March 4th, 2019
Posted in Digital Finishing, Digital Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Press Release Reflects New Digital Trends
Sometimes you can actually learn a lot from a press release. It’s a bit like reading the tea leaves to divine the future.
A close friend and colleague recently sent me a press release about the Hunkeler Innovationdays 2019 printing and finishing trade show coming up in Lucerne, Switzerland (entitled “Hunkeler Innovationdays to Showcase the Next Generation of High Performance Digital Printing and Finishing,” by Hunkeler). If you know how to read between the lines, you can get a lot of information about custom printing from this simple, approximately 250-word press release. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital Finishing, Digital Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Press Release Reflects New Digital Trends
February 26th, 2019
Posted in Packaging | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Digital Direct-to-Shape Printing
Digital package printing is hot. It’s a growth sector within the commercial printing industry, and I find this most exciting. And as with other growth industries, consumer demands drive innovation. Customers want something, or like something, or find something intriguing, and to keep them happy the inventors and manufacturers create the technology to satisfy these wants and needs. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Packaging | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Digital Direct-to-Shape Printing
February 18th, 2019
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Final Steps Before Uploading a Book File
I still do some design work each year. Not as much as when I was an art director, but enough to keep my skills up and stay current with new technology. In addition to the extra money this affords, it also keeps me alert to the same issues PIE Blog readers who are designers must address each day. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Final Steps Before Uploading a Book File
February 11th, 2019
Posted in Design | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Design Approaches for Specific Media
I attended a freelance group meeting yesterday. Most members were writers and designers, some of whom I had known for two decades. One of the designers, who had been a director of publications at a non-profit before venturing out on her own, showed us several PDFs (on her computer) of the booklet designs she had done in the 1980s, 1990s, and recently. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Design | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Design Approaches for Specific Media
February 4th, 2019
Posted in Embossing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: A Primer on Embossing
I was doing research on embossing yesterday, and I found an article that summarized just about everything I had ever read on the subject, so I thought it would be good to share it with all PIE Blog readers. It is entitled “The Graphic Designer’s Guide to Embossing,” and it was posted by Rikard on www.zevendesign.com on 06/14/16. The article discusses what embossing is, how it’s done, what kinds of presses you can use, types of dies you can use, metals used for the dies, counter dies, embossing applications and options, and preparing artwork for embossing. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Embossing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: A Primer on Embossing
January 29th, 2019
Posted in Large-Format Printing | Comments Off on Large Format Printing: Current Inkjet Options
I’ve been reading a lot about inkjet printing in the online journals recently. I have seen trends in the market toward improved inkjet for publications printed on roll-fed equipment that can produce significantly better quality than in past years in an economical manner. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Large-Format Printing | Comments Off on Large Format Printing: Current Inkjet Options
January 21st, 2019
Posted in Large-Format Printing | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Printing on Wood Flooring
About four years ago my fiancee and I had a house fire. In the ensuing months we went to all manner of cabinet stores, tile stores, and flooring stores (in addition to CraigsList vendors) to collect materials for rebuilding the house. Needless to say, I saw more than my share of floor and wall coverings that had been digitally decorated. It was intriguing since I had grown up with real wood and real stone, but I filed it away in my memory. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Large-Format Printing | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Printing on Wood Flooring
January 14th, 2019
Posted in Tags | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Restaurant Hang-Tag Printing Redux
I recently wrote a PIE Blog article about a client who needed hang-tags for her client’s restaurant.
Recap of the Job Specs and Intended Usage
More specifically, the job specs involve a 10,000-copy press run on 65# or 80# white smooth uncoated cover paper, die cut with diagonal edges and and a drill hole (like the proverbial furniture hang-tag), printed in one PMS color with no bleeds. The trim size is 5 3/16″ x 2 11/16″. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Tags | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Restaurant Hang-Tag Printing Redux
January 7th, 2019
Posted in Design | 2 Comments »
When the driveway paving person came up to our house a few days ago to retrieve a coroplast sign he had inadvertently left behind, he said he was glad my fiancee and I hadn’t thrown it away. He said the signs had been expensive.
Being a custom printing broker, I said I might be able to get them for less than he had been paying. The words just came out. “One seller to another,” I said. “I’m a commercial printing salesperson.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Design | 2 Comments »
December 28th, 2018
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Everything Is an Advertisement
About 25 years ago, when I was an art director/production manager, the non-profit foundation for which I worked brought in a marketing consultant. Even though it was a quarter of a century ago, I still remember two things he said.
First he told a story of a campaign he had created for a foundation seeking funding to help the disabled. He had sent wheelchairs to select donors and had asked them to spend a day in the wheelchair and then donate what they thought appropriate. (Sort of a “walk a mile in my shoes” approach.) Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Everything Is an Advertisement