graphics

October 15, 2014 By Tom Gimer

Same Day Business Cards

I heard you guys are fast, but can you do same day business cards?

Yes, we can do same day business cards. This is actually a fairly common request.

So why do you need cards so fast? Maybe you just started a new business. Perhaps you just found out there is a big networking event tonight. Maybe you just discovered your box of cards is empty! Or it could be you just confirmed an important meeting with a potential client. Why you need cards so fast really doesn’t matter to us. What does matter is you need business cards, and right away.

Well, you’re in luck because these types of jobs are our bread and butter! We design, print and cut business cards (among other things) right here in our DC shop, so same day business cards are a fairly easy thing for us to get done.

Many people are less than thrilled when they receive business cards ordered from online vendors. It is much easier to create a business card you are happy with when you do business with a local business. Here are a couple of reasons. There are so many paper stocks out there, you really need to see and feel the options in person. If you come in select the right paper stock for your artwork, you’ll definitely be happier with how your business cards turn out. Also, font sizes and colors are easy to mess up when ordering online, so viewing a hard-copy proof before your job is printed is a simple way to avoid that disappointment.

If you don’t have a design yet… no worries. We can still get business cards done for you today. Our design fee for business cards is $30. For a 2-sided card, the design fee is $45. A small price to pay for a card that projects the perfect image. The earlier in the day you contact us, the better the odds we can complete your design + print job by the close of business.

We can cut cards in special sizes and can even finish them with rounded corners. Yes, all on the same day.

Questions about any of this? Contact us!

January 31, 2014 By Tom Gimer

Client files: the 3 most common design problems

Some of our clients are graphic designers who more often than not send us perfect, print-ready files. (Thanks, folks!) Some of our clients know absolutely nothing about design, and they depend on us to conceptualize and produce their projects from start to finish. Other clients fall in the middle. They aren’t designers, but they still have to dabble with design a bit. Small business owners, entrepreneurs, and staff of smaller corporate marketing or communications departments fit into this category. They are often given the task of preparing basic graphic artwork for their printed business communications. If this sounds like you, please read this post because it may help you avoid problems with your art.

Our clients often email us the files they want printed. Some examples of the designs they send us for quick printing are business cards, brochures, postcard mailers, reports or presentations to be turned into bound books, and so forth. When we open up these files to inspect them (a practice referred to as “pre-flighting”) we sometimes find problems. And there are three (3) problems that occur more often than all the others combined. Here they are (in no particular order):

Image Quality Issues

Image quality problems such as poor resolution can ruin an otherwise good design. If you want an image to print property, it should have a resolution of at least 300 dpi. There are a couple main reasons why an image might not meet this standard. First, it may have been scraped from the internet, where the typical image resolution is 72 dpi. This is just fine for viewing on a monitor, but it doesn’t work well for paper especially if the image must be re-sized. The other main cause of image quality issues is submission of “compressed” files. High-quality images can lead to very large file sizes. Combining several of them in one graphic design can make the file so large that emailing it isn’t possible. However, rather than asking for an FTP login to send us the original high-resolution art, clients sometimes send us a file that has been purposely compressed (the file size has been “shrunk”) to a size that can be emailed. Compression can also occur accidentally during the pdf export process by the client choosing the wrong PDF standard and ending up with a much lower resolution file than intended. As printers we want the highest-resolution artwork you can possibly send us. No compression please! If you don’t use FTP or a file-sharing site or application, consider bringing us your art on a flash drive. Take the opportunity while you’re here to choose the right paper for your project and kill two birds with one stone.

Document Setup Problems

If you want a 5×7 postcard but you send us a file that is on a letter-size canvas, we’ve got a problem. In this case we will have no idea of the final size you want the piece finished. Similarly, when you send us a file that has been imposed (multiple up, many copies per sheet) but it doesn’t have any trim marks, we’ve also got a problem — just where are we supposed to cut them? The same goes for art that is supposed to have bleeds but doesn’t include bleed and trim areas. The general theme with document setup problems is that although a client thinks the document/file is ready to print, it isn’t. And if it was created using some sub-standard product like Microsoft Office, we literally have to start over, import the elements into our design suite, and set up the file properly. Tip: at the time you create a new file, make sure the document page size and bleed settings (if applicable) are correct.

Fonts

We’ve written about this issue in our blog many times before, and there’s a good reason for it! After dealing with the “missing fonts” issue so many times, we concluded that people just don’t understand how fonts work. Here’s the deal: the machine that sends the file to the printer is the source of the fonts used in the document. This machine is always going to be a computer in our shop. That means the fonts you have installed on your PC or Mac which you are using in your design are irrelevant to the printing process unless you take extra steps to ensure that the file prints properly. For uncommon fonts you’ll either need to include the fonts with your native file package; convert the characters to outlines (paths); or export using the PDF/x-1a standard which, among other things, embeds the fonts in the file. (We always prefer the latter method.)

Hopefully this list will help you send better art files, and this will make us all a lot happier! Let us know in the comments if you are experiencing any other problems with the way your files print.

November 26, 2013 By Tom Gimer

Things to know when color is really important

Most of our customers aren’t particularly picky about matching colors. As long as their logo prints close to navy blue or periwinkle, or whatever color they use, they are generally happy. However, some clients are extremely concerned about matching colors perfectly — every time their logo (or whatever the important element is) is printed it must look exactly like the last batch of prints, and the one before that, and so on. This post is for these folks.

A client came to us about a year ago with a job that another printer was unable to complete to her satisfaction. This happens to us a lot, and for various reasons, but in this case it was due to a color issue. The other printer could not get the client’s logo to print with the right pink. Frustrated, she took the project elsewhere. When she came to us, she told us what had happened. Her logo, which was a central element on all of her marketing collateral — business cards, gift cards, and labels — was not printing consistently. Sometimes the pink she wanted was too red, on other prints it was too dark or too light. She had a sample in hand that she wanted us to match. We figured out right away that this was a client who was extremely concerned about color matching.

Having customers who are very sensitive to color issues is totally fine with us, it just requires more work and extra steps to get their projects perfect.

So we spent a couple of hours working to match pieces printed on one of our digital presses with the hardcopy sample she had provided. Since her business cards and gift cards were going to be printed on the same material — she selected a smooth, bright-white cardstock — we could use the same art for those and be confident that the colors would match. The labels were a different story, however, because she had already bought the stock she wanted to use for those. Her labels were white, but more of an eggshell white. And they were glossy. Since the color and type of the material used can affect how colors print significantly, we ended up having to adjust her label art a fair amount to get the labels to print colors which adequately matched those on the cards.

OK so what’s the point of this post? It’s not that color matching requires additional time and energy. There is more. Here’s what you need to know when color is really important to you:

1. Different machines print colors differently

Sure, digital presses all use the CMYK color model, but a file will print differently from one press to the next. If color matching is important to a client and we know it, we use the same press every time we print a job for that client. This should get noted in the client file so future jobs are printed properly. Some of our clients actually ask us to use a particular machine to print their jobs when they make an order.

2. The same machine can print colors differently over time

Sad, but true. Digital presses need to be monitored and cared for properly to keep them running well. We use a process called “calibration” to make sure our presses print colors consistently. This is done on on a set schedule throughout the month, but it is also done when we print on particular stocks and also when colors don’t seem to be printing correctly. Using a test sheet and a color measuring device we can see when either the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow or Black have gotten “out of whack” (for lack of a better phrase). Calibrating our presses is usually enough to get them printing accurate colors again. Sometimes we need to revert back to the last calibration settings to get things printing right.

3. Color issues must be addressed every time a job is printed

Because of the points raised above, the process of color matching must be undertaken every time the job is printed. Even when printing on the same machine, after it has been properly calibrated, you still need to confirm that the colors are printing to the client’s satisfaction. This requires visual inspection of a hardcopy proof. If you’ve read our blog before you know we often stress the importance of seeing and approving a hardcopy. This is especially true when colors are important to you.

So when colors are really important, plan for extra design and setup time, as well as some extra time out of your schedule to perform the inspection, to help make sure the job prints right.

November 11, 2013 By Tom Gimer

Scanning documents and photos here

Scanning is part of what we do here on a regular basis, not only when our customers request it, but also in connection with our own work. It’s the best way to get elements which exist only on paper into digital form, where they can then be edited and incorporated into our designs.

Scanning services here are always handled by a member of our staff. We do not offer self-service scanning here. Over time we found that scanning is too complicated for most clients to figure out without needing help, which completely defeats the purpose of “self-service”. We’d rather help you get things done right the first time and save us both the hassle! Below you will find some information about scanning your documents and photos here. Each of the “sections” relates to a decision that will need to be made before the scan project is started.

Resolution

The resolution at which your project should be scanned at depends on what you are scanning and how it will be used. Simple text documents (both color and black and white) can be scanned at 200 dpi. This keeps the file size low without affecting readability. On the other hand, high-resolution photographs should probably be scanned at 600 dpi. This creates a large file, but when dealing with photos, detail is often more important than file size. Exactly how much detail you want to capture from your original is the deciding factor as concerns the resolution setting. There is a middle ground, as 300 dpi and 400 dpi scans are also possible here. Unless you alert us that a specific resolution is required, we will make the decision about resolution for you based upon your art or documents. One more thing about resolution — you never get it back. It’s pretty easy to compress a high-resolution file but it is impossible (without the help of a graphic designer) to turn a low-resolution scan back into the original.

File types

How you will use your scan dictates what file type you should select. Text documents are commonly saved and shared electronically as PDFs. Color images are often saved, shared and integrated into graphic design projects as JPGs (jpegs). There are many other formats available (and we can create files of many different types upon your request) but these two are the most common. Sometimes our clients will have the exact specs they need for their scanning project, such as with government forms and attachment requirements. When clients give us this information up front, everybody ends up happy with the result.

Layout

Size and shape of the original will dictate whether it can be scanned using a document feeder or whether it must be hand-placed and cropped. Standard size papers (such as letter, legal, tabloid) which are in good condition can be scanned using the machine feeder. Photos, drawings, news clippings or articles, and odd-shaped documents must be hand-placed. This is the only “setting” that affects pricing here. With the additional labor involved with a hand-placed vs. a machined scan, pricing is higher. With either method, the more scans you get, the less you pay per scan.

Saving and sending the file

Some people would like us to create a separate file for each scan, page or set. Other people want all scans saved in one file. Either way is fine with us. With respect to sending the file(s), we can email them (if the file size is small enough for your email server), save them to provided media such as a flash drive (thumb drive, usb drive) or CD, or we can burn a new CD for you. We may soon offer flash drives for sale here because they’ve become so integral to the exchange of graphics elements that it just makes sense to have them available.

Hopefully this post will answer all the questions you may have about document scanning here. If not, feel free to ask in the comments or in person.

November 2, 2013 By Tom Gimer

Proofs. Who needs them?

For important print projects, we recommend that our clients review and approve a hardcopy proof before we print the full run. But sometimes it just isn’t possible for the customer to come in to see a proof, and there isn’t enough time for us to deliver or ship one to them. Will an online proof suffice? It depends. Here are a few things we’ve learned over the years about soft (online) and hard (physical sample) proofs:

Reviewing a soft proof can help prevent big mistakes.

Reviewing a soft (digital) proof online can be helpful in identifying missing elements or fonts and in discovering formatting errors. Graphics files today are often large and contain many elements such as linked images. During the export and/or transmission and/or flattening and printing process these elements can get left out of (or mistakenly eliminated from) the final. With respect to fonts, if you look through our blog you’ll see that we write a lot about the problems surrounding fonts and the ways to ensure files will print consistently even with uncommon fonts. An online proof, if reviewed carefully, can spot problems such as images and fonts before the job goes to print. And as the last line of defense, a soft proof gives the client the opportunity for one final review to make sure everything looks in order. You wouldn’t believe how many times errors are discovered by clients after they’ve signed off and directed us to print. Hey, sometimes we can stop the job in production and prevent a re-print, but sometimes it’s too late.

A hard proof is the best way to ensure your project prints perfectly.

In a perfect world, what you see on your monitor is exactly what the finished project will look like. However, in reality the transition from screen to paper (or whatever material you’re printing on) is not so simple and smooth. Your monitor has a backlight and it displays colors using the RGB model. Materials comes in many different colors and shades, they have no backlight, and digital presses print colors on them using the CMYK model. There’s a lot that can go wrong here! We’ve discussed in prior posts how even the slightest differences in paper color (a bright white vs. a soft white, for example) can affect the appearance of images, especially people. And from machine to machine colors will also print differently. It is for these reasons that we always prefer to have our client come and physically inspect the hardcopy proof, ensuring that it not only looks right, it feels right too. Clients that do this are much more satisfied with the end result.

Once approved, most print jobs are printed quite quickly.

You might think that taking the time to come and physically inspect and approve a hardcopy proof will delay your job’s completion, or push you past a deadline. Most of the time this just isn’t the case. Getting the job ready to print sometimes takes longer than the job itself. If we tell you that you have time, believe us! Our policy is to never take on a job we can’t complete by your stated deadline, so if we’re offering you the opportunity to review a hardcopy, take it. It will be worth it.