The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) rolled out new addressing standards for business mail to make mail sorting and delivery more accurate, and according to the agency, mail delivery faster.

While the new type size requirements should have a negligible effect (minimum size of eight points, six points with barcodes), the address placement regulations will require many customers to make design changes.

These new standards apply to flat-sized periodicals, standard mail, nonprofit mail and package services (bound printed matter, library mail, parcel post and media mail). They do not apply to first-class, unenclosed letter-sized mail or single-piece mail.

If you’re not sure what category your mailpiece belongs in, your mailer or printing account representative can let you know. Read the rest of this entry »

Varnish and coatings do more than protect a printed sheet from smudges, scratches and fingerprints. They give designers the ability to do on paper what online media cannot – give tangible depth, dimensionality and texture to images and words.

Creative use of varnish and coatings has the potential to transform the viewing experience by appealing to multiple senses. You can evoke a mood, convey an attitude, project energy or calm.

You can simulate the feel of concrete and silk. You can raise images off the page or give the illusion of multiple layers. You can imitate the look of practically anything, from plastic and metal to leather. You can enhance reality by embedding scent into coatings and by changing color through simple touch.

Over the past five years, innovations in paper chemistry and printing technology have led to the introduction of varnish and coating effects that were not possible before. Most of these can be printed inline on a conventional press. Read the rest of this entry »

By Anne-Marie Concepcion

I think messy Word files have some sort of cosmic connection with ragweed. Over the past few weeks I’ve received an inordinate number of e-mails from people (half of whom I don’t know and just found my site on Google) pleading for help with Word documents that misbehave when imported into InDesign or QuarkXPress.

And over the same period, I’ve had to keep a bottle of Claritin and Windex on my desk because my hay fever is acting up and it’s hard to read my laptop monitor with sneeze droplets all over it.

Or … maybe I’m just developing an allergy to bad Word files? There’s a scary thought.

Here are my Handy-Dandy Tips for Degunkifying Word Files that I’ve been sending to these people. They’re only needed when you’re trying to retain the styling information in the Word file as you import it. (If you’re stripping the formatting, then there’s no gunk to de-anything.) Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to all those who attended the Decoding Green Paper Webinar and to Neenah Paper for sponsoring the session! Many of you texted in questions that we did not have time to address directly, so you’ll find the answers to those below. If you’d like to listen to the Webinar again (or for the first time!), you’ll find the recording here.

What about corrugated collected from retailers?  That is also considered postconsumer.

The EPA defines postconsumer fiber as paperboard, and fibrous wastes from retail stores, office buildings, homes and so forth, after they have passed through their end-usage as a consumer item, including: used corrugated boxes; old newspapers; old magazines; mixed waste paper; tabulating cards; and used cordage; and all paper, paperboard and fibrous wastes that enter and are collected from municipal solid waste. Postconsumer fiber does not include fiber derived from printers’ over-runs, converters’ scrap, and over-issue publications. Source: http://www.epa.gov/solidwaste/conserve/tools/cpg/products/define.htm Read the rest of this entry »

By Ruth Hagopian

Good citizens everywhere are trying to live greener lives at home and in the office. But what if your office has 160 employees, production overseas and produces 360 products a year?

That’s what Chronicle Books faced in 2003 when concerned employees formed an environmental team to decide how to maximize their resources and reduce their company’s ecological footprint. Chronicle Books’ Senior Production Coordinator, Michelle Clair discussed their strategies at a recent Webinar and described their ambitious plans.

Start with the everyday
Their first efforts started small and added up to big changes in the way they used office paper. Basic in-house conservation included printing letters and reports on both sides of paper with 100 percent postconsumer recycled content. They also eliminated printer and fax cover sheets, used e-mails instead of memos and posted or circulated materials, which included training manuals and internal documents. Read the rest of this entry »

By Cyd Peroni

I’d expect a graphic designer to create this kind of printing complexity, but I have to admit that my first tongue-in-cheek reaction was, “What printer in their right mind would do this to themselves?”

As someone who used to work for a printer, managing and planning jobs that my salespeople brought in, the thrill of extreme printing – that combination of exhilaration and fear all rolled into one – came rushing back when I saw Courier Graphics Corp.’s newest marketing collateral.

The package won Best of Show at the Printing Industries of Arizona’s (PIAZ) 7th Annual Print Excellence Awards Gala. I spoke with Scott Carritt, the account executive who spearheaded these award-winning pieces to get the back story … and some take-away advice and insight for successfully designing and printing this type of work. Read the rest of this entry »

By Joe Marin

The last time PIA/GATF conducted a survey on the reasons for printers’ rework, unacceptable color was number one. Couple this with the fact that a lack of knowledge about color and fuzzy customer/printer communications is the source for many of those problems, and a key improvement opportunity is staring you in the face.

While it is not always clear what can be done to address the vague statement of “poor communications,” in this instance, there is something you can do about it. Education about some of the most common color issues will help streamline the color reproduction process and avoid the agonizing need for rework.

Here are eight items that it would be wise to be aware of:

1. Consistency for viewing color. One important method for assuring color consistency is to agree on standard lighting conditions for viewing color proofs and press sheets. In order to reduce variables in the color communication and reproduction process, the graphic arts industry has established standard color viewing conditions called a standard color viewing booth. Read the rest of this entry »

By Sabine Lenz

There it was – right on the cover of the Priority Envelope: “This envelope is Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C) certified.” The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is not necessarily known for its environmental initiatives, so at first, I was impressed.

I have to admit I wasn’t even aware that a C2C certification even existed, but, being a firm believer in third-party certification, I had high hopes.

I asked some of my “sustainable” friends. People who are, in one way or another, deeply involved in the sustainability aspect of the paper industry. Across the board, their responses were more than skeptical.

My curiosity awakened, I went to the source; and after several attempts, achieved an interview with Jay Bolus, VP of Technical Operations at MBDC (McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry), the originating arm of C2C certification. Read the rest of this entry »

By Margie Dana

If you are a print buyer or graphic designer, and the term “G7″ elicits a confused “Say what?” from you … read on.

The term is new for many in the industry, and it’s often confused with “GRACoL” and “GRACoL 7.” Time to fix that! For this Tip, I interviewed Randy Allen, digital prepress manager of Concord Litho in Concord, NH. Randy served on two G7-related panels at the 10th annual PIA Color Management Conference in Arizona in December. Concord Litho earned its G7 Master Printer status last November.

MD: Randy, make believe our readers know nothing about G7. Please define it for us.

Print buyers, agencies and marketers want to be able to make things “look the same,” regardless of where or how they’re printed. G7 is an improved method for matching color across multiple devices. Read the rest of this entry »

By Linda Bishop

Price matters when times are good. When times are bad, price more frequently casts the deciding vote. Now is the time to look for new ways to deepen your understanding of price’s role in business because knowledge helps you craft smarter selling strategies, close more orders and leave less money on the table.

The Effect of Price When Buyers Compare Apples to Apples
Amy shops at the local farmers market. She’s hungry and wants to buy an apple. She spots two bins filled with apples. The sign above the bin on Amy’s left reads, “Apples 50 cents each.” The sign above the right bin reads, “Apples 60 cents each.”

Amy examines the two bins. All the apples are red and approximately the same size. Amy buys the cheaper apple. Why? She buys the cheaper apple because the seller gave her no apparent reason to choose one over the other. Read the rest of this entry »