June 20th, 2014
Posted in Design | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Controlling Eye Flow Across the Gutter
Since the house fire, I’ve been scouring thrift stores to rebuild my business library. Today I found a great print book for $2.00, used: Design Basics Index by Jim Krause.
I’ve always been a firm believer in fundamentals, the building blocks of any discipline, and this book delivers in spades on this front. You can jump in and out of the print book and learn something new or remember something you’d forgotten each time you open the cover. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Design | Comments Off on Custom Printing: Controlling Eye Flow Across the Gutter
June 18th, 2014
Posted in Photoshop | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Resampling Photoshop Images
I received an email last night from an associate who is a print book designer. The email read, “What is the proper resolution for an image in Photoshop?” I knew he had the answer: Twice the line screen of the printed image (i.e., 300 dpi for a 150-line printer’s halftone screen with the image reproduced full size—no enlargement or reduction). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Photoshop | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Resampling Photoshop Images
June 16th, 2014
Posted in Poster Printing | 6 Comments »
My fiancee and I both fell in love with a poster we found at a thrift store yesterday. The poster depicts a caricature of a horse in lion tamer’s garb with a whip, holding a top hat in one hoof. He looks ornery. The background sans serif type reads “CYRK.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Poster Printing | 6 Comments »
June 12th, 2014
Posted in Brochure Printing | Comments Off on Brochure Printing: Paper Color Affects the Ink Color
We all learn from our mistakes. In an ideal world, we may even learn from the mistakes of others and then not make our own.
In this light, I want to tell you a story about choosing paper for a brochure print job I designed about twenty years ago. My boss, the Director of Publications, suggested that I print the brochure on a warm coated custom printing stock to differentiate it from other marketing materials we had been circulating. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Brochure Printing | Comments Off on Brochure Printing: Paper Color Affects the Ink Color
June 10th, 2014
Posted in Typography | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Intriguing Facts About Fonts
I would encourage you to use Google Images (as well as Google Web) to find samples of each type characteristic or category. Type “Google Images,” then search for “Modern” Type, for instance. You can find detailed images and descriptions in this way. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Typography | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Intriguing Facts About Fonts
June 9th, 2014
Posted in Color Theory | 2 Comments »
Understanding color and using it well in your commercial printing and web design can be a major challenge for some and a natural, intuitive process for others. For me it took a lot of study, but I was fortunate to have found many useful books on color over the years. I would encourage you to do the same. When done with a critical eye and observant personality, learning about color can be a rewarding life challenge. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Color Theory | 2 Comments »
June 4th, 2014
Posted in Typography | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: More Intriguing Facts About Fonts
Here are a few more facts and suggestions regarding fonts, a topic about which volumes could be written.
More Type Distinctions
“Regular,” “Bold,” “Semibold”–the list goes on. The best way to acquaint yourself with the font choices available to you in InDesign (or any other page composition software package) is to select “Font” under the “Type” menu and review the pop-up font listing menu (or you can do the same thing if you have a font management utility such as Suitcase). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Typography | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: More Intriguing Facts About Fonts
June 2nd, 2014
Posted in Printing | 2 Comments »
I heard some affirming words from a custom printing client a few days ago (even though I didn’t get the work). I had suggested that she consider the prices of a printer in the Southwest who had just bid on a small saddle-stitched booklet. His price for printing the 5.5” x 8.5” 12-page booklet was a bit high, but his combined printing and mailshop prices were very attractive. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Printing | 2 Comments »
May 31st, 2014
Posted in Fabric Printing | Comments Off on Large Format Printing: Kornit and Mimaki Garment Presses
Ever since I saw the complexity and the stunning color of the new fabric-printed beachwear during my recent summer trips to the Eastern Shore, I have been a student of fabric printing. The advances in this technology are intriguing as well as beautiful. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Fabric Printing | Comments Off on Large Format Printing: Kornit and Mimaki Garment Presses
May 29th, 2014
Posted in e-commerce | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Print Ads, a Portal to E-Commerce
While reading CIO magazine today, I was pleased to see an article on the commercial printing industry in this IT periodical. Actually, the article, entitled “Photo Finishes the Sale,” written by Mary K. Pratt and published in the May 1, 2014, issue of CIO, focuses more on mobile e-commerce than on custom printing. It describes technology that would allow a reader of a print catalog (or magazine) to point a camera phone at an ad (let’s say an ad for clothing), invoke an image recognition application, and be sent immediately to a mobile purchasing site, making it unnecessary for the reader to visit the retailer’s website. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in e-commerce | Comments Off on Commercial Printing: Print Ads, a Portal to E-Commerce