A friend of a custom printing colleague recently asked a question reflecting his growing frustration. “When I send out emails about upcoming jobs, why do print sales reps always ask for information I’ve already covered in my email, and why do they ask other questions about irrelevant aspects of the job?” (more…)
Archive for June, 2014
Custom Printing: Benefits of Using Print Spec-Sheets
Monday, June 30th, 2014Package Printing: Indigo, Scodix, and Highcon, Oh My
Saturday, June 28th, 2014In the movie The Graduate, Mr. McGuire tells Benjamin, Dustin Hoffman’s character, that he has one word for him regarding his future success: “Plastics.” To update this 1967 movie quote and apply it to the present state of printing, I’d say the word is “packaging,” and Highcon, Scodix, and HP will reap the benefits. (more…)
Custom Printing: Anatomy of a Shipping Pallet or Skid
Thursday, June 26th, 2014There’s no better way to truly understand a process until you do it. This goes for custom printing and shipping as well as other business processes. (more…)
Book Printing: Finessing the Weight/Thickness of a Book
Tuesday, June 24th, 2014One of my current clients used to work for me back in the ’90s, when I was an art director. She is a shrewd print buyer and very knowledgeable about commercial printing. So I was a bit amused and pleased to hear from her today about a print book I’m brokering for her. (more…)
Commercial Printing: Selecting Ink Colors for Design
Sunday, June 22nd, 2014Custom Printing: Controlling Eye Flow Across the Gutter
Friday, June 20th, 2014Since the house fire, I’ve been scouring thrift stores to rebuild my business library. Today I found a great print book for $2.00, used: Design Basics Index by Jim Krause.
I’ve always been a firm believer in fundamentals, the building blocks of any discipline, and this book delivers in spades on this front. You can jump in and out of the print book and learn something new or remember something you’d forgotten each time you open the cover. (more…)
Commercial Printing: Resampling Photoshop Images
Wednesday, June 18th, 2014I received an email last night from an associate who is a print book designer. The email read, “What is the proper resolution for an image in Photoshop?” I knew he had the answer: Twice the line screen of the printed image (i.e., 300 dpi for a 150-line printer’s halftone screen with the image reproduced full size—no enlargement or reduction). (more…)
Poster Printing: Is It a Litho or a Screen Print?
Monday, June 16th, 2014Brochure Printing: Paper Color Affects the Ink Color
Thursday, June 12th, 2014We all learn from our mistakes. In an ideal world, we may even learn from the mistakes of others and then not make our own.
In this light, I want to tell you a story about choosing paper for a brochure print job I designed about twenty years ago. My boss, the Director of Publications, suggested that I print the brochure on a warm coated custom printing stock to differentiate it from other marketing materials we had been circulating. It seemed like a good idea at the time. (more…)
Commercial Printing: Intriguing Facts About Fonts
Tuesday, June 10th, 2014I would encourage you to use Google Images (as well as Google Web) to find samples of each type characteristic or category. Type “Google Images,” then search for “Modern” Type, for instance. You can find detailed images and descriptions in this way. (more…)
