Posted by Carrie Grove on Mon, Aug 09, 2010 @ 09:51 AM
Well, what do you get the person who's got everything? How about dabbling in a bit of graphic design and creating a personalized gift? That's what I decided to do at TPI Solutions Ink for a special person as a thank you gift for being so great. My idea was to create some simple, yet fun and meaningful, memo pads that my friend could use at the office or at home. The design was really basic (as I'm not the designer around here),a collage of select digital photos with my friend's first name at the top. I had the memo's
digitally printed on the HP Indigo - this was great because I printed a small quantity, in two sizes, on demand. Once that was done they were trimmed and padded in the bindery. And voila, a thoughtful and creative gift for a thoughtful and creative person! She loved them!
At any rate there are definitely a few ways that these memo pads could have been created. First, if you really don't have the knack for graphic design, gather some digital photos together or scan some older photos into your computer and have a friend or a graphic designer help you. Secondly, decide what your budget is and how you would like to print them. The design could be a simple black and white that could be done very inexpensively on a copier or for color versions a color copier, digital press or offset press. Costs will vary for each method, be sure to find out which idea will fit into your budget. Next, decide whether you would like your memos to be padded or loose. If going with the padded memo idea make sure it can be done by your print shop. Lastly, gift wrap your personalized memo pads and present this personalized thank you gift to your special friend!
Posted by Carrie Grove on Tue, Jul 27, 2010 @ 01:36 PM
The use of "variable data" or "personalization" in printing has been a hot topic for quite a while now. One factor in TPI Solutions Ink's decision to buy the HP Indigo press was it's variabl
e data capability. Prior to digital printing, extensive personalization of a printed piece was not possible. The direct mail that you received at home might have had your name above your address or in many cases may have said something like "occupant". Definitely not an outstanding way to attract the recipient to do more than just toss it in the trash.
So, what do you need to do to implement personalization into your business marketing strategy? The biggest component is the data. Fortunately most businesses today already have a multitude of data on file about their current clients. Commonly know things such as:
- First and Last Name
- Title
- Company Name
- Mailing Address
- Telephone and Fax Number
- Email Address
- Web Site Address
And, as many surveys have shown, it is much easier and less costly to keep existing customers than to find new ones. With variable data printing and a basic database it is possible to deliver an accurately targeted personalized message to your clients. The result, your client will feel individually valued and they will be more apt to remain loyal.
What ty
pe of information can change in a variable data design? Well, I think by now we have all received some type of mail or advertising with our name printed on it. Hopefully, for the sender's sake, we haven't thrown it directly in the trash and we have taken a second look. So, we know that names can be variable as well as, pretty much, any type of text. The catch, the information needs to be put into a database. Text however, is not the only thing that can be personalized. Images can be variable to match the specific interests of your client. For example, if TPI Solutions Ink were sending out a variable data mailing to our clients in the field of higher education we may want to use such data as our client's first name, the school's name, a photo of the school and some generic images of campus life.
Studies have shown that consumers are more likely to open and read mail personalized with their name. When materials are further personalized to match their interests I would imagine the open rate would go up further. What do you think? Do you pay more attention to mail that has your name on it? Do you receive more personalized mail at home or in the office?
Posted by Carrie Grove on Wed, Jul 14, 2010 @ 07:45 AM
Today when I opened up my tpisolutionsink.com email and checked my in box I found my daily email from WhatTheyThink. Today's feature is a video interview by Frank Romano of the two ladies who run the print shop on the Queen Mary 2. 
Wow. . . brought back some great memories for me, as I did the same job over (yikes, need I say it) 20 years ago. The ship was different, the QE2, but neither the job or the cruise itinerary sounds like it has changed too much over the years.
Yes, many cruise ships have their own onboard print shop! As a passenger on a cruise ship a program of the day's activities is just one of the printed items you will receive under your cabin door. Today the printers on the Queen Mary 2 print the daily programs, three dif
ferent newspapers, menus and business cards to name just a few things. It was interesting to hear that they are running a two color Heidelberg offset press, just as we did on the QE2, as well as a duplicator. No digital printing there yet! It sounds as though the Queen Mary 2 is one of the few ships left that still do offset printing onboard. . . bravo!
At any rate, I am happy to hear that the students at RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) are still getting to do printing industry co-op jobs on the high seas. My time working
in the print shop on the QE2 was amazing, the experience of a lifetime. My trip began in Hawaii and ended in Japan stopping at many places in between. Places I'd never get to visit if it weren't for this tremendous opportunity. And, best of all, I met my husband onboard . . . who would have thought?
Posted by Carrie Grove on Tue, Jul 06, 2010 @ 08:44 AM
Last week, before my family packed and headed off for our annual 4th of July escape, my daughter Hayley and I headed to the book store. We needed to be prepared, you know? Summer reading lists and all? We found Hayley's book pretty quickly but of course mom needed something fun to read too. Mindless reading is just one of the relaxing things I choose to do when I'm away from it all. Of course, I never quite leave the printer in me or TPI Solutions Ink far behind. Books are printed. . .right? Well. . .at least I'm still reading printed books. (I'm also thinking that an electronic book may not be so sensible on the beach, sand, water, wind and all but that's another subject!) At any rate, the commercial printer in me was bound to notice the flaw in the paperback that I was reading.
To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what went wrong with the printing of this book's cover. However, I first noticed it on the shelf, the curl. It was a new release in paperback and it sounded intriguing, great reading for the long holiday weekend. I noticed that the books at the front of the shelf had covers with a slight curl so I grabbed one from the back. Still had a curl but not as bad as the ones at the front of the shelf. Well, I realize now that it really didn't make a difference what copy of that book I pulled from the shelf, someone made a mistake.
As the weekend progressed and the heat and humidity increased so did the curl of my paperback's cover. I'd lay it down on it's front cover thinking that would help but then the back cover just curled. Was the humidity the culprit? I had to get Dad's opinion on this one. Jim's been in the commercial printing business all of his adult life, what was his take on this? Well we came up with a couple of ideas.
It's very possible that the coatings used on this cover stock caused it to curl. The cover definitely was gloss varnished as well as dull varnished. There are many factors in the coating process that can cause problems, I've listed a few below.
- Paper not properly acclimated to press room environment.
- Coat film is too heavy.
- Coat film is non-uniform from edge-to-edge across the sheet.
- Coating is too cold or inadequately mixed.
- Paper substrate basis weight is too light.
- Coating formulation not compatible with substrate resulting in quick and excessive moisture absorption.
- Paper absorbs moisture too quickly.
The other thought we had was that the cover was printed on the stock going in the wrong grain direction. This would cause problems with paper curl as well. At any rate the high humidity definitely exacerbated the curling problem. I wonder if the publisher will be making any changes in the cover graphic design for future printings of this book.
Posted by Carrie Grove on Tue, Jun 29, 2010 @ 09:57 AM
Do you print your documents and emails with eco friendly, "green" fonts? I'll be honest, this is something that had never crossed my mind. Sure, it's pretty obvious that printing out emails or documents that can be read online is not a "green" thing to do. Digital printing on demand, only the required amount of materials for your job, is certainly more environmentally friendl
y than offset printing large quantities of materials that will become obsolete. These things I know, I am aware. Why had I not thought about font choice when outputting documents within our own printing company? We strive to be environmentally friendly. It makes sense that using larger, bolder fonts would use more ink or toner. Let me fill you in on some new tips I learned yesterday and some other tips that I was reminded of.
There are a few ways that you can begin to conserve ink and toner and therfore reduce your internal printing costs.
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- Print only what you absolutely have to print, read what you can online.
- When printing a Microsoft Word document switch to "draft output", this uses less ink.
- When printing a web page print only what you need, not all of the images and advertising.
- Make the choice to use an economic font, one which uses less ink when printed.
There are a couple of studies that I came across on the topic of economic font choices. The first was done by a Dutch company, Printer.com. They ranked the following fonts from one to nine, one using the least amount of ink.
1. Century Gothic; 2. Times New Roman; 3. Calibri; 4. Verdana; 5. Arial; 6. MSSans Serif; 7. Trebuchet MS; 8. Tahoma; 9. Franklin Gothic Medium.
The next study was done by Matt Robinson of the UK who has a degree in communications design. I found this study quite interesting. The graphic below gives a visual of how much ink each typeface, that he tested, uses. For more detailed information on his study check out his link.
In his study Mr. Robinson finds that Garamond is the most economic of the fonts that he tested. Comic Sans and Impact fell to the bottom of the list. Though this study is not exactly scientific it makes a point nonetheless.
Have you thought about this subject before? Am I just behind the times? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic of "green" fonts. Have you implemented any of these ideas at your workplace? If so, have you noticed a cost savings or a positive impact on our environment?
Posted by Carrie Grove on Tue, Jun 22, 2010 @ 10:03 AM
Have you ever wondered as you click that send button, is my file really ready to print? Or, have you ever questioned which types of files need to be sent to your printer? It can be confusing and frustrating at times.
As the graphic
designer you've spent a great deal of time coming up with a great design for your project. Finally, it is complete, you send the file off to your printer and you are ready to move on to your next project. Just when you thought you were done you get that call from the prepress department - something is not quite right with your file. Ugh! What now?
Fortunately an experienced and knowledgeable prepress department sees these situations every day and can get your project back on track in no time. Sometimes, as a graphic designer, you are not even aware of the minor adjustments that need to be made to your file before going to print. However, there are other times when a small adjustment just won't do the trick, prepress needs additional files, missing photos or missing links for example.
Okay, great . . . if you've been in this business for a while you know that this is not breaking news! What can you do?
Here are a few recommendations of things to check for from TPI Solutions Ink's prepress department:
- Is your job printing in spot color or CMYK?
- If CMYK, check that all photos and colors are converted to CMYK and not RGB.
- If your job is printing in spot color check that all artwork, photos and text are selected to print in the chosen color - not CMYK or RGB.When printing spot colors be sure to convert all photos to grayscale then select the spot color that it will print.
- If you are using a PMS color be sure to select PMS U when printing on uncoated stock or PMS C when printing on coated stock. DO NOT use both PMS U and PMS C in your document.
- Does your job bleed? If so, don't forget to allow for bleeds in your design file.
- Send ready to print PDFs to your printer along with your original design file.
- When working in Adobe InDesign be sure to preflight and package your file for printer before sending - this will ensure that your printer gets links, fonts, etc.
Do you have any tips or questions to add to those above? What do you do before sending your file off to be printed? We'd love to hear from you!
Posted by Carrie Grove on Fri, Jun 18, 2010 @ 01:18 PM
Yup, that's right, not even a breather between graduation from high school and the start of the transition into college! I'm looking forward to hearing all about the experience from my daughter this evening when I pick her up from her overnight orientation visit.
Yesterday morning my husband and I participated in the family orientation part of the program. We took away some useful tips on how to navigate our way through this process and we received lots of printed materials. Of course, what is the first thing I do when I receive our packet of materials for the day? I check out the printing!
Upon check in at the family orientation, my husband and I received an attractive pocket folder filled with information. Inside the folder there was a schedule for the day and other informational brochures. - If people out there tell you that printing is dead, believe me, this is not the case! All you need to do is visit any college campus to see this for yourself. - The first printed piece that I really took a look at was the presentation folder, it's the first thing that I received and it makes an impression right off the bat. I like what I see. Pretty good impression, the college has it's stuff together. I then determine that it was most likely printed digitally - the pockets were attached after printing. Smart. This can be a very cost effective way to produce full color pocket folders for a particular event. They can be purchased in a small quantity on demand, customized for the event and/or personalized with a name. To the lay person they look like and perform like any other custom made, die cut presentation folder. The benefit of printing these folders on demand is that you can print the exact quantity that you need for your presentation or event.
In the past, custom presentation folders had to be ordered in large quantities, in only one design, often times leaving the customer with cartons of outdated, unused and ultimately, expensive waste to be recycled. Today, with digital printing on our HP Indigo press, our clients can order just one personalized presentation folder or 1,000. There are so many options with digital on demand printing. When that first impression is critical, whether it be to impress a potential client, a potential employer or a student and their family looking for just the right college to attend remember to consider the option of printing digitally!
Posted by Carrie Grove on Tue, Jun 15, 2010 @ 09:46 AM
Aaaah, we got through the weekend and I am pleased to report that the grad party was a great success! The color poster that was designed and printed for Emily was a big hit with the crowd! Both the teenagers and the adults loved it. And, because the poster was mounted on gator board, it was perfect for displaying on an easel at the party. It was easy for everyone to notice and to sign. We didn't let the rain spoil our fun or damage the poster!
The final size of the grad party poster was 2'x3' - this is one of the more common sizes that we tend to print at TPI. Our graphic designer, Diana created the poster in Adobe InDesign. She incorporated her logo design with some terrific photographs that she took at Emily's graduation ceremony. The poster was created at half size, 12"x18", and then it was enlarged to 200% when it was sent to the HP Designjet for printing. Creating the poster at half size is beneficial because the file size is much smaller, making it less time consuming to upload or download and taking up much less disk space. As long as high resolution photos are used in the original file the large format poster will look great!
Posted by Carrie Grove on Thu, Jun 10, 2010 @ 11:07 AM
The TPI Solutions Ink Blog is finally underway!
Blogging has been something I have been thinking about and procrastinating on for about nine months now. So, I guess it's appropriate for me to begin today seeing that getting started in writing a blog could, I suppose, metaphorically be compared to giving birth. And, I'm thinking, a successful blog will need to be nurtured by its metaphorical parents and community, true?
Okay, I'll admit, a bit corny however, I have given birth three times and am in the process of raising three teenage daughters at the moment. If I can do that, blogging should be a breeze, right?
This is such a busy time of year in my household. School is almost out, the kids are in the midst of final exams and end of the year celebrations. My eldest daughter just graduated from high school and my youngest daughter will be graduating from eighth grade next week. Being in the printing business sure has its perks at different times throughout the year. The big grad party is coming up this weekend and of course I've been trying to think of some unique ideas. A few months back Diana, our graphic designer, came up with a simple logo design that I have used on our facebook event page for the grad party.
Color Poster for Grad Party Autographs
The logo has been great for all sorts of uses. We are printing custom thank you cards with this logo for my daughter to use after her party. I think that one of the coolest things we are doing is creating a large format poster using Diana's logo design and some graduation photos. At TPI Solutions Ink we mount our large format color posters on gator board so that they can be displayed easily. This will be great for the grad party. The guests will be able to autograph the poster and write messages for the graduate. This will be a great keepsake and hopefully a nice source of inspiration for Emily as she heads off to college in the fall!
Stay tuned . . . I'll let you know how it goes over with the crowd and the graduate!