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The art of Process Control pt 2- Fingerprinting
2007-02-28 17:49:03
Each person’s fingerprint is unique. That’s why they are so useful for identification purposes. In the printing industry, each press has it’s own unique set of characteristics. That is why presses need to be ‘fingerprinted’. A fingerprint on a press means that a test form is printed and then the resulting image on those sheets is analyzed for a variety of things. The image on the left is a typical fingerprinting form used by printers. There are a variety of targets and images on a fingerprinting form, and each one has a specific purpose. Targets There are many targets that are placed on a fingerprint form. Below is a partial list and what they are used for: Color Bar- used for measuring solid ink density of Cyan Magenta Yellow and Black inks. Can also have targets for Trap/overprint density, dot gain and slur (doubling) Profiling Target- A profiling target is needed on the form, because once the printing condition is verified as accurate, then the target
Read more: Process , Control , Fingerprinting

The art of Process Control pt 1- Plates
2007-02-27 19:22:28
The printing industry is technically a section of the manufacturing industry. Instead of manufacturing tires or pipes or cars, we manufacture ink on paper. In manufacturing, you need process controls to insure that every step of the process is controlled, minimizes waste, maximizes profit and delivers the best quality product to the customer. Process control is an integral part of printing as well, and it is more of an art form than an exact science. I am going to look at what is involved in process controls on the press side of printing- from plates to paper. Some of these subjects get pretty complex, so I may just gloss over certain things, or add links to an outside reference if you are interested. The first step is to check your plates. In offset lithography, the plate is one of the most important parts of the process. When the ink touches the plate, it sticks to the image area and is then transfered to the blanket and then the paper, so if you have bad dots on your plate then e
Read more: Control , Plates

The meaning of colors - RED
2007-02-27 15:25:39
Before you design anything else here are some colors and their meanings. Drop us a line and let us know if you agree, or disagree, or if you have any other color-meanings to share. Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. Red is a very emotionally intense color. It enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure. It has very high visibility, which is why stop signs, stoplights, and fire equipment are usually painted red. In heraldry, red is used to indicate courage. It is a color found in many national flags. Red brings text and images to the foreground. Use it as an accent color to stimulate people to make quick decisions; it is a perfect color for ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Click Here’ buttons on Internet banners and websites. In advertising, red is often used to evoke erotic feelings (red lips, red nails, red-light districts, R


Why Colors Shift when converting from RGB to CMYK
2007-02-26 20:36:22
You have all seen it; the dreaded color shift when you convert from RGB to CMYK. I didn’t realize until today that most people don’t know why it happens. It is simple- the RGB primaries can produce a much wider gamut of colors than the CMY primaries can. This odd little graph on the left is 3-dimensional graph of an RGB and a CMYK profile in the CIELAB color space. CIELAB (more accurately CIE 1976 L*a*b*) is a mathematical color space that computers use to understand color. There are several spaces, but CIELAB is one of the most common in the graphic arts industry. Take a look at the graph. The brightly colored solid area in the middle is the graphed color gamut of the SWOP color space. SWOP is the standard for magazine printing, and most common color space people use when they convert their images. The outside area (in wireframe) is the graphed color gamut of the sRGB color space, which is the standard color space for the Windows operating system as well as many consumer
Read more: Colors , Shift , converting

Promote your business with the right logo! - Part 3
2007-02-26 15:49:40
[Part 3] It is felt that certain elements make up a credible and a high quality logo. These are: A logo should be different from your competitors. In my view there is no point being another face in the crowd. So stand out and if you dare, be different. Sometimes breaking rules and conventions may work in your favour. Evaluate maverick design ideas and themes. It should reflect the companies business, products/services. It should be easy to compress and still uniquely retain its design elements. When finalizing your logo design think about your target market and ask these questions: 1) By looking at your logo image, will they be able to guess what the company products/services are. 2) Will they see the image as a representation of professional, reliable company – A company that delivers on its promise? Remember the logo is not to please you but your customers. Why? Because they are the ones who pay your salaries. They are the ones who will help you buy that lovely apartment with wate
Read more: Promote

FREE FONTS… I’M IN.
2007-02-25 15:04:33
Free (fr?) - Costing nothing; gratuitous: a free meal. Or in this case free fonts. There are tons of free fonts on the web and even more free font sites. When searching Google for “Free Fonts” you will find over 61 million results. So it is nice to find a place that does all that searching for you. Vitaly Friedman’s frequently updated list of 25 Best Free Quality fonts is a great place to start if you’re looking for an update to your font collection. His list leans towards the well-crafted and functional (but not boring) fonts, which is a welcome break from all the ‘weird and wacky’ handwriting and grunge fonts that tend to dominate the typical free font database. So type away and enjoy.
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Do we really need to “Reinvent the Wheel”?
2007-02-25 05:17:53
It is said that “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration”. When it comes to graphic design I think that inspiration plays a much greater role. It’s more the “what” then the “how”. In today’s digital age, we have software that gives a wide group of people the ability to do design and layout in there home or office. This was once reserved for only the design professional. Now don’t get me wrong, just because you own a hammer doesn’t make you a carpenter. I know that. But, if your handy, coordinated and what the DYI channel on cable, you can proberly do a decent job around the house. Back to graphic design, from MS Publisher to Adobe CS2 and all the software in between, non pro’s now have a larger choice than ever before. But that’s not enough, these tools will not make you a graphic designer by themselves. This is where inspiration come in, the internet has turned many a person in to a
Read more: really need

Crisp Vector Type from Photoshop
2007-02-23 21:33:56
I am a vector geek. When it comes to printing, vector graphics are the best. Nothing looks better to me than crisp clean printed type. As a vector geek, one of my pet peeves is type set in Photoshop . When type is set in Photoshop, more often than not, the files that get sent to the printer are flattened (no layers) 300dpi TIFF files. This is absolutely perfect for images, but for text? The thing is, when you set a line of type in Illustrator or InDesign and it gets output to any device- office printer, inkjet, platemaker etc. vector data (text) is output at the highest resolution possible by the imaging device. This means that for most office laser printers, your text is 600dpi. In the printing world, you text is being output anywhere from 1600dpi-3600dpi! These nice sharp solids are now being output at only 300dpi; in the case of most printing companies, that is about 1/3 of the standard resolution! The worst part is that when Photoshop rasterizes type, it is no longer solid! Look at
Read more: Crisp , Vector

Promote your business with the right logo! - Part 2
2007-02-23 17:29:20
[Part 2] Concept: Concept is the most crucial aspect of logo design. The logo needs to undergo rigorous tests in order to create a unique place in the market its brand owners operate in. While deciding on what kind of logo you want, ask yourself about the kind of image you want to portray about your company – For example cartoons could represent a fun filled company philosophy. Never forget that once decided upon, your logo will be a silent medium that will communicate the company’s ideals and philosophy. The logo should be impressive and at the same time should not be over dramatic. The design elements need to be as few as possible so that the logo does not appear to be packed with different image components. It should be able to attract the customers the company wants to attract. For example, research shows that using bright colors does not create the brand confidence in finance related companies. Finance companies are advised to stick by the traditional grey, blues and reds (re
Read more: Promote

Permanently set some Illustrator Settings
2007-02-22 16:51:43
Tell me if this sounds familiar; You spend hours working on an Illustrator file, apply all kinds of filters and effects and drop shadows to your designs, and when you get it back from the printer, much of these effects look different. Sound familiar? The problem is usually a setting called “Document Raster Effects Settings ” in Illustrator. This setting controls what resolution and color space all of your filters, effects, and drop shadows are output. To change the settings you need to go to Effect->Document Raster Effects Settings. Make sure your colorspace is CMYK, and set the resolution to 300dpi. There is a way of making this the default for every single file you create in Illustrator. In the Illustrator Plug-Ins folder, there is a file called Adobe Illustrator Startup_CMYK.ai. Open this file and change the Document Raster Effects Settings, then save it. Quit and restart Illustrator. Every new Illustrator file you create will now by default have the correct Document Ras


The meaning of colors - GREEN
2007-03-02 14:26:33
Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Dark green is also commonly associated with money. Green has great healing power. It is the most restful color for the human eye; it can improve vision. Green suggests stability and endurance. Sometimes green denotes lack of experience; for example, a ‘greenhorn’ is a novice. In heraldry, green indicates growth and hope. Green, as opposed to red, means safety; it is the color of free passage in road traffic. Use green to indicate safety when advertising drugs and medical products. Green is directly related to nature, so you can use it to promote ‘green’ products. Dull, darker green is commonly associated with money, the financial world, banking, and Wall Street. Dark green is associated with ambition, greed, and jealousy. Yellow-green can indicate sickness, cowardice, discord, and jealousy. Aqua is associated with emotio


The art of Process Control pt 3- Day to Day Operation
2007-03-01 20:01:57
Once the verification process is complete and all of your profile and curves are in use, you need to keep track of your press and printing conditions on a day to day basis. No printer can afford to run fingerprint runs constantly. Most printers will only fingerprint once or twice per year. Keeping track of conditions on each press run is important and can be accomplished with a simple target- a color bar. There are many different types of targets that can be used in a color bar, below is a list of the most common, and what they are used for. Solids and Screens- The solid ink blocks are used for measuring overall ink density. The screened patches are for measuring dot gain. Density and gain should not change much from press run to press run- provided they are on the same papers. You must adjust density and gain targets for different papers. Gray Patches- these patches are made up of Cyan Magenta and Yellow, and are used for checking the 3c gray balance. Trap/Overprint Patches- these
Read more: Process , Control , Operation

The meaning of colors - BLUE
2007-03-01 16:44:41
Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. Blue is strongly associated with tranquility and calmness. In heraldry, blue is used to symbolize piety and sincerity. You can use blue to promote products and services related to cleanliness (water purification filters, cleaning liquids, vodka), air and sky (airlines, airports, air conditioners), water and sea (sea voyages, mineral water). As opposed to emotionally warm colors like red, orange, and yellow; blue is linked to consciousness and intellect. Use blue to suggest precision when promoting high-tech products. Blue is a masculine color; according to studies, it is highly accepted among males. Dark blue is associated with depth, expertise, and stability; it is a preferred color for corporate Ame


What is a Pantone®, and when is a Pantone® not a Pantone®? (Part 1)
2007-03-05 20:19:25
So that is hopefully the longest and most confusing title for a blog post I will ever write. Can you say it 5 times fast? For all the complexity of that title, Pantone® is a company that is headquartered in New Jersey that makes inks. Pantone® has become a generic term for SPOT colors. These are premixed inks that are not one of the process colors. Two color printing has been and will continue to be one of the staples of printing and design. Pantone® is one of many companies that make premixed inks. In fact, odds are your printer does not buy their Pantone® inks from the company Pantone® but another ink supplier that has a license to create ink to Pantone®’s color specifications. So now that we know what a Pantone® is, how do we know when a Pantone® isn’t a Pantone®? On the left here is part of the Swatch Palette’s list in Illustrator. You can see there are many Pantone® swatch lists to choose from. So which is the correct swatch palette to use? What does C


OnDemand Conference… FREE!
2007-03-06 18:06:47
Anyone looking to learn more about digital printing should check out the ON DEMAND Printing Conference happening in Boston, MA on April 16-19th, 2007. I have attended the conference a few times when it was held in NYC and it is a great learning experience for anyone. And the best part about the expo, it’s FREE. Just register before April 15th - HERE Some topics covered at the expo will be: * Printing Equipment * Value-Added Print Services * Automated Production Hardware/Software * Substrates and Consumables * Bindery & Finishing Equipment & Services Some of the featured exhibitors that will be there: * Canon U.S.A. * Eastman Kodak Company * Graphic Arts Monthly * Quark, Inc. * Xerox Don’t forget to register before April 15th for free entry to the expo! Registration Link
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Pantone® Suffixes and Process Builds (Part 2)
2007-03-07 20:23:09
What does C, CVC, U stand for? The C, U at the end of the Pantone® number indicate the type of paper that the ink will be printed on. There is no difference between PMS 281C and 281U! They are the same inks! ‘C’ and ‘U’ indicated coated and uncoated papers. The way ink appears when printed will change depending on the paper. Switching between the coated and uncoated swatch books can help you if you are designing for uncoated paper- Illustrator, Quark and InDesign simulate the visual difference between the printed colors to make it easier for designers to visualize the final colors. Also, most design apps will give you different process builds of these colors if you convert them. The process builds will mimic the color difference you see on screen between the Coated and Uncoated colors. The ‘CVC’ and ‘CVU’ suffixes are pre-2000 suffixes. Every few years, Pantone® will revise their color guides. ‘CV’ stands for “Computer Video”. The ‘C’ and ‘U’ at the e
Read more: Process , Builds

The meaning of colors -ORANGE
2007-03-07 13:46:45
Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation. To the human eye, orange is a very hot color, so it gives the sensation of heat. Nevertheless, orange is not as aggressive as red. Orange increases oxygen supply to the brain, produces an invigorating effect, and stimulates mental activity. It is highly accepted among young people. As a citrus color, orange is associated with healthy food and stimulates appetite. Orange is the color of fall and harvest. In heraldry, orange is symbolic of strength and endurance. Orange has very high visibility, so you can use it to catch attention and highlight the most important elements of your design. Orange is very effective for promoting food products and toys. Dark orange can mean deceit and distrust. Red-orange corresponds to desire, sexual passion,


Helpful hint in figuring out what a file is
2007-03-08 22:09:29
Have ever ever received a file and not been able to figure out what application it was created in? No icon, no extension- just a file name like “flyer”. The easiest way to determine what the type of file is is open it in a text editor! This doesn’t work so well with really large files, but just about anything can be opened in Note Pad (PC) or Text Edit (MAC). Usually the information you are looking for is right there on first two lines. It can sometimes be hard to decipher what the head means though. Below is a list of some file headers for the most common file types in graphic design. %!PS-Adobe-3.1 EPSF-3.0 - First line in an EPS file. EPS and Postscript are pretty easy to understand; most of the creator information is on the first few lines of the file. Be wary, it might not say EPSF! There are several types of EPS files, EPSF just happens to be the most common. %PDF-1.3 - This is usually the first line in a PDF file. The number will change depending on the PDF


Axie Breen Graphic Design
2007-03-08 18:02:35
Axie Breen is a graphic designer based in the Boston area. Her clients are arts and education organizations, social service and policy non-profits, businesses and political campaigns. She enjoys working collaboratively with organizations to develop effective, distinctive comunications: “Part of the fun is the variety of projects I work on, which could be a Doc Watson album cover or opera advertising or an annual report. It’s great to get the client’s feedback when they get a new piece that really delights them and surpasses their expectations.” The studio helps entrepreneurs and established organizations create new projects that are on target with their message and their audience. Ms. Breen is pleased to use her skills to support service and policy organizations that are working to make the world a better place, like Women Employed in Chicago, Citizen Action Wisconsin, and Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrant and Refugee Rights in California. Ms. Breen’s wo
Read more: Graphic , Graphic Design

Promotions POP with Postcards
2007-03-08 15:08:11
Use Postcards Imaginatively in Promotions That Give You A Bigger Slice of Your Market. Attract an audience with color. Drench the front of your postcard with color and images that represent your company. Never waste space. Never Waste Space-Continue to Communicate Use the back of your postcard, print more photos, graphics, names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. The Greatest of Ease For just pennies a client, our direct mailing services give you the opportunity to reach thousands of prospects in the comfort of your own office.


TEAM in TRAINING
2007-03-14 14:50:22
BargainPrinting.com supports Team in Training and we are wondering if any of you is participating this year. We’d like to include you in our list, so that our customers can support your team through a 5% cash back program we are running. Let us know through the comments section and we’ll contact you to get more info - or call 212.244.7504 and ask for Sophie.


PDF Creating Software
2007-03-13 21:23:11
There are a lot of people out there who cannot make PDF files because they lack the necessary software. If you are reading this, and you are one of these people, I have some help for you. I have recently stumbled across 2 PDF writers for the PC. Both of these are free. I have to tell you, I haven’t tried either one; so don’t read this as an endorsement. CuteFTP Pdf995 Check these out, let me know what you think of them! Make sure you read all of the fine print too, I saw on the PDF995 page that you will get pop-up ads using the free version.
Read more: Creating , Software

DICTATE YOUR DESTINY
2007-03-13 16:02:43
Image is everything; Direct Mail Marketing projects professionalism while increasing your audience size and maintaining a low bottom line, low cost is key.


Best Mac Freeware-Shareware-Donationware
2007-03-14 21:01:43
Everyone knows that software is expensive. Applications like Photoshop, Quark Xpress, or InDesign can cost hundreds of dollars, in bundles they can cost thousands. Sometimes though, the best bit of software for you job is free, or close to it. Here are my top 3 MAC apps that are free or close to it. Linotype’s Font Explorer X- This is a fully functioning font manager for OSX. It is also completely free. This has been floating around for a while, but it was a beta version. The full release is now available. This software works just as well as the other font managers I have used, and has a couple of nifty extras. My two favorites are it’s ability to delete font caches (this fixes that annoying gibberish type), and it’s ability to get rid of extra system fonts. This tool will either delete or just move all extra fonts that have been installed on your system. Spine Calculator- This is a great little piece of “Donationware”. It does just what it sounds lik
Read more: Freeware

Color Managing Photos
2007-03-16 19:42:46
I know there is a lot of confusion out there as to just what an ICC profile does. You can read as much as you want to about what is in a profile and how to use the, but until you actually see it with your eyes, it is hard to understand what everything means. To start this off, I thought we would take a look at RGB profiles. RGB profiles are used by digital cameras, scanners, and your monitors. When you take a digital picture or scan a print, an RGB profile comes into play. The two most commonly used profiles are sRGB and Adobe RGB (1998). The sRGB color space is the default color space for Windows. Adobe RGB (1998) is the generic profile that Photoshop uses (in the US or North American Prepress Defaults). Below is two copies of the same image. There is only one difference; the embedded profiles. The image on the left has the sRGB color space embedded, and on the right the Adobe RGB (1998) space. Just changing the RGB profile of the image makes a difference in color. So when you are
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It’s All About the Image: From your digital camera to our digital printing process. Part 2
2007-03-16 13:58:01
Part 2 Choosing a Digital Camera Newer multi-mega pixel cameras offer high enough resolution to preserve image quality in offset printing for most image sizes (except oversized posters). To take high quality pictures for print, you’ll need at least a 2-megapixel camera. A 2-megapixel camera has an image resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels. (By comparison, 35 mm film has an image resolution of about 3600 x 2500.) Cameras with resolutions of only 1024 x 768 pixels or 1280 x 1024 pixels can be used, but such photos must be printed much smaller than images from higher resolution cameras. Resolution Settings Set your camera for the highest resolution possible. Many cameras have settings such as “Standard,” “Normal,” “High Quality” or “Super High Quality.” Check your manual to determine the specific resolutions these terms represent. Depending on your camera, the resolution settings could range from 72 dpi to 300 dpi. A 72 dpi image is
Read more: Image

Adobe Acrobat & PDF Conference 2007
2007-03-16 02:12:32
At AGI’s Adobe Acrobat & PDF Conference, you have the opportunity to gain an extensive understanding of the powerful tools found in Adobe® Acrobat® 8, and discover PDF tools, techniques, and workflows relevant to your work. The conference has tracks for all types of attendees, including a User track, a Technical track, and a Publishing track. Graphics professionals will gain tips, tools, and techniques for working with PDF files in a professional publishing and creative environment. Business users will discover the power of PDF forms and ways to unlock the capabilities of PDF for distribution to users with the free Adobe® Reader®. Technical users and developers will explore the details of the PDF file format, changes made with the latest release of the PDF specification, and ways to enhance PDF with JavaScript.
Read more: Adobe Acrobat

It’s All About the Image: From your digital camera to our digital printing process.
2007-03-15 19:20:30
In an age where “Image is Everything”, there is an overflow of services that provide consumers with top quality, high resolution stock photos that can be used to promote your business. What happens when a designer needs images of the company’s product? If your company is small to medium size with little or no budget to plan a professional photoshoot, you turn to your personal digital camera hoping to achieve an outstanding image quality - not considering what it takes to convert that image and prepare it for offset printing. Although digital images might look great on a computer monitor, often the quality is poor when these images are reproduced on an offset printing press. BargainPrinting.com comes across many clients on a daily basis that followed that path and we have been working with them to educate them about what it takes to get a digital image from an “1-shot” personal camera printed without compromizing quality, although we do not recommend tha


Letterhead Contest
2007-03-17 17:16:44
Our contest is open to designers, printer representatives and our paper distributors. What to do? Download the Neenah Paper PAPERWORKS Contest entry form. PAPERWORKS Contest Download the Neenah Paper PAPERWORKS Contest entry form. Send in 5 samples (do not mount, fold, staple, or mark on) along with the completed entry form to: Neenah Paper Attn: Awards Competition 3460 Preston Ridge Road, Suite 600 Alpharetta, GA 30005 Please note that entries cannot be returned and only first postmarked entry of “like” design is eligible for an award. Entries will be acknowledged through e-mail only. Letterhead - Bi-monthly Contest The letterhead contest is judged bi-monthly. There are three (3) winners [Gold - $500, Silver - $300 and Bronze - $150] for each of our three sales regions in North America – that’s nine (9) total letterhead winners every two months or 54 winners per year! Each winner will receive two mounted plaques displaying their winning letterhead and their app


Check List: Taking Digital Photographs for Print
2007-03-19 13:50:28
• Camera: At least 2 mega pixels • Resolution: The highest your camera can provide • Size: 300 ppi/dpi (pixels per inch /dots per inch) • Image Format: TIF or uncompressed JPEG • File Format: CMYK • Maximizing Print Output: Images at least 300 dpi, CMYK file format, allow at least 1/8? area all around if you work with bleeds.
Read more: Check , Taking , Digital

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