Print Kingston Blog

Printing Made Easy Thanks to YouTube

2009-10-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

Eureka! YouTube is the answer!

Recently, I posted a blog entry trying to explain bleed and a couple of days later I heard a great show on CBC's Spark about how this guy built some cabinets with the help of YouTube. It made me think, "Maybe I can find some printing related videos to help our customers."

Sure enough, there were quite a few. I have included a few of the links below.

NOTE: For those getting this post via email, I recommend you visit the blog site for the full effect: printkingston.blogspot.com

Videos on bleed and margins:

CMYK, RGB & Spot Colours:

Images:

And lastly, some stuff on PDF's:

Outputing to PDF

Don't limit yourself to just these videos. By the time you receive this and read it, there will be more. When you find a good one, please send it to me and I can include it at the end of a post. I might even include a funny one from time to time.

PrintFusion in the News

2009-10-14T07:09:00.001-07:00

This summer, we were interviewed as part of a regional report by Direct Marketing News.

You can check out the article on page 12 & 13 of the PDF here: September 2009. If you are interested in direct marketing, you might consider subscribing to Direct Marketing New -- one of the few things in life that is free (ok, without charge).

They contacted us wanting to talk with the players in greater Kingston with regards to direct marketing. As you can see, the only two they spoke with were Digigraphics and PrintFusion.

We would love to hear what you think about the article!

Take it to the Edge

2009-09-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

One of the most frustrating things for people who design their own printed material is the bleed.

What is bleed?

Ink to the edge of the paper is a bleed.

For example, the finished document on the right, the picture of Percival Horace as a young kitten and the purple text box both have bleed. The designer wanted the images to go to the edge of the page on the finished document.

To prepare artwork for printing that has a bleed, you need to 'make it bleed'.

On the left, the artwork is set up with the band and picture bleeding. It will be printed on an over-sized sheet and trimmed down to the finished sheet size.

At PrintFusion we ask for 1/8” or 0.125” on each side that has a bleed and most commercial printers are the same*. If you’re creating an 8 ½ x 11” document and you want your image to bleed on all four sides, you’ll have to make sure the image is sized at 8 ¾ x 11 ¼” (8.75” x 11.25”). That’s 8 ½” plus 1/8” on the left and 1/8” on the right, and 11” plus 1/8” on the top and 1/8” on the bottom.

Software & Bleed

If you are using professional layout software, you can specify the document size and then specify the amount of the bleed. When you create the print-ready PDF, it will include the bleed for you.

If you want your document to bleed, you should avoid using word processors, spreadsheets and presentation software to create your print-ready PDF.

Show Me the Money

A document with a bleed is printed on a larger sheet of paper and then trimmed to size which usually means an increased cost. But, this cost is often worth it if you need to present a professional image. Next time you pick up a brochure or a business card, look to see if it bleeds.

* Large jobs like banners or jobs with complicated finishing may require bleeds of 1/2" or more. Check with your printer before sending the artwork.

Pretty PDF's

2009-05-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

What do uniforms, letterhead and PDF's have in common?

They are all indicators of credibility.

What???

On a busy street, how do you tell who are police and who are not? The uniform. When you wander through a book store, you most definitely judge the books by their covers.

Until recently, businesses used letterhead for all commercial correspondence. In 1975, no one would trust an accountant who sent letters on plain white paper. Any credible business needed to have letterhead.

Does a uniform make a difference to how well a police officer arrests criminals? Is a lawyer's decision better if written on letterhead? The answer is clearly no. These are only indicators but indicators that customers use to make decisions.

Your electronic documents do the same. A Microsoft Word document by email is no different than submitting your RFP written in pencil on lined paper.

Think of the documents you receive. When someone sends you .doc or .xls file it feels unfinished -- and really, it is. With the growing popularity of free software like Open Office and Google Docs you can no longer be sure the recipient uses Microsoft software.

When you create a PDF you create a stable document. It will maintain its appearance no matter who opens it and no matter what computer they use. It will also print with considerably more consistency. And possibly most important, your document as a PDF will give your reader an initial impression you cannot get with a native file. Only professional companies take the time to create professional looking PDF's.

Most new software will allow you to export or save as a PDF. But if you are like many people, you still have some older software that does not have a native PDF creator.

Not ready to cough up US$450 for Adobe Acrobat to create PDF's? No problem. You can get a free program called PrimoPDF. I have been using it for a few months and it works great.

When you install it, it will show up as a printer on your computer. To create a PDF, you do the same as if you were printing: select PrimoPDF and click print. A dialogue box will open, select your options and presto!, you have a PDF.

Once you start using PDF's, you will notice those business partners who don't and be glad you are now giving the right impression.

Fill Up Your Marketing Bus

2009-03-03T20:14:00.000-08:00

All those documents you mail -- invoices, statements, cheques, notices, etcetera -- cost you 54 cents in postage.

Mailing an envelope with one piece of paper in it is like driving a school bus around by yourself -- a huge waste. Canada Post will let you mail up to 30 grams for the hefty 54 cents they charge. Within the 30 gram limit, you can include three to five pieces in the envelope depending on the weight of each insert.

Mailing an invoice? You have a pretty good chance of reaching a happy customer (hopefully happy). Who better to learn about the other products and services you offer? Include your new brochure or rack card with a related product offering. If they just stayed at your B&B, they might want to know about the package you offer in other seasons.

Create a bill insert. A bill insert is simply an unfolded piece of paper which will fit in your envelope with an invoice or statement. Launching a new product or changing your hours? Don't send another envelope without at least including a simple bill insert to keep the invoice or statement company.

The piece you include does not have to be yours. Maybe you are selling home heating fuel, how much would a door & window retailer pay to send an upgrade special to your customers? Maybe a cooperative agreement to include each others' inserts with statements and invoices.

Don't limit your inserts to just invoices and statements. For small businesses, suppliers can be customers so include your marketing message with your cheques.

Many businesses use printed envelopes. On the envelope, they have a return address and their logo -- that's it. Canada Post will let you put a lot of graphics and text on the front and back of your envelopes. You need to leave some white space but there is plenty of room for a solid marketing message. Paint the side of your bus!

Still using a blank envelope from a big box store? You might be surprised at how cost effective printed envelopes can be; even in small quantities, the cost of a printed envelope is way less than the postage. Take a look at your mail when it comes in. The larger, professional companies send printed envelopes. What does your envelope tell your customer?

At PrintFusion, all of our own envelopes have a message on the flap. Right now, it is about our business card special: 500 business cards for 25 bucks. Which reminds me, I think it is time to change up our message. Change it regularly but keep the look and feel consistant with your brand.

If you are paying the price for the bus -- maximize the benefit -- stop driving around by yourself. Can you think of a better place to put a marketing message than right in front of a satisfied customer who just purchased your product or service?

Smart Sustainability – Rethink Your Way Green

2009-02-26T08:10:00.000-08:00

Being green is simpler than many people will have you believe. A massive amount of the resources we turn into goods and services are never used for their original purpose or they are only partially achieve the desired result.

There are two big sources waste from poorly utilized resources. The first is very obvious, the second not so.

In printing (and in many other manufacturing settings) the per-unit cost drops with the larger quantities you purchase. Therefore, the incentive is to purchase more. The problem is the per-unit purchase cost does not include the per-unit effective cost.

For example, if you buy 1000 for $300, the purchase cost is 30 cents each; but, if you only use 240 pieces the effective per-unit cost is $1.25 – big difference. Then consider the environmental impact, the unused 760 pieces are waste. Sure, you put them in recycling but what about the energy used to make them and then to later recycle them?

The second type of waste from poorly utilized resources is really just a further extension of the per-unit effective cost. It is the per-unit result cost. Continuing with the same example, if you used 240 pieces with an effective per-unit cost of $1.25 and only generated 20 of your desired results (e.g. visits to your website, sales transactions, etc) your cost is $15 per result.

To simplify, you paid $300 dollars to get 20 results. Therefore, each result cost $15. No one buys printing to have printing – everyone buys printing to achieve a result. The waste in this example is 980 pieces – 980 pieces did not achieve the desired result. What if you could have purchased 100 pieces at $2 each and achieved the same 20 results? I see this possibility everyday.

The key to taking advantage of this idea is to ask some important questions (i.e. rethink) before doing the same thing you have always done – whether it is purchase letterhead or start a direct mail campaign. Give your self time to look for a better way to do what you have always done and in some cases ask "should I be doing this at all?"

If you rethink your activities, you can reduce your environmental impact, increase your effectiveness and ultimately find the profitability in being green.

Necessary Evil to Clutter Knife

2009-02-23T06:36:00.001-08:00

At one time every business had a commercial printer -- just like most businesses today have an Internet Service Provider. This has changed. Cheques, envelopes, letterhead and for some people, business cards and brochures, all gone.

So how do we printers survive? Or even grow? We are no longer printers but purveyors of effective marketing communications.

Our modern virtual world is dominated by the visual. Depending on who you believe, we are bombarded with millions or billions of visual marketing messages in our lives. Only a small percentage make an impression. So why does print - a visual media - remain a major player? Touch. You can physically interact with the message.

Martin Lindstrom in his recent book Buyology points out that marketing messages which engage us with more than just sight, cut through the clutter and make a lasting impression.

Using print is no longer mandatory but rather a sophisticated marketing tool. Those who learn to use it will never look at a flyer the same.

Print In Kingston

2009-02-22T14:23:00.000-08:00

I was going to wait until I had something interesting to say but it felt wrong to leave the new blog empty...

Welcome to Print Kingston (short for Print In Kingston)!

Everything you wanted to know about printing and printing in Kingston, and really wish you hadn't asked.

Bill

PrintFusion Inc.
624 Justus Drive
Kingston ON K7M 4H4
Canada
www.printfusion.ca