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Printing Industry Exchange (printindustry.com) is pleased to have Steven Waxman writing and managing the Printing Industry Blog. As a printing consultant, Steven teaches corporations how to save money buying printing, brokers printing services, and teaches prepress techniques. Steven has been in the printing industry for thirty-three years working as a writer, editor, print buyer, photographer, graphic designer, art director, and production manager.

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The Printing Industry Exchange (PIE) staff are experienced individuals within the printing industry that are dedicated to helping and maintaining a high standard of ethics in this business. We are a privately owned company with principals in the business having a combined total of 103 years experience in the printing industry.

PIE's staff is here to help the print buyer find competitive pricing and the right printer to do their job, and also to help the printing companies increase their revenues by providing numerous leads they can quote on and potentially get new business.

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Blog Articles for PrintIndustry.com

Archive for July, 2014

Business Card Printing: Digital vs. Offset Case Study

Thursday, July 31st, 2014

I received a business card to price a few days ago. My print brokering client wanted 500 copies of one version of a two sided card.

I had printed a business card for my client a few years prior, so I asked about the paper stock. I asked whether she had liked the last version of her card, and also whether the inks on this digitally printed card had been sufficiently rub resistant. (more…)

Commercial Printing: Open Source Graphic Design Apps

Tuesday, July 29th, 2014

Throughout most of my 36-year career in graphic design, Apple Macintosh has been the gold standard for publication design. I have always been pleased with the software, from PageMaker to Quark to InDesign. But recent changes in pricing structure for Adobe applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign have potentially put these applications out of reach financially for a lot of people. They have gone from a one-time charge per application purchase (or for multiple applications in Creative Suite) to a subscription basis (per month/per year) of approximately $20 per month for one application or $50 per month for the entire design suite. (more…)

Custom Printing: Two Ways to Emphasize Design Elements

Saturday, July 26th, 2014

I’ve written a number of PIE Blog articles referencing Design Basics Index, an easy to use print book written for designers by Jim Krause. I find it a useful guide in my own creative work.

One topic that I noticed recently is how to emphasize various design elements on a page, or how to lead the reader’s eye through the design, clarifying which items are more important and which are less. Although this sounds controlling, it actually eases the reader’s anxiety, since he or she will know exactly what to read, in what order, to grasp the meaning of the piece, without needing to think. (more…)

Large Format Printing: See-Through Window Graphics

Thursday, July 24th, 2014

How do they do that? Have you ever seen a large format print graphic covering an entire bus, including the windows? How do the passengers see out of the bus?

Large format, perforated window media is the answer. This inkjet printing substrate, made of vinyl with small holes across its entire surface, is imaged on one side with inkjet equipment and left blank on the other. When applied across the surface of a bus, including the metal walls of the vehicle and the windows, this provides an awe inspiring view of the graphic image while only lowering visibility a little. It is also a significantly larger image than was previously possible to manufacture or apply to a vehicle. (more…)

Large Format Printing: Fine Art Printing Techniques

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2014

In the rush to produce posters, building wraps, brochures, and print books for either promotional or educational purposes, we may forget that one of the main uses for custom printing for centuries has been to reproduce copies of fine art. (more…)

Custom Pocket Folders: Multiple Copies on a Single Page

Sunday, July 20th, 2014

It is unusual for a printer to print only one copy of your brochure, poster, custom pocket folder, or print book signatures on a press sheet when he produces your job via sheetfed offset lithography. This would not be efficient. Nor would it be economical. (more…)

Custom Printing: Dot Gain and What to Do About It

Thursday, July 17th, 2014

About twenty years ago I designed a 6” x 9” 4-color print catalog. I was an art director at a local non-profit organization. I had just received the color proof of the catalog, which was about to be printed via web-offset lithography. I was horrified. Everything was too light: text, images, everything. (more…)

Commercial Printing: What You Can and Can’t Proof?

Tuesday, July 15th, 2014

In this day and age, one would expect to be able to accurately proof anything and everything. You can get an inkjet proof of a banner (perhaps in a smaller size than the final product), and it will be color faithful. You can request digital bluelines of a book that will be offset printed. In fact, you can even get a single copy of a digitally printed book (cover and text) that will be exactly the same as the final copies your printer will deliver. (more…)

Commercial Printing Case Study: Is It Digital or Offset?

Sunday, July 13th, 2014

I received a promotional brochure from a custom printing vendor today, and I was struck by several aspects of its printing quality.

First of all, the brochure had been printed on a thick stock (15 point cover stock, six panels folded to 4 5/8” x 6 1/8”). The thickness of the paper made me feel that the company cares enough to spend a little more on paper and postage. It suggests opulence. (more…)

Book Printing: Discontinued Endsheet Stock–Oops

Thursday, July 10th, 2014

I received an email from the book printer this week about the endsheet material for a case-bound book I’m brokering. It’s an annual 8.5” x 10.875”, 576-page, hard-cover publication with a press run of 1,000 copies. (more…)

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