are over.

Most importantly, with the production handled off-site the mailings will go out quickly and regularly no matter how busy your enterprise becomes. This is how our card came from Pandora so quickly; our name was part of a batch sent weekly by the retailer and that whole process took the local people maybe five minutes and cost them nothing. This is nimble work indeed; getting a personalized message from a large company within such a short time.

Once you begin thinking about "Personalized Printing" the list of good ideas, beyond Thank You cards, is almost overwhelming: book covers, packaging, direct mail just to name a few. The results reported by marketers are overwhelmingly positive. These are all examples of how our industry is offering cost effective and environmentally responsible ways to reach exactly the people you need. You'll be hearing a lot more about this from Your Friend in the Printing Business.

With Best Wishes as we head into the Holiday Season,

Hugh Butler

Person to Person Communication

I recently discovered a remarkable device on my desk. It's similar to a cell phone, only much larger and attached to the wall by a wire. (This may explain why, unique among my desktop objects, I have never misplaced it.) I've used it several times lately to communicate with people without the need for email. Someone even told me a joke while we were talking and we both had a good laugh.

People should reach for this handy item more often, if for no other reason than a sense of frustration while surveying the current landscape of electronic communication. It seems as if staying current with the myriad of electronic message sources could become a full time job. Perhaps, if a picture is worth a thousand words it may be that a conversation is worth about six emails.

I have been writing this blog for about three years. It's tied to my facebook page and I send out about 600 emails when I update it. It's RSS, facebook, and Twitter friendly and I enjoy the nexus it provides and the feedback I get. A year ago I felt up to date social media wise, but lately that universe is getting incomprehensible. Does anyone besides me feel that way?

In this renewed spirit of "person to person" communication I have gone around the next logical corner (as opposed to around the bend) and printed some Graphateria note cards. I tell people all the time that printed material works because it cuts through the electronic clutter and arrives "in person". If this advice is good enough for my customers why not for myself?

At any rate, our shop has some new services to offer, and some new accounts. I think they deserve a thank you note...or at least a call. Email can be so, you know, virtual.

Hugh Butler
Your Friend in the Printing Business

Do You Know These People? Of course not, and neither does anyone else.

What is the first thing you notice about this picture? People see thousands of images every day and intuitively sort them. What pile does this one go in?

My first reaction is that no meeting of business people actually looks like this. Beyond that I don't know what to make of it, because there is no real context and it could have been taken anywhere. For me, this image would go into the "void" pile.

If you are trying to convey a sense of presence for your "brand" why limit yourself to sterile and generic images?

The answer, of course, is that they are low cost (or free), of reasonable quality, and easy to obtain. The problem is that your material will look just like everyone else's. Remember; people are constantly sorting the images they encounter, and dismissing those that are uninformative. The general public has become exceedingly image savvy and they know phony when they see it.

A modest additional investment can dramatically increase the impact of your marketing material, digital or printed.

The investment is to have a local photographer spend an afternoon with you to build a library of your own images. This is not free, and involves an investment of time as well, but the quality will be excellent and the connection to your organization will be direct. People will notice this, and have a better sense of who you are and how you relate to them...which is what you're trying to accomplish in the first place.

The two images below (from separate jobs) sum up what I'm trying to say; one says indisputably who the people are and ties them to their pet-related business. The second conveys a sense of community, because anyone in Tallahasse knows it was taken at the beloved Maclay Gardens, and a sense of motion because the orchestra was moving to temporary quarters.
(Click on image to view full size.)



My good friend Michael Calienes explores this topic with more experience and perspective than me here. I recommend his blog and this post wholeheartedly. (At the end of his post he lists several Tallahassee area photographers.)

There is always a role for high quality, carefully chosen stock images in that they can provide an idealized notion of what you want to look like, but they can't do that by themselves. Such images must be an integral part of a strong, coherent layout. My point is that using generic pictures as a crutch or shortcut is just plain selling yourself short by telling only half of your visual story.

The extra effort can help you win the message race in the mailbox or inbox...Remember; People will notice!

Hugh Butler
Your Friend in the Printing Business

Acknowledgments: Per the terms of use for the free image at the top of the page here is the contributors link. The image of the two ladies and Mojo the dog was taken by Robin Adams. The TSO cover layout was done by Rob Gelhardt.

What it means when we say "Off to our Conference"

When I took this job in 1993 I had never worked with an association. I had been to conferences, (my wife, Melinda was President of the New Hampshire Telephone Association), but never knew the inside story. Then I moved to Tallahassee.

As a new sales rep, on the advice of my new boss, I joined the Tallahassee Society of Association Executives (TSAE), went to see anyone who would give me an appointment, and eventually closed the deal to print some conference material. My customer was a very nice young woman we'll call Christy, because that was her real name.

I, and almost every association I have worked with since, owe her a lot.

I owe her a lot because, as she related the timetable for her project, she must have sensed a certain inattentiveness on my part; it was clear I did not understand what her world would be like when this deadline approached. She didn't want anything else to worry about, so she stopped and took a moment to straighten me out.

She related the myriad details which surround conference planning and the consequences of things getting out of control. She shared the stress she and the association staff experience when there was no time left to fix problems. She mentioned that for them, unlike us as a vendor, packing the truck was just the beginning, and that they would be working twenty hour days until the last member checked out and they had to pack the truck all over again. It was one of the most frank and concise ten minutes I've ever spent with a client.

I think about Christy often, and mostly during this time of year as we send one client after another off to their conference. I am always amazed at the skill, dedication, and true good humor our association friends display as they go about this critical part of their year. There always seems to be a good idea to squirrel away for next year to make the process even smoother.

So, to all the TSAEs, FSAEs, CMPs, CAE's and SGMPs out there; have a safe trip, and take a well deserved break when you get back!

Hugh Butler
Your Friend in the Printing Business