#in a digitization when the paper's so significantly yellowed as this copy's! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

deoidesign · 2 years ago

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do you have any tips on color harmony and the colors of the rainbow? I'm trying to draw a 10 color rainbow but I'm struggling to make the colors match and any color system like RYB, RGB, CMYK or Munsell doesn't work (Usually green doesn't go well with the transition to blue or purple and yellow get stronger shades than other nearby colors)

Color harmony is a really complicated subject, so definitely remember to be patient with yourself.

Colors are significantly affected by how they interact with each other. A red next to orange will look different than a red next to green, which will look different next to blue... etc.

This is really important when it comes to making a color palette, because the colors you use WILL play with eachother, so you have to be sure they're playing nice.

This piece, for example, is entirely red. It's all the exact same hue, but the value and saturation makes the colors still distinct from eachother.

When making a rainbow, especially with 10 distinct steps, you have a lot of potential with your colors.

Personally I use HSB/HSV sliders when I'm illustrating. Hue, Saturation, and Black/Value. This lets me be as precise as possible when I'm selecting my colors.

I'll be explaining everything with these terms! (Hue, Saturation, and Value)

1: These colors vary only on hue 2: These colors vary on hue and saturation 3: These colors vary on the hue and value

You can see how much each of these will affect the colors and how they look next to eachother. Manipulating these factors can give you a lot of control over your palette.

Now, I'm varying which color is the "focus" of the palette. I'm also modifying every aspect of HSB to make them play nice.

4: This palette has a lot more yellows and oranges than the rest, and barely any/no blues 5: This palette is an even spread, 5 colors are warm and 5 are cool. 6: This palette focuses mostly on green 7: this palette focuses more on the purple and blue side of the spectrum.

If you're finding you're struggling well with green transitioning to blue and purple, then you can just have some more greens to make it feel smoother.

When manipulating all three sliders, you can make rainbows that are entirely tinted to a certain hue. This can get you really cohesive palettes.

8: tinted yellow 9: tinted blue/green 10: tinted pink/purple

When your palette is like this, you'll find that putting in a contrasting color will pop significantly more.

(These contrasting colors are pulled from the original fully saturated rainbow that I put together, #1. Notice how different the colors look here than they did in their original palette!)

You can use this effect as you please or avoid it as much as you like!

As always with art more information is key to making your decisions.

Exercises I suggest to understand color theory better:

Making pieces without using specific colors (try to make something look "Green" without using green)

Make a cool toned rainbow and a warm toned rainbow (every color has a cool and a warm variant) and draw something with each of them (one drawing cool, the same drawing warm)

Use red for shadows and green for light, and then draw the same thing with green for shadows and red for light (or any 2 opposite colors

Copy art and photography that has colors you like, but DON'T color pick until you're done to see how close you were (don't post pieces where you copied someone else's work without explicitly saying you did so, it's for study)

Paint from life

Take some colored pieces of paper and shine lights on them and watch how the light reflects off of the paper onto different objects

Here's some studies I did for one of my classes in school. They're old, I can't paint traditionally anymore without pain. But what I learned was still important whether or not the art is old!

I also suggest keeping these timed, All of these were under 1 hour (traditional) or under a half hour (digital). The more practice you get, the better!

And, if you can practice in different media (I understand it can be expensive, take up a lot of space, or even be painful), I personally find that each media has different pros and cons and forcing yourself to work within the limitations of a particular medium will teach you a lot!

(digital still lifes)

(gouache studies)

(Acrylic studies)

(digital copies)

I hope something in here helps!

Good luck!

#art tips #color theory #asks #tellih

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billyniicholss · 5 years ago

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Economic color copy prints near where I am Parkersburg WV

Economical Digital Color Copy Printing – Benefits and Types

Digital Printing is a form of printing technique that comes from a concept that is digitally structured straight to many media forms. Generally, it is the term used for specialist type of publishing in which small run color copies printing jobs via desktop posting and other types of digital options happen to be printed with big format or / and inkjet or laser printers.

Digital printing differs from regular methods that include letterpress, gravure, flexography or lithography in which there is no use of any printing plate. Thus, the recovery time is faster and the process is less expensive. The most commonly used solutions include laser or inkjet printers that add toner or pigment to many substrates such as marble, metal, glass, canvas, photo paper, paper and others. Professional as well as consumer printers include laser or ink jet printers in digital printing. If you are in search of economic color copy prints near where I am Parkersburg WV, this is a type of printing technique that you can go for.

map location for Parkersburg WV and nearby states

Why Go For Digital Printing?

There are many advantages of the same:

No minimum order

It is perfect when you simply require a few pieces of marketing materials. At one time, there was a need to get the minimum amount that is needed by the printing agency so that your materials are printed. Thus, the materials you did not actually require went directly to trash. This was a big waste of resources and money.

The digital printing process, however, takes care of this issue. When you use it, you need to have as less number of materials as required. This is due to the fact that printing agencies do not need to use plates to carry out tasks. Your files would now be directly printed to the digital printer from the computer.

Color Copy Machine – Parkersburg WV

Cost-efficient low volume printing

The color copies expenses are significantly less in this case. The per-unit cost might be higher than in case of offset printing. However, when you take the setup costs into account as well, you can get reduced per-unit expenses with digital printing technology for smaller number of prints.

Often, Variable Data Printing is a technique to have digital printing customized easily. Taking data from an external file or database, graphics and text can be improved easily on every item with no delays or stopping down the press. For example, you may imprint individualized letters with a singular address or a unique label during each correspondence. Generally, one uses Variable data printing for promotion, customer relationship development and primary marketing.

Quicker turnaround time

This type of printing can also solve your immediate requirement for props or materials that you would like to take along with you during important presentations and meetings. It can ensure that you will be capable of satisfying your own printing needs as per predetermined schedule.

Personalized ads

With this kind of color copies printing method, advertisers can also personalize their own printing materials. Variable data printing makes this easy. It can let you print your materials in such a way that you can change specific elements in every copy, as per the taste of recipients.

When your marketing ventures are concerned, decision making can be very easy with full color digital printing. If you need printing for personalization, this can be a perfect option for you. Every print in this case is identical. There are quite less variations, less waste and more accurate counts, due to an inability to balance water and ink while operating press.

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Types of Digital Printing to Go For

Know about the major forms of digital printing that you can opt for.

Digital Image Printing

Technical innovation is thanked for the change to digital from film, especially the evolution of high speed internet access that makes it very fast to upload images. The print production is experiencing continued rise with digital imaging printing, and there is as much as 49% drop in the sales of standard film cameras while there is a rise in the sales of digital cameras. Today, about 90% of digital cameras can offer resolutions higher than 6 million megapixels.

Digital Graphic Printing

In marketing, the trend is advancing towards the high-end segment of technology. Superior digital graphic printing is able to raise the perceptions of customers towards your business. It is a good idea to show high quality graphics that are appealing and have a nice impression. Digital graphic printing eliminates things that are too commonplace and add make your marketing more dynamic with adhesive vinyl, artist canvas, static cling and vinyl banners, which can aid you to make a strong statement.

Online Digital Printing

Online Digital Printing can help you to save money and time, when your files are directly printed to digital presses. With online economic color copy prints near where I am Parkersburg WV printing services, you can also get the advantage of immediate quotes for online printing as well as web-based proofing and approval.

Digital 4-Color Printing

This is a type of industrial / commercial printing where 4 color printing technique is used for printing out full-color images. It is due to the fact that 4 different types of inks are used for the printing process:

Yellow

Black

Cyan

Magenta

Professional Digital Printing

This is what gave marketers the confidence to make unique ads. Today, Professional digital printing lets advertisers compete with confidence with the contemporaries regardless of how big or small they might be. There is very wide range of choices. Technology is making it easy for people to fit any amount of printing materials needed for all kinds of marketing jobs.

While digital printing is an affordable way to get copies printed, the rates vary across printing agencies. Thus, you have to look around and get quotes and past project samples from quite a few agencies to make a decent comparison and make an informative selection. As a marketer, it is always in your best interests to find an affordable but high quality digital economic color copy prints near where I am Parkersburg WV agency that you can have a long-term business relationship with.

Economic color copy prints near where I am Parkersburg WV

Information for Parkersburg WV

West Virginia was admitted towards the Union on June 20, 1863, by proclamation finalized by President Abraham Lincoln.

Tourism is the state’s leading industry. For many years, coal had been the industry that is leading.

Marshall University, based in Huntington, was named for Chief Justice John Marshall of the United States Supreme Court. Justice Marshall served as Chief Justice from 1801- 1835 and served because the justice that is presiding the Aaron Burr treason trial in 1807.

West Virginia University, positioned in Morgantown, has had 26 students to get Rhodes Scholarships to study at Oxford University in England.

Charles Town, in Jefferson County, had been where servant abolitionist John Brown was convicted of treason, conspiracy and murder after his raid on Harpers Ferry, also in Jefferson County.

The world famous Greenbrier Hotel and Resort, in White Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier County, was used as an Army Hospital during World War II.

The Greenbrier Hotel is also the house of this famous springs which were rumored to cure various ailments.

The New River Gorge Bridge, in Fayetteville, may be the steel-arch bridge that is longest in the us spanning 1, 815 feet throughout the New River Canyon.

Ironic to its title, the brand new River is truly one of the earliest rivers in the global world and flows south to north, opposite from many streams because it was formed before the mountains.

At 4, 861 foot above sea level, Spruce Knob, located in Pendleton County, is the point that is highest in the Mountain State. Dropping down to 247 feet above ocean level, Harpers Ferry, Jefferson County, marks point that is lowest in the state.

The post Economic color copy prints near where I am Parkersburg WV appeared first on Cheap Printing Deals.

Economic color copy prints near where I am Parkersburg WV posted first on https://www.55printing.com

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local3pack · 6 years ago

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The Basics of Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing is promoting your company or your companies goods and services online or through mobile data channels. Like traditional marketing when done correctly it involves much testing and documentation to find what is truly working. Unlike traditional marketing digital marketing generally is much easier to track and easier to change and modify “on the fly” in reaction to feedback and tracking results.

Digital Marketing tends to be focused on a narrowly targeted audience more so than traditional marketing channels which tended to broadcast a message repeatedly over a broad audience.

Primary types of digital marketing are: Owned outlets such as a company’s website, Facebook page or other social media channels; paid ads such as Google Adwords or Facebook paid advertising; and earned media outlets such as a blog following, Facebook followers and other social media accounts. Obviously the digital owned and earned categories can overlap.

One of the first things a company must establish is the specific objective of their digital efforts. In a typical B2B (business to business) campaign the objective may be to generate high quality leads for a professional sales force to follow up with. In B2C (business to consumer) the main objective may be increased brand reach, build an email list of quality prospects, or a customer call to a brick and mortar location.

Some types of digital marketing can be quite inexpensive to begin with. For example an email campaign or publishing extremely engaging content on a blog post that gains an audience and is shared around the internet. Other options can start rather inexpensively and then be tweaked and optimized before scaling up into higher budgets. These options make digital marketing a much lower barrier to entry than traditional marketing. All of this is to say that small and medium sized companies have a much better chance at success and for that reason alone every business needs to have a well defined digital marketing plan and budget.

Why Should a Business Focus on Their Online Presence?

It is a well established fact that the internet has changed the world. Today the printed Yellow Pages are not much more than a paper weight, (pun intended). Newspaper and magazine subscriptions are down significantly across the country. Network TV viewership is declining year over year. All of these “old-world” media outlets are succumbing to the digital “new reality.” The vast majority of people search online to find the local goods and services that they require. If a business wants to grow it must be found online, and it must have multiple outlets online.

Therefore, it is a simple fact that a business must have a digital strategy to grow their customer base, brand, and sales.

It Starts With a Plan

Just like traditional marketing a business must have a specific plan for their digital marketing. Marketing is a strategy that a business implements to reach out to their ideal prospects to inform them and get them to know, like and trust the business. Strategy is the big picture plan. Tactics are the HOW of execution of the plan.

The marketing plan does not need to be dozens of pages of complex technical jargon, charts and formula’s. In fact it can be quite simple. Read The 1-Page Marketing Plan by Allan Dib. You need to laser focus on:

Who. Your target audience in advertising can’t be “everyone that walks in the door”. Each campaign needs to be laser focused on a specific target. Pick you “ideal” customer. Focus your message on exactly that person. Are they male/female? How old? What income? What habits? What likes and dislikes. What are the major one or two problems that cause them anxiety. What are their fears, what keeps them up at night? Just as important. Who do you NOT want. What type of customer is your largest problem, most hassle and least profitable. Your advertising needs to weed them out as well.

What. What can you uniquely do for them. You need to establish what your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is. What separates you from the crowd of competitors that are shouting for their attention. You must communicate clearly and succinctly what you can do for them to solve the problem identified above. Sometimes this stage of the relationship involves How. Don’t assume that the customer automatically understands how your solution will solve their issue. Do not leave them the least bit hazy as to how you will fix their issue.

Why. Why they should choose you. Offer proof of your claims. Social proof, (other happy customers), a guarantee, seek to literally make an offer that they can’t refuse and that has no apparent downside for them.

The entire focus of your advertising is to let your prospects know, like and trust you. There are many was to accomplish this in digital marketing. Publishing lots of interesting and informative content serves to make you the expert in the field. Information that is free and useful builds trust. Your company could utilize blog posts, publish an ebook , create an engaging infographic or host a webinar.

It Takes A Touch, (or Five)

Marketing can be compared to dating. It takes time and multiple interactions to build the know, like and trust. A business relationship is a relationship after all. Your marketing campaigns need to focus on the process. This is sometimes described as an inverted funnel. At the top of the funnel are the “raw” prospects that may encounter you via your advertising. As you engage more with them, inform them and help them with your content they begin to trust you. Those that are interested in your business or your offer move farther down the funnel, while some prospects will drop out. Your campaign needs to focus on building the relationship with those moving through your funnel, and how to interact and continue to reach out to those that have not responded and moved further down the funnel. Those that “drop out” may not be gone forever. After all, how many guys hit it off perfectly with their wife right from the beginning. It is expected that the relationship may take time and work.

Another advantage to digital marketing is the ease of which a business can establish multiple touch points with potential customers. Once they have entered your funnel and identified themselves it is possible to reach out to them via Facebook, email, text message, Google Ads or other social media outlets. Sales experts tell us that it takes between 5-7 touches before most prospects become customers. Your digital marketing plan should include multiple touches to prospects as well as re-targeting prospects that have not moved along in your funnel.

Your Website:

For most companies the best starting place to a digital marketing plan is to establish a website. It is extremely important to insure that your website is mobile friendly, loads fast and that all the elements of the site load properly on all types of mobile devices.

It is a simple matter to find companies that will build a website. However, most website builders are not capable of writing the content. They don’t know your business, your Unique Selling Proposition, and frankly are not copy writers. You need your website to compel prospects to investigate your business further. You need content that engages them, answers their questions and concerns and builds rapport. If you are not confident in your own writing skills your website is one place that an investment in a very competent copy writer is an excellent investment.

Keywords:

You will need to research the major keywords and keyword phrases that prospects will use to search for your goods or services. This may not be as hard as many make it out to be. Begin with your own experience. What words and phrases would you use for your business and services and your location. Type these into a Google search. As the pages come up notice how well the businesses displayed match what you were searching for. Notice as you begin to type your search Google will offer some search suggestions. Write these down. Go to the bottom of the search page and also write down the phrases that google gives as search suggestions. Do this for every keyword and keyword phrase that you can think of, then search the best of the Google search suggestions that you wrote down. Again, on all the searches go to the bottom of the page and find the best of the suggestions.

Website Content:

When you are writing (or having written) your website pages make sure that the best of the best of the keywords and keyword phrases are included in your content. This is how Google and the other search engines determine what your page is about and when you should appear in a customer search.

Website Tracking:

Much of the ins and outs of building a website are beyond the scope of this article. However, do make sure that Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Facebook pixels are set up and working on your site. These tools will provide you with a means to analyze traffic to your site down to individual pages and will allow you to track visitors to your site so they can be re-targeted as we mentioned above in the discussion of funnels.

Most website owners fail to use the data that Google provides FREE. With Google Analytics and Google Search Console you can track all the traffic to each page of your website. You can discover where the traffic came from, (did they find you through your listing on Yelp or your Google My Business listing or general search). If from general search what keywords are working best for you? What pages on your site do they visit? How much time do visitors spend on each page? Time on site and “bounce” rate are measures that Google will use to evaluate the quality of your web pages and it will effect your ranking in Google. But more important, these types of data will let you know what your visitors think of your site and your content.

Getting to know the Terminology of Digital Marketing:

Every business or niche has it’s own language and key terms associated with it. Let’s review a few of the key terms used in digital marketing.

Bounce Rate: A measure of the total number of visitors to your page or to an online ad and how many stay long enough to digest the content verses the number that immediately click away. A high bounce rate is a definite red flag for your funnel or content. This measure lends its self to A-B testing. That is testing one factor vs another. For example, image A verses image B, or Headline A vs Headline B. A caution here is to only test one variable at a time and make sure you have enough impressions for each variable before you conclude which is the clear winner.

Call to Action: The response that you desire your page visitor to take. It could be to fill out a contact form, pick up the phone and call, click on a “Buy” button. One reason that most websites convert very poorly is that they do not have a clear and compelling call to action. Much thought and testing should go in to your call to action for every page or advertisement that you put online.

Conversion rate: The ratio of visitors to your page vs the number that respond to your call to action and buy, fill out a contact form, call or otherwise move further along in your funnel.

SEO: Search Engine Optimization is the process of optimizing your web pages for higher “ranking” in the search engines. Most websites that are found on page 2+ in the search results get almost no traffic from their web presence. For this reason many businesses elect to insure that their websites are optimized for the search engines, Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.

Content Marketing: Is the process of utilizing good and engaging content to enhance brand awareness, customer trust or traffic growth. It can take the form of blog posts, ebooks, infographics or videos.

Organic Results: Is to rank in the search engine result page (SERP) below the paid ads. The search engines will feature the paid ads at the top of page-1 and if there are enough bidders ads will also appear at the bottom of page-1 as well. After the paid ads Google will have the 3-Pack or Map which features 3 local businesses for the major search queries. This Map 3- Pack is the absolute best listing for a local business to have. It appears on page one “above the fold” and features the businesses Google reviews. The businesses listed in the top 3 receive the highest click through rates on page one.

PPC or Pay Per Click: The term refers to paid advertising on the SERP’s. A business will bid on a keyword or keyword phrase with buyer intent, such as “plumber in Tempe Az”. The winning bids will instantly be featured at the top of the search results page where they are the first impression for the searcher. If the searcher clicks on their listing they will be directed to the businesses website or landing page where the business has an opportunity to convert the click into a customer. The advertiser will only pay the search engine if someone clicks on their listing.

Social Media Marketing:

An astute business knows they want to be found everywhere that their potential clients are found. Today that means having a presence on social media. Every business need not be found on every social media outlet, but it is critical to find out where your customers spend time and be certain to be found there. A rough generalization of a few of the most popular social media platforms follows:

Facebook is one of the largest with billions of users. Hundreds of million people sign on to the platform each day. A general age range would be 25-55 years old. Facebook has an incredible data base of their users. A business that wishes to advertise on Facebook has a much better opportunity to narrow in on a very focused audience with Facebook’s user data. However, the advertiser must bear in mind that people do not go to Facebook to shop. They are looking for entertainment and social interaction. Your advertising must fit right in with the flow to be effective. A hard core sales pitch will not be effective.

Twitter has about a 20% market exposure online. Users tend to be younger than Facebook. More in the 18-29 age range. Communication on Twitter is brief and abbreviated. Ad costs run a little high so getting the hang of Twitter as an ad platform takes expertise.

LinkenIn is more effective as a B2B platform, but it is clearly the best option in that category. It is designed for an older more business professional. Having said that, it host about 1-billion users. In the B2B space it is well worth learning how to use effectively.

Pinterest is a very visual platform which has a higher female demographic. If a business has a product or service that lends its self to those factors Pinterest is a viable advertising platform.

Video Marketing;

Most businesses have not even begun to tap into the power of video marketing. YouTube is the number two search engine by volume, in the world. People respond to visual stimulus much more than the written word. Video is becoming more and more popular on all of the social media platforms. In short video is the best untapped resource for local businesses to engage with their best prospects.

Video is perfect for short clips that fit in well with the flow of social media sites. A business owner can highlight a special service, show off their business location, or provide an “explainer” video to help customers understand the benefits of their product.

Videos that connect with an audience will be “liked” and “shared” across the internet. That kind of free exposure is the dream of every business owner. Video’s do not always have to be large, professional productions. Many video clips shot with a cell phone have gone viral on the internet. The real key is producing content that connects with your target audience.

Email Marketing:

Another untapped resource for many local businesses in today’s digital marketing landscape is email marketing. Building an email list of satisfied prior customers and then keeping quality content and compelling offers in front of that established audience is just good business. Email marketing can be quite inexpensive and very effective. It is however, important for the business owner to keep value in mind. It is not prudent to just continually pitch to that audience. That is the quickest route to a mass unsubscribe. The business needs to provide true value and engaging content that keeps their client list opening and responding to the emails.

The Bottom Line:

The bottom line is that virtually every business can benefit and grow with a solid digital marketing plan. The marketing plan does not need to be overly complex but it does need to be well thought out and implemented. Digital marketing today offers a wide spectrum of platforms to reach out and engage with prospects. The wise business will work through multiple channels to reach their targeted audience and build rapport.

Digital marketing lends its self to a small or medium size business on a budget. Some of the opportunities are free to begin with. Paid advertising online has excellent opportunities to track performance and makes it easy to test and modify a campaign early on before serious money is consumed.

From https://gideonmarketing1.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-basics-of-digital-marketing.html

from https://gideonmarketing.wordpress.com/2019/03/13/the-basics-of-digital-marketing/

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digitalmark0 · 6 years ago

Text

The Basics of Digital Marketing

The Basics of Digital Marketing:

The Basics of Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing tends to be focused on a narrowly targeted audience more so than traditional marketing channels which tended to broadcast a message repeatedly over a broad audience.

Why Should a Business Focus on Their Online Presence?

Therefore, it is a simple fact that a business must have a digital strategy to grow their customer base, brand, and sales.

It Starts With a Plan

It Takes A Touch, (or Five)

Your Website:

Keywords:

Website Content:

Website Tracking:

Getting to know the Terminology of Digital Marketing:

Every business or niche has it’s own language and key terms associated with it. Let’s review a few of the key terms used in digital marketing.

Conversion rate: The ratio of visitors to your page vs the number that respond to your call to action and buy, fill out a contact form, call or otherwise move further along in your funnel.

Social Media Marketing:

Pinterest is a very visual platform which has a higher female demographic. If a business has a product or service that lends its self to those factors Pinterest is a viable advertising platform.

Video Marketing;

Email Marketing:

The Bottom Line:

from https://gideonmarketing1.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-basics-of-digital-marketing.html from https://gideonmarketing.tumblr.com/post/183415349147

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gideonmarketing · 6 years ago

Link

The Basics of Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing tends to be focused on a narrowly targeted audience more so than traditional marketing channels which tended to broadcast a message repeatedly over a broad audience.

Why Should a Business Focus on Their Online Presence?

Therefore, it is a simple fact that a business must have a digital strategy to grow their customer base, brand, and sales.

It Starts With a Plan

It Takes A Touch, (or Five)

Your Website:

Keywords:

Website Content:

Website Tracking:

Getting to know the Terminology of Digital Marketing:

Every business or niche has it’s own language and key terms associated with it. Let’s review a few of the key terms used in digital marketing.

Conversion rate: The ratio of visitors to your page vs the number that respond to your call to action and buy, fill out a contact form, call or otherwise move further along in your funnel.

Social Media Marketing:

Pinterest is a very visual platform which has a higher female demographic. If a business has a product or service that lends its self to those factors Pinterest is a viable advertising platform.

Video Marketing;

Email Marketing:

The Bottom Line:

from https://gideonmarketing1.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-basics-of-digital-marketing.html

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ctcopier · 6 years ago

Text

Guide to Buying a New printer

One of the more perplexing decisions when faced with choosing a new printer is which print technology is going to suit you the best. At the moment there are two main printing systems: the laser technology, using toner cartridges and a transfer drum assembly; and ink jets using ink tank cartridges and fine-spray nozzles. The method that will suit you best will depend largely on what you plan to print on your new printer, and cost factors that affect the costs of running it. Laser printers are possibly better for high-volume printing, with lower 'per page' costs and they have better black intensity text, than most ink jets. Laser printers tend to have a faster page rate but ink jets still offer the important advantages in affordable color printing.

For home use, you'll probably want to print out digital photos or graphics, which makes color a must. The traditional differentiation between lasers and ink jets has been office versus home use; however, color offers obvious presentation advantages for business use as well. Fortunately, prices for both categories of printers have come down enough to make it practical to purchase both a laser and an ink jet if you absolutely need both color and high-quality text.

The work you do

There are a number of different printer configurations available today, many of them are quite specialized in the applications. There are specialized photo printers, direct disc CD printers, Multi-function printers, desktop ink jets and high-speed lasers.

If you want a printer that is specifically designed for printing photographs, you will most likely look for a color ink-jet system that is a photo printer, allowing very high quality color output and capable of printing all the way to the edge of the page. Recent releases by major brands now include all-in-one Multi-function devices that include scanning and printing capabilities. Many smaller units that are designed purely as a photo-printer to plug directly into your digital camera are also available. Much the same can be said for CD or DVD printing, with specialized printers available for printing directly onto discs, saving label application.

On the other hand if you are a small home-office worker, then your requirements may be more general, in which case you need to make a printer decision based on the types of documents you produce and how many. In general terms, ink-jet printers offer high quality color outputs, at a low hardware cost, but high consumable cost. Lasers offer significantly higher speeds but at a much higher hardware cost. High volume usage however, reduces the cost per page considerably.

Multi-function printers (MFP) are often ideal for home office or student needs because they combine multiple functions into one unit, usually a scanner, printer, copier fax machine, doing a little bit of everything, and saving considerable desk and office space in the bargain. Generally ink-jet style printers, some MFP's may trade-off performance for price and convenience (e.g. lower resolution, slower print speed) than if you were to buy a printer and scanner individually.

You can buy Multi-functional printers specially configured for printing photographs, with some machines providing the ability to scan directly from 35mm slides and store digital files and print them, which is ideal for archiving old photo libraries. However, the scanned images may not exhibit the same clarity and brightness of digitally capture photographs, or as the kind of quality that you can obtain from a dedicated scanner.

Dealing with Technical Talk

One of the specifications that you will be faced with, is that of resolution. Up to a point, a printer's resolution determines aspects of its print quality. Images are made up of tiny dots of ink or toner that is applied to the page, and resolution is the term given to the number of dots per inch-quoted as dpi. This usually is represented in a two-dimensional matrix (eg: 600 x 300 dpi). Most printers today support a basic 600 x 600 dpi resolution that produces adequate quality in most instances. Many ink jets, however, especially photo printers and high-end plotters, offer higher resolutions and more dots in the vertical plane than the horizontal.

Resolution ratings are not the whole story however. Many printer manufacturers now incorporate smoothing and enhancing features through software algorithms. This means that some output from printers with a lower dpi looks just as good as that from a higher dpi unit. And, although some printers have very high resolutions, you're not likely to notice any difference in quality with common print jobs once you go above 600 x 600 dpi resolution. What you will notice however, is much higher consumption of inks or toner. It is noteworthy, and perhaps obvious to some, that the higher resolution you are printing at, the higher will be your consumable consumption, and this is the most expensive part of your printer.

Speed is another important consideration. Vary rarely will you find that your printer performs at the 'pages-per-minute' rate (ppm) that is advertised or cited in the specification. There are a number of reasons for this including the size of the file being printed, the amount of ink coverage on the page, the proportion of black to other colors, the weight of the paper stock and possibly even the constancy of the power supply of electricity to your premises. This is not today, that the manufacturers, under laboratory conditions are not able to make the machine perform at spec, just not to rely on the claim as a gospel figure. However, you can use the speed ratings to make some judgment of performance differences, between brands and models. If speed is an important consideration, then you can short-list printers that claim to perform above a certain rate and then compare other factors.

Laser printers use powder toner that is electromagnetically attracted to the page by an image temporarily made on a transfer drum through a laser scanning process, and then fused to the page with a heat-setting system. This toner is supplied in cartridges, usually one for each of a four-color printing system (cyan, magenta, yellow and black). Manufactures give some estimate of how many pages of a given size each toner cartridge will print, based on a predetermined proportion of coverage (say 10%). As with the speed claims, these estimates are rarely accurate, but can be used to make some judgment between makes and models. The higher resolution of image you are printing, the more toner will be used in the process. Ink jet printers use a liquid ink stored in tanks that are sprayed by very fine nozzles onto the page as they are required. Just as you replace the toner cartridges in the laser system, you replace ink tanks when they're depleted in an ink jet printer.

It is important to understand that even though the printer might be cheap, consumables is where the manufacturers actually make enormous profits, so be sure to consider replacement consumables when doing your cost comparisons. With ink jet printers, some have color cartridges in one unit, others have separate color units. In the long run, separate tanks will most likely work out cheaper, because as one color runs out, you replace only that color. When all colors are housed in the one cartridge unit, you may have a nearly full tank of cyan when the yellow is completely gone, and you have to throw away unused ink. Not only does this waste your money, it can also be environmentally expensive.

Cost

There are two parts to your cost assessment of a printer. The first is the purchase price of the printer itself. This can vary considerably between brands and models, and is usually differentiated through different features being offered. However, possibly more important is the ongoing cost, often measured in cost per page. A typical ink jet printer may cost you 40-50 cents per printed page, depending on how much ink you are using on the page, it may even cost more. By comparison, a color laser may work out to 15-20 cents per page. These costs don't usually include the paper stock, and are based on consumables and maintenance costs. Companies like Xerox often supply large color Laser printers for a cost per page fee.

One cost assessment technique is to estimate how much printing you will do in a given period, load your calculations with a percentage of ink coverage (if you are printing all full gloss and high resolution photographs, for example, you might load the cost per page by a factor of 8-10), factor in the machine cost and make a comparison of what you will spend in a year, including the cost of the printer.

Other things you might consider

How paper travels through a printer can affect your whole printer experience. The closest you can get to a 'straight through' paper path, the more trouble-free your printer will be. If all your printing is only on plain white bond paper, then paper path will possibly not be a major consideration; but if you're printing on photographic stock, thick paper, envelopes, transparent film or other materials, then be sure the print path is compatible with your requirements. How you connect to your computer might also be a consideration, especially if you work with large files where connection speed is a consideration. Most printers today offer relatively high-speed USB interfaces. You might also want to consider wireless connections or networking capabilities.

When choosing a Laser printer, on-board RAM (read only memory) might be a consideration. A printer with a standard 64 Megabytes of RAM will be slow to print a quantity of documents that are larger in size than the printer's memory. If large documents are a consideration, make sure you can upgrade the printer's memory. The printer driver provides the software interface to your printer, offering you on-screen control over copies, page size, orientation, resolution, text smoothing and paper thickness and type. Many drivers now include advanced features and enable you to create your own custom-setting profiles for quick selection. Moreover a good driver provides complete printer management from on-screen, including paper jams and job queue management. Ink-jet drivers often provide graphical indications of remaining ink levels for each color.

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doxampage · 7 years ago

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Custom Printing: An Approach to New Print Jobs

Out of the blue today a client I hadn’t heard from in over a year emailed me. She had a custom printing project and wanted my help.

The Print Job

This is what my client wrote in her email:

“I need pricing on 100 front and back printed programs for an event on May 20th. They are for a black-tie event. I will get you all of the details next week. Can you cost these for me? A nice cream card-stock will do. Call with questions.”

There were two attachments to the email: two logos and a 5” x 7” full-color card with a night shot of the U.S. Capitol as its background and a lot of surprinted type. So I made the erroneous assumption that the card was the project. In fact I made other assumptions as well:

Since the job was such a short run (100 copies), I assumed that it needed to be printed on a digital press. I knew of a trusted printer with an HP Indigo, so I figured I’d get his prices first.

Since the image was full color, I assumed the job would look best if printed on a coated stock (cream coated, since this is what the email requested). I thought the toner would sit up more evenly on the coated surface than on the hills and valleys of an uncoated commercial printing stock. I assumed that a rough, uncoated paper finish would dull down the photo, and it would lose it’s crispness.

When I called my client to discuss the job further, I learned that the attachment to the email was the invitation, but what I needed to price out was a program for the evening. This also clarified the schedule. That is, my client would need delivery on or before the day of the event rather than several weeks earlier (i.e., my client would not need extra lead time for mailing the programs to attendees).

So essentially I was getting bits and pieces of information that were helping me create a list of specifications for the printer, as well as the due date, information not completely clear in my client’s email.

To get back to the program, it would be text only (script) with no photo. This implied that the paper stock would not need to be coated. It just had to be heavy and yellow-white (i.e., cream or natural white) rather than blue-white (or solar white). In fact, when I called the commercial printing vendor to discuss the job and get feedback and suggestions, the sales rep suggested an uncoated sheet. For such a project, she said, the uncoated paper would be more upscale. Since this was a black-tie event, I was sold.

Here are the specs I compiled to share with both the printer and my client.

100 copies (print two sides) K/K, no bleed 5.5” × 8.5” vs. 5” x 7” Uncoated natural white (cream white), 110# cover (eggshell or antique), such as Classic Crest, Crane, or Strathmore; option for 110# cream dull coated cover stock Hard-copy proof to client (on actual paper stock) Please provide file upload date: Job must reach client by May 17 for May 20 event.

Digital Printing (on Indigo) 100 copies – $xx.00 Add an additional $xx.00 for delivery (approximately).

As you can see, I kept the dull coated stock in the spec sheet as an option in case my client didn’t agree with the printer’s advice to use an uncoated paper. I also specified Classic Crest, Crane, or Strathmore, since I knew these were stationery makers with paper offerings ideally suited for a gala dinner program (I had learned this from the same custom printing supplier a while back).

In addition, my client had printed her business cards on this paper, on 130# cover stock, a while back. Since the gala program was significantly larger than a business card, I suggested 110# rather than 130# cover stock, and the sales rep agreed with the choice. It would be heavy (lending a sense of gravitas to the piece) but not too heavy.

Over the phone my client said the type would be black only or some special PMS color, perhaps a metallic. Since she had asked for something beautiful and inexpensive, I noted that digital printing was ideal for the 100 copies she wanted. But I also told her that while digital custom printing could produce the black script type for the gala program, a PMS color would require moving the job to an offset press. This would cost her three to four times as much. She understood.

So we had paper options, color choices, and the schedule. Normally I would suggest a digital proof for this job. After all, it’s a simple project: a little type on paper with no bleeds and no images. However, in this case the product would go to a black-tie dinner. Presumably it was to be a charity event, and attendees would have paid a hefty price for admission. Since there was going to be a little extra lead time, I suggested a hard-copy proof produced on the actual commercial printing stock. If my client hated the look, there would be time to change the paper on the final press run.

Finally, I looked at Google Images to find samples of “gala dinner programs.” I wanted an overall mental picture, since my client had asked me to suggest a size. I told her that if there was to be only a little text, in script (as my research online had suggested), then 5.5” × 8.5” or 5” x 7” would be fine.

Finally, I wrote up the specs as noted above and sent them to both my client and the printer’s sales rep for feedback. I thought I would resolve any discrepancies in their responses once both had replied to me. That’s where I am now. We’ll see what happens next.

What You Can Learn from This Case Study

This is a simple job. However, it addresses many of the same questions that will arise in complex jobs, and my personal approach may be instructive as to how you can approach your print buying. Let’s say you have an in-house client (in a corporation) or a freelance client (as I do), and you need to help your client be specific. After all, most people outside the publications department (or other graphic department) will not have a clue as to the specific information you will need to provide to solicit custom printing bids.

Here are some thoughts:

Craft a custom printing specifications sheet that includes everything from trim size to paper stock, ink choices and ink coverage, binding, proofs, and delivery. Update this periodically. Consider it a work in progress. When a job comes in, you can add specifics to the relevant items as necessary. Some print jobs won’t need certain specs. For instance, there’s no binding required in my client’s job. As a start, you may want to collect printing bids from a number of jobs and a number of vendors to get ideas for your “master list of print specs.” (That is, see how commercial printing suppliers have described various print jobs in the estimates they have sent you over the years.)

Make no assumptions. After all, I thought the photo of the Capitol on 5” x 7” stock was my client’s upcoming job, when really it was just the invitation she had designed.

If there is any reason at all to think that even a small job should be proofed on the actual printing stock (if the job is digital, or in some cases even if it’s offset), do it. It’s better to see the paper and not like it at the proofing stage than to find this out after the job has been printed. Also, it is usually smart to request unprinted paper samples from your printer.

Discuss delivery early in the process. Your job does no good if it gets to the client late. Make sure there’s time for every component of print production. If not, consider tightening up the schedule by requesting a PDF proof (screen proof, virtual proof) instead of a hard-copy proof.

Do what I did. Share the specs with the printer and ask for suggestions. He (or she, in my case) can be a fountain of information. You may come up with ideas you hadn’t dreamed of, and some of these may actually meet your budget.

Whenever possible, discuss your job specs with the printer early, even if the specifications are not yet in final form. The bidding process will get you thinking about items you may otherwise overlook.

Custom Printing: An Approach to New Print Jobs published first on http://ift.tt/2vVn0YZ

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paulringg · 5 years ago