May 13th, 2019
Posted in Digital Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Choosing a Printer for Chin Cards
A commercial printing client of mine has been producing fashion color swatch books for a number of years through various printers with whom I have professional relationships. Recently she has expanded her product offerings beyond these small books (akin to PMS swatch books but for choosing fashion colors and make-up based on one’s complexion). She now wants to produce “chin cards.” These are similar to the color books but much larger (8” x 10” rather than the approximately 1.5” x 3” format of the swatch books). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Choosing a Printer for Chin Cards
May 5th, 2019
Posted in Digital Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Future Directions in Digital Printing
I read a lot about commercial printing every day. I find it interesting, and it supports my work in print brokering, graphic design, and, of course, my blog writing for PIE. Once in a while I find an article that encapsulates what I’ve been seeing on my own, particularly regarding industry trends. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Future Directions in Digital Printing
April 29th, 2019
Posted in Book Printing, Digital Printing, Soft Cover Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Prices for Short Runs of Long Books
A print brokering client of mine is a husband and wife publishing team. Usually they print one or two new titles a year, mostly books of poetry, fiction, and essays. I’ve written about them in these PIE Blog articles before. They both appreciate the finer points of a physical print book, so all of their projects include French flaps (extensions on the front and back covers that are folded inward toward the inside front and back covers). They also have soft-touch laminated covers (a coating that gives a nice rubberized feel to the matte cover), a press score running parallel to the spine, and faux deckled edges on the text block (actually a “rough front” trim). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Book Printing, Digital Printing, Soft Cover Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Prices for Short Runs of Long Books
April 22nd, 2019
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Paper for a Client’s Digital Print Book
A print brokering client came to me recently with a book project. She wants to print 300 or 500 initial copies of her 432-page, 6” X 9”, perfect bound book (potentially with our without such high production values as French flaps and deckle edges on the text pages). She plans to follow this initial press run with a print on demand contract through one of the online POD (print on demand) vendors. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Paper for a Client’s Digital Print Book
April 15th, 2019
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Paper Prices Can Be a Killer–What to Do
A book printing client of mine is producing 300 copies of a long print book. At the moment it is 428 pages, 6” x 9”, perfect bound with a 12pt cover and 60# white offset text paper.
Initially my client had asked for 100# gloss coated text stock, so I had the book printer price this paper. However, when I saw that the book was text-heavy with no screens or solids and only ten halftones, I made a suggestion to my client. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Paper Prices Can Be a Killer–What to Do
April 8th, 2019
Posted in Printing On Demand | Comments Off on Book Printing: Initial Thoughts on POD Book Printing
I’ve always been somewhat wary of on-demand online book printing because I’m a commercial printing broker. I work with brick-and-mortar custom printing suppliers, and on-demand printers are my competition. (That’s my disclosure for the sake of fairness.) That said, a client of mine came to me this week wanting to find an online vendor that could produce copies of her new 432-page perfect-bound print book as orders came in. But first, she wanted to have me find a brick-and-mortar printer to produce 300 or 500 initial copies of her 6” x 9” print book. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Printing On Demand | Comments Off on Book Printing: Initial Thoughts on POD Book Printing
April 2nd, 2019
Posted in Digital Printing | 2 Comments »
I read an interesting article today, sort of a State of the Union address but for digital printing rather than politics.
The article was entitled “10 Important Considerations Print Service Providers Should Think About in 2019.” Written by Barbara A. Pellow, this article was printed online on 02/15/19 on www.piworld.com under the heading “Digital Success.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital Printing | 2 Comments »
March 25th, 2019
Posted in Digital Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: The Rise of Production Inkjet
About a month ago I wrote a blog posting about production inkjet, but I just read an article today that makes the case even more powerfully for this rising technology. Production inkjet is an unstoppable force. It seems to be the wave of the future not only for digital printing but for printing in general. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: The Rise of Production Inkjet
March 18th, 2019
Posted in Digital Printing | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Printing Your Driver’s License
I spent three hours in the Maryland Department of Transportation today (mostly waiting) to renew my driver’s license. As a student of commercial printing with time on my hands, I took the opportunity to read the driver’s license replacement brochure to see what I was getting. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital Printing | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Printing Your Driver’s License
March 11th, 2019
Posted in Digital Printing | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: The New Fujifilm Digital J Press
Digital custom printing is stepping up into the big time. No longer are plastic photocopy machines on steroids the norm for new generation digital presses.
About a week ago a printing rep I work with told me his plant had a Fujifilm J Press. I didn’t know what that was, but it intrigued me, so I did some research online. I have a lot of confidence in this particular sales rep’s commitment to quality, and after reading some of the sales literature for the Fujifilm J Press, I understood the sales rep’s confidence. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital Printing | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: The New Fujifilm Digital J Press