Have a question? Send it to us by e-mail and we'll answer it... and eventually add your query to this page as well.
Please click on a title and read on.
• Color Proofing
• Coming up with Newsletter Ideas
• Environmentally Conscious Design
• Fonts & Styles
• Getting Customer Feedback
• Great Graphic Showdown, the
• I Want a Quote right now!
• Trademarks & Copyrights
• Waste not, want not
•
• •
I took a diskette of a brochure I designed to my print shop. The design included full color photographs, and multiple colored back. grounds. I was told I needed to approve a Color key. Why is this necessary, When I have included a color printout from my ink-jet printer?
Unless your ink-jet printer is perfectly calibrated with your computer, scanner and the imagesetter creating the negatives from your file, chances are the colors will not match. Color variations can occur even with calibration. An inkjet proof may be used as a rough idea, but should never be used for the final color proof of a job.
Final color should be proofed before it is put on the press. There is an additional charge for these proofs, but unless they are made, errors in color won't be found until the job is printed, and reprinting is far more costly. Matchprints™, Cromalins™ and Color keys are three different traditional color proofs. A transparency is made of each process color from the color separated negatives. These are laid one on top of another to show the color of the final printed document. Matchprints" and Cromalins" are fused together, therefore they more accurately represent the color of the end product. Color keys are attached on one side only, and may be separated to examine each individual color.
Digital proofing systems are beginning to emerge, and may be available to you. Iris proofs are high resolution color ink jet printers that produce better printouts than color laser or even dye sublimation printers.
Another consideration in the proofing process is the paper. Different papers absorb ink at different rates, so be sure to take this into consideration. Some color proofs can be mounted on a sample of the paper to give a better idea of what the final printed job will took like.
Coming up with Newsletter Ideas
What should I do when I run out of things to say?
One of the biggest challenges facing newsletter editors is continually coming up with something to say. There are a few ways to address this challenge:
We have included some of the most popular filler services at the right. Each service covers a broad range of topics including special events, health information and tips on working more efficiently and effectively.
Environmentally Conscious Design
How can I design a piece that is environmentally friendly?
The following items are part of a checklist prepared and reprinted courtesy of the Seattle, Washington chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Some tips come from Waste Reduction Tips Newsletter.
If you are looking for something unusual, ask us. We can recommend several types of recycled papers with a variety of patterns. We can also advise you about mailing information.
Two innovative recycled papers we recommend are Strathmore Elements and Confetti. Both provide subtle patterns that catch your customers' attention.
Strathmore Elements, was recently recognized by the Industrial Designers Society of America and Business Week for product design. Strathmore Elements is a recycled text and cover paper notable for its innovative surface patterns of lines, dots and squares, extremely subtle color palette, and highly printable surface.
Another recycled paper, Confetti, produced by Fox River Paper Company, contains bits of confetti. It is 100% recycled with 50% post-consumer waste.
| I'm never sure which fonts I should use in my promotional pieces. Also, one of
my associates told me that I could set up "styles" on my computer, what is that
and how can it benefit me? What is the best way to manage type so that it looks
beautiful, not There are a few basic steps you can take to ensure that your piece looks balanced. The following are the most important: |
 |
"Style sheets" or "styles" is an option offered in many computer layout programs like PageMaker and QuarkXpress. This feature can save you a lot of time because with it, you can set up a master list of type formats. This means you'll be able to change from a headline to a subhead or a caption with a click of the mouse.
| How can I get feedback from my customers? We know that sharpening the image of a company or organization is important. Even more important is to know the impact your image has on your customers and employees. Useful feedback helps you make strategic changes to improve your company or organization. How can you get useful feedback? There are several ways you can encourage customers and employees to give you feedback. Some popular ways are: |
 |
Make sure the questions you ask are carefully worded so that the intention of the question is clear and will result in a clear answer. Make sure that the answer to the question will give you useful data you can use to improve your business.
I recently created a stunning brochure in QuarkXPress, but when I try to print it, it takes forever! I do have imported graphics and photos. Is there any way to reduce the time it takes to process this file?
 |
Here's a guess: You have rotated and resized your photo and graphics files. Each time you do this to a bitmapped image, it increases the time it takes to output your file. But this is easily remedied by going back to the program in which the graphic or photo was created. For instance, a photograph scanned in Photoshop can be rotated and resized in that program, saved and then imported into Quark or another page layout program. That way the calculating has already been done, and Quark doesn't slow down when printing the file. |
Page layout programs can handle vector graphics, like those produced by Freehand or Illustrator, more easily than bitmapped files, like those produced by Photoshop. You can usually resize and rotate vector graphics without experiencing much slowdown when printing.
Another problem occurs when you have files embedded within files. If you create a file in your drawing program using imported clip art, and create an EPS file which you then import into a page layout program, you have three levels of file embedding. This takes much longer to process, and all the embedded files usually have to be present for the file to process at alt! It's okay to import graphics, but stick to two levels. Edit an original drawing program file instead of importing one. The computer can handle this more easily.
What steps must be taken for a company name or logo to be protected?
This is a very complicated question. If you are making decisions for your company, contact a trademark attorney.
Certain combinations of words can be protected. One story passed along to us regarded the trademark application for THE GOOD NEWS. It seems that the title "Good News" was not, in itself, unique. In order to protect its name, the magazine had to use the word THE in the title.
Designs can also be protected. In those cases, it is not the words but the shapes or arrangement of colors which are covered. Some popular examples: McDonald's® golden arches, Kodak® film and Coke®'s red can with white swirl.
If the holder chooses not to use the symbol, then a notice must appear somewhere on the page as text. The holder of a trademark is obligated to print some sort of protection identification, and-as in the case of Coke, a registered trademark of the Coca-Cola Company (Coca-Cola is also a registered trademark)-must take measures to ensure that other companies or the public do not make the word "generic." That means, it must not become so common as to become a regular word.
Companies that do not protect their trademarked names can easily lose them. Once a trademarked name becomes a generic term, the company loses control of the trademark. Today, the Zipper Company no longer exists, but dozens of companies use the term to describe their "zipping" closures.
What about those "trademarks" which carry no protection at all? If you aren't' worried about protecting a design or a phrase, go ahead and use it (as long as no other firm is using it). This brings up the complicated question of first use, which brings us back to the attorney!
My company is moving and we hate to see our old printing go to waste. Is there anything we can do?
Logos from outdated business cards can serve several functions. You can paste them on computer generated name tags, bookmarks, note cards, luggage tags and key tags. Simply paste your logo onto one of these items then place the piece into a protective plastic covering or laminate it.
Your outdated letterhead has several uses also. You can cut the sheets to make scratch pads and memo pads. If the logo is at the top and the address is at the bottom you could cut the page in half and use the top half for such things as notes to customers and billing statements. You could also donate any leftover letterhead to a local school.
You may be able to save part of a brochure by cutting the brochure into individual panels and discarding the panel(s) that is/are outdated. Sometimes you'll be able to retain the middle panel. In this case, you can have a two panel brochure. Other times the middle panel may contain outdated information. If this is the case, you can place the far right and far left panels and a newly printed middle panel in a small folder. Many companies graduate the panels for this purpose.
If there are pictures in your brochures or key points made in headlines, you can cut them out and use them in a display for a trade show. You could also use them in a scrapbook.
To involve your customers in a redesign of your logo, you could get a rubber stamp made that says help us create a new logo or a pointing finger like Uncle Sam's with a message that says something like "We Need You". Then attach a message to your customers bills that invites your customers to help re-design your logo.
In order to prevent outdated presentation folders for on-going programs like inner-office training, you may wish to use white folders with labels. This way you can get labels printed with the correct information and avoid wasting folders.
Some companies use outdated printing to make customers aware of an address change. In this case they usually print a red slash through the old address and print the new address right beside it.
Why can't I get a quote right away? Why does it take so long to get a price?
Asking these questions is like asking a chef why a home made pie can't be ready in a few minutes. Most orders that we print are custom jobs requiring their own individual pricing. Giving you the best price, quality and service requires that we do our homework. However, there are two things you can do to get quotes more quickly.
One of the best ways to speed the quote process is to present an accurate request. Sometimes customers forget to tell us an important aspect of their job and we have to price the job all over again.
When getting a quote, make sure you're ready to tell us the quantity you want, how many colors you want and any special handling (e.g. bindery work, thermography, embossing) that needs to happen.
Does your job need extra artwork preparation? Will it be output to a service bureau? Can the paper be obtained? Is it a special order? Does the job need extra artwork preparation? When all the details are provided and there aren't many variables, an estimate should usually take less than 24 hours.
The more specific you are, the more specific a quote you can get. It often helps to bring in a sample of what you want the finished piece to took like and a list of all the things you want done with the job.
Another way you can make the quoting process faster is to submit requests by fax. This saves your phone time for more important matters. It also enables you to make the request whenever it is convenient for you. Finally, it puts all the details of your job in writing so communication is clear.
Whenever you call for a quote it is always best to follow up with a fax. Faxes also make reorders easy.
•
• •
3031 West Burbank Boulevard, Burbank, CA 91505
(818) 840-8013 • (818) 842-5167 • Fax (818) 840-8014
E-mail: info@burbankprint.com
