The social side of printing!
November 5, 2008
As many years as we’ve been printing, it’s still tough to remember all of the envelopes sizes that can be used for invitations and announcements. Here’s a quick rundown, just in case your next holiday card is on tap:
Where cost is an issue, Baronial style envelopes have a great price point, but they’re usually only available in white or ivory.
Baronial (i.e. pointy-flap) Style Envelopes
4 Bar
5.125 x 3.625
5 Bar
5.625 x 4.125
5 ½ Bar
5.625 x 4.375
6 Bar
6.5 x 4.75
Lee
7.25 x 5.25
A lot of folks prefer the the more up to date square flap style Announcement envelope. Indeed, they’re available in a wider range of colors and finishes:
Announcement Envelope: square flap style
A-2
4.375″ x 5.75″
A-6
4.75″ x 6.5″
A-7
5.25″ x 7.25″
A-8
5.5″ x 8.125
A-9
5.75″ x 8.75″
A-10
6″ x 9.5″
Just two more things to remember:
1. Not every size/color/finish combo is available, so check before you start your design
2. These are the envelope sizes, the enclosures should be designed about 1/4″ smaller in each dimension.
Questions: just give us a call or visit our contact page.
In the market for some custom printed folders or announcements? Check out our current specials!
The Holy Grail of Graphics
September 2, 2008
Not all file formats are created equal. For maximum quality and flexibility, true vector format files such as EPS or AI are often your best choice. Need a logo or drawing in your brochure or business card? Use Adobe Illustrator, Freehand or Corel Draw for the job. Or ask your graphic artist/designer to do the same.
Better yet, these EPS items (also called paths/shapes) can now be freely and directly placed and edited in Adobe InDesign. Here’s how, according to David Watterson, art director of the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation.
Simply copy the item(s) from the source application and paste into you InDesign document via the clipboard. To copy paths from Illustrator 10 and up, be sure that AICB is checked and the “Preserve Paths” button is selected in Illustrator’s file handling and clipboard preferences.
And speaking of Adobe InDesign, be sure to sign up for our latest Copies&Ink event, sponsored by the nice folks at Adobe Systems.
The United States of Bland
June 26, 2008
This morning I ran across a display ad in Sunset Magazine; it was a tourism piece for the City of Portland, Oregon. Regardless of the ad’s merit, it does make a point that resonates well today: that most cities across the country lack much individual personality. Everything looks so mind-numbingly bland. The same strip malls, fast food restaurants and franchised national retail outfits. Our own Rancho Cucamonga is no exception. What was once a fascinating and quirky agricultural center has embraced that same blandness that now extends a full 50 miles to downtown LA.
I’m guilty of falling into that trap too. A few years ago I gave up our family business’ name for a moniker that sounds more like a national chain. In retrospect, that may have been a mistake.
Thinking back a few years and remembering some my earliest Alpert’s Printing customers, there are a few that still stand out in my mind, some 29 years later. They had personality. They didn’t need a six paragraph mission statement. Clarity and character is so lacking in today’s world of sameness. I’d be willing to bet a month’s phone bill that the descriptive name General Telephone is still easier to remember than the cryptic Verizon.
I doubt the corporate spin masters will be dropping their LGs, Altrias and Cingulars any time soon, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us need to buy into the blanding of America. If you want to get your marketing noticed today, perhaps try something that comes naturally: be yourself!
Un-Confuse Your Marketing!
June 17, 2008
People send mailers for all the wrong reasons.
Are you thinking about sending out a flyer or mailer? Stop! Why are you sending it? Unless you have a clear picture of your reason, you’re cooking up a recipe for disappointment!
Most people who send out flyers are thinking DRM, or direct response marketing. Compare that to “branding” or image marketing, and you’ll find two different kinds of animals, which should never be confused for each other. If you’re looking for a response, that is you want the orders to come and the phone to ring, you’ll need a relevant and compelling offer to motivate your customers.
DRM won’t work for every type of business. Sometimes the reason for the mailing is to build awareness of your brand in the marketplace. That’s something that happens over time. Sorry, no shortcuts here. Instead think about how many times and ways you can “touch” your customer over the next six to 12 months. If there’s a trick here, it’s to be memorable.
So much of this stuff gets confused because it looks so similar on the surface. A mailer is a mailer, yes?
Couldn’t be more wrong!
How to build a better PDF
May 28, 2008
It’s amazing how many ills can be cured by the simple PDF. It’s like the aspirin of desktop graphics. Still, aspirin can’t cure the common cold. Similarly, pumping a dozen fuzzy snapshots into a Word file before converting it to PDF won’t give your annual report that National Geographic look you’re going for.
So, as many a pizza chain will remind you, your final result is no better than the ingredients. With that in mind (from Adobe’s Lonn Lorenz and researcher Dov Isaacs) here’s The Perfect PDF: Best Practices for Preparing PDF Files.
What’s on (Adobe) TV?
May 27, 2008
If you’re tired of Reality TV and have already seen the season finale of LOST, why not check out some programming that’s actually useful?
In recent years Adobe has bolstered its product support with a lot of online options, including its newest addition, Adobe TV. There are a number of “channels” including a lot of programming about photography, video, graphic and web design.
Check out the “most popular” link, and follow it to episode 1 of Caffe Fibonacci. The fireplace and country background are “Photoshopped” in, but the actual show has a number of useful and interesting tips. And don’t let the Apple logos put you off; this information is useful for Windows too!
Have any tips you’d like to share? Drop us a note!
Stationery or Stationary?
May 13, 2008
Long time printers like myself are always on the lookout for typos and misspellings; here’s one I see a lot:
“I’d like to order some stationary.”
I once heard that the most frequently mangled word is “rhythm.” Do you have a favorite spelling screw-up?
And here’s a funny story about the stationery/stationary issue. Enjoy.
Control Freaks: Print is for you!
May 13, 2008
Think you’ve got your website design nailed? Here’s what Joseph Webb, Ph.D., Director of WhatTheyThink.com Economics & Research Center says:
“Content creators use graphic design techniques to ensure that images are viewed in a manner that they will make their client’s message effective. In print, they have almost full control of the physical nature of their message.” When you design for print, the print buyer can feel fairly sure that the result will always be predictable. The size and shape are predictable. The color is consistent. Even the texture and thickness of the paper substrate are known factors.
Put that same design online, and the size, shape and color will always differ from one viewer to the next. Will you message be read on a 13″ display or a 24″ widescreen? Will that sky look blue or purple? What about that fabric color? What about the guy who’s reading it on his cell phone? These are just a few of dozens of good reasons to keep print in your marketing mix. Maybe the highest and best use of internet marketing is giving your customers and prospects a convenient way to respond to your offer. That’s a must!
In any event, turning your website into a multi-page online brochure is definitely NOT guerilla marketing!
