November 17th, 2014
Posted in Typography | Comments Off on Custom Printing: A Handful of Useful Type Terms
I like type. I think it’s a beautiful art form worthy of close observation and study. I take this position not just from an aesthetic sensibility but from a practical marketing outlook. Type, if well chosen, can convey meaning or elicit emotion. It can inspire and persuade. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Typography | Comments Off on Custom Printing: A Handful of Useful Type Terms
November 11th, 2014
Posted in Fine Art Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Printing Is More Than You May Think
How many of you, as children, cut a potato in half, cut a design into one half of the potato, and then inked up the relief image you had just carved and pressed it onto paper? That’s printing. Even though it bears little resemblance to the five- and six-color presses in a commercial printing shop, it’s still printing. (Actually, as a relief process, it bears more of a resemblance to letterpress.) Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Fine Art Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Printing Is More Than You May Think
November 7th, 2014
Posted in Paper and finishing | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Four Protective Coating Options
There are a number of reasons to coat the cover paper of a perfect-bound print book, or the dust jacket of a case bound book, or even a poster, but the primary ones involve appearance and durability. If you want the print book, for instance, to endure heavy use or last a long time (or if you want to protect heavy ink coverage from fingerprinting), consider coating the sheet. Or, if you want to contrast various dull or gloss effects against one another to highlight the printed images, you may also want to add an additional coating. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Paper and finishing | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Four Protective Coating Options
October 31st, 2014
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Use the Proper Page Layout Software
Don’t try this at home. No, really. You’ll wind up spending more money, and you probably won’t be happy with the results.
I’ve been working with a client to prepare a color swatch book for press (a small print book of single pages attached with a metal screw and post assembly, with color on the front of each page and black text on the back). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: Use the Proper Page Layout Software
October 28th, 2014
Posted in Packaging | 2 Comments »
When I was a boy, we had milk bottles delivered to our door. Glass bottles. Boy, have things changed. Now, beverages are just as likely to come in boxes or pouches with straws.
These containers fit into a particular segment of the package printing industry called “flexible packaging.” A PowerPoint series I found by Peter Schottland, produced for the American Packaging Corporation, called “An Overview of the Flexible Packaging Industry,” defines flexible packaging as: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Packaging | 2 Comments »
October 23rd, 2014
Posted in Large-Format Printing | Comments Off on Sticker Printing: Some Thoughts on Window Signage
I had to install a window static cling in a theater last night. Ironically, it was only 8.5” x 11” in size, the dimensions of a sheet of letterhead. Given all the standees I’ve installed with my fiancee, from a 15-foot, multi-level dinosaur that reached the tiles of the theater’s suspended ceiling (and even lifted one tile up slightly) to the giant beach ball for the movie Rio, I’m used to large standee and banner installations. This was very small. It was to be installed in the ticket window. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Large-Format Printing | Comments Off on Sticker Printing: Some Thoughts on Window Signage
October 20th, 2014
Posted in Paper and finishing | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Using Paper Sample Books
One of the downsides of having had a house fire is that all my printed samples and paper sample swatch books are gone. This is a problem for a print broker. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Paper and finishing | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Using Paper Sample Books
October 12th, 2014
Posted in Business Cards | Comments Off on Custom Printing: An Example of Functional Printing
I’ve been brokering a functional printing job for one of my clients. It’s a color swatch book, much like a PMS swatch book but for the arena of fashion design rather than graphic design. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Business Cards | Comments Off on Custom Printing: An Example of Functional Printing
October 6th, 2014
Posted in Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: How to Approach Print Job Deliveries
It is very easy to wait until the last minute to collect delivery information for a custom printing job. You’re focusing on getting the art files to the printer, looking at proofs, and a myriad of other tasks. The last thing you’re thinking about is the actual completion of the job. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Printing | Comments Off on Custom Printing: How to Approach Print Job Deliveries
October 2nd, 2014
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: How to Approach a Huge Design Job
In the late 1970s I found a book by cartoonist B. Kliban entitled Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head. The title stuck with me, as did the image of a getting more than you can handle. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Book Printing | Comments Off on Book Printing: How to Approach a Huge Design Job