Insider Tip Archives

DSL or Cable...What's the Difference?
It's really a matter of what is available in an area, and how much you wish to pay. DSL has dropped in price, but is still not available everywhere - plus you're not guaranteed as to speed. Cable modem service is faster, but if the cable provider in your area doesn't offer it, you're out of luck. DSL is available from many providers, but they all get it from one place - the phone company. Either way you go, be sure to put in a router with firewall capabilities to protect you and your computer.

Choose Colors Carefully
When selecting colors for your next print job try to pick colors that will print consistently, whether printed as spot or process colors. Remember, process color is built from 4 basic colors: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Spot color is a single ink color. Some colors reproduce more accurately than others when converted from spot to process. If you aren't sure what the difference is, or how well your chosen color will do, check with your printer on the options available to you at the design stage of the project.

Protect Your Posters
When furnishing artwork for a color enlargement, poster or other display piece always add a 1/2-inch trim margin on all four sides of the piece. Why? It serves as a safety zone, should the lamination not seal correctly near the edges, which can cause unsightly bubbles. A trim margin ensures a proper seal and a nice clean cut to the entire piece. The result is a professional looking, finished product.

Graphic Design - A "Balancing" Act
Symmetrical, or "formal" balance places graphic elements of equal visual weight on all sides of the optical center of a page, such as four identical images on each corner. This approach is most often used for formal affairs or upscale advertisements. Conversely, asymmetrical balance uses elements of unequal weight — such as a small black rectangle on one side and a larger white box on the other - for a more dynamic look. The small black box has more weight than the white box, creating a unique visual harmony to the page.

The Secret to Using "Point and Shoot" Cameras
Going on vacation and don't want the hassle of taking, or possibly losing, the "good" camera? You can still get good pictures on an inexpensive rangefinder (fixed lens) camera, once you learn how to use its viewfinder. Stay within the large black framing lines, and pan the camera back and forth until you get one subject in focus.  Then freeze the shutter (press slightly) and pan back to frame additional subjects. Then shoot!

Proof Those Quick Copy Jobs
It's easy to skip the proof on a quick copy job, but not a good idea.  A proof is still the best way to save time and money, by eliminating delays or additional charges for rerunning an incorrect job.  It also gives you one last chance to make last minute changes-and can sometimes count toward the final output. If a proof is not time or cost effective for you, be sure to furnish a sample so the operators can ensure the job is accurately reproduced.

Get Quicker Response with RSVP's
Do you need recipients to reply to a particular email message by a certain date? If so, get their attention by adding RSVP before <date> to the beginning of your subject line. To make it even more noticeable, you can set the importance of the email to HIGH. In Microsoft Outlook, simply click the red exclamation point button.

New Proofing Methods Save Time/Expense
"Remote" or electronic "soft" proofs (pdf's, etc.) are slowly replacing traditional hard proofs as a more efficient proofing method in the digital workflow. Proofing on a color monitor is much faster and less expensive, and can be viewed simultaneously by more people. Though color critical materials still require a physical proof, the majority of lower-end print jobs can now be proofed electronically, saving everyone time and money.

Binding - Simple or Perfect?
While binding options understandably might not be your first priority when creating a marketing piece, binding is a key design consideration. Knowledge of various binding options - for example, simple stapling, coil binding, 19-ring, and perfect binding — and their application to certain types of projects can influence the entire piece. It is important to understand each type of binding and its different appearance, cost, and purpose.

If you are uncertain about what options are available, or which type of binding is best suited for your project, please give us a call at (717) 763-7387. We will be glad to offer our recommendation to help you achieve your goal.

Making Sense of Standard Size Office Papers
There are four standard cut size sheets for laser and digital printing in the United States:

• 8 1/2" x 11" (Letter)
• 8 1/2" x 14" (Legal)
• 11" x 17" (Tabloid)
• 12" x 18" (This is a relatively new size for laser and digital equipment. It allows for full bleed imaging beyond an 11" x 17" finished size. You can trim the sheet to 11" x 17" with no visible margins.)

When designing a particular piece for digital printing, if you want to create a bleed or print to the edge of the paper you must remember that most laser and inkjet printers have a non print margin around all four edges of at least 1/4". You must keep this in mind during the early design phase of your piece.

Who Can't Use a Few Good Windows(r) Shortcuts?
Well, besides MAC users. There are numerous keyboard shortcuts that can save users of Microsoft Windows valuable time. Here are a few of the most popular shortcuts.

Electronic Submissions Improve Quality of QUICK COPY Jobs
To ensure that your next Quick Copy project, whether black and white or color, is the highest possible quality, send it electronically to your vendor. Why? Because output quality is diminished when jobs are scanned from a hard copy rather than produced directly from an electronic file.

In order to ensure compatibility with your vendor’s software and hardware, supply the electronic file in PDF format. The first step to prepare any PDF document is to produce the document in Postscript format and then convert the postscript file to a PDF file using Adobe Acrobat Distiller.

Your PDF should be at least 150 dpi and all fonts need to be embedded within the file. To create a high quality PDF when using Acrobat Distiller Version 6, make sure the “High Quality” predefined job setting is selected. When using Acrobat Distiller Version 5, make sure the “Print” predefined job setting is selected. In addition to improving the quality of your project, you will also save valuable time because you can email the PDF file.

“Hi Res”, “Low Res” – What Does It All Mean?
When creating a document or publication, it is critical to make sure that all photos and graphics are saved at the proper resolution. While “resolution” has numerous acronyms associated with it (dpi, spi, ppi), the bottom line is that the resolution you choose must be appropriate for the printer you specify. Doing so will ensure that, once a publication is printed, the image(s) appear crisp and look perfect.

Remember – just because an image might look fine on your computer monitor does not mean the image will print well.

Resolution terminology:

• Dots per inch (dpi) – refers to output resolution
• Spots (or samples) per inch (spi) – refers to the resolution of a scanned or bitmap image
• Pixels per inch (ppi) – refers to the resolution of images seen on a computer monitor.

Proofread, Proofread, Proofread
Even though it is seemingly obvious, we cannot overstate the importance of this critical function! There are several aspects of effective proofreading; below we have outlined two key considerations.

Check spelling - Most, if not all, page layout programs have spell check abilities. In addition to thoroughly reading each of your pieces, make sure to also use the spell check feature. In addition, it is a good idea to keep your program’s dictionary current by “teaching” it to recognize words that are unique to your projects.

Widows, orphans & hyphenation - Never leave a man behind! While the definitions of terms “widow” and “orphan” have been debated over and over again, the concern remains the same, regardless of nomenclature. Avoid the following:

• leaving too few lines of the beginning of a paragraph at the end of a column
• leaving too few lines at the end of a paragraph at the top of a column
• leaving too few lines of the beginning of a paragraph at the end of a page
• leaving too few lines at the end of a paragraph at the beginning of a page
• leaving too few words at the end of a paragraph
• hyphenating a word starting at the end of one column or page and ending at the top of another column or page
• hyphenating too many words in a row down the edge of a column of text.

Variable Digital Printing – A Printing Option Worth Considering
Variable digital printing offers the ability to produce shorter run volumes more economically than offset printing because information can be changed from piece to piece. Consider utilizing this type of printing when creating a personalized, one-to-one marketing piece that you want to speak directly to your customer. (In digital printing, a file is sent directly to print on a digital copier or printer as opposed to utilizing a conventional, offset press.) A good example of such a piece would be a benefits package on which you would like to include the recipient’s name and mailing address. Other pieces that would utilize personalization include open enrollment forms, membership cards, and training manuals.