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Printing Guy asked:


Variable data printing is also called “one to one marketing” or “personalization” .

Variable data printing is where either text, images or both change from impression to impression off the press. So the first one will say Dear Buzz and the very next impression could say Dear Jane. The picture on mine could be of a car and Jane’s picture could be of a truck.

There are actually several levels of variable data printing. The first simple level is where the salutation or name changes on each copy. Fairly simple but doesn’t increase your level of return greatly from a mass direct mail. The second level of variable data printing is versioning where you might have different levels of variability for different markets. This can involve text and picture changes based upon what segment it is going to. Then you have full variability printing where the text and pictures can change totally from copy to copy.

All three of these are done by having a base design programmed to show what will change and then a database that will actually drive the changes of the fields that will change. It is very important to get a knowledgeable printer involved early in the design process to help in producing a successful product.

The returns for variable data printing vary from double the normal return on the first level to 10-15 times the return on fully variable. It depends on the data and the relevancy but it is a very effective tool to increase your ROI on your mailings.

Printing Guy asked:


Here are a few thoughts on folding brochures or any other printed products. Paper always has a grain direction. Folding with the grain direction will give you a cleaner fold with less cracking. We all have seen brochures that are cracking on the folds. How do you reduce cracking? Folding with the grain will help.

Also, if you are dealing with heavy paper(let’s say over 100# book) you need to score or crease the paper with a machine to help train the fold to prevent or minimize cracking. Our rule of thumb is a brochure on 80# book may or may not need to score. Anything heavier than 80# book or any weight of cover will need to be scored. Scoring will minimize cracking but will not always eliminate it on the printed product. Cracking on printed products is most noticeable when there is ink over the folds. Especially darker inks.

Scoring can be done on a letterpress or on the actual folder or other machines that crease the paper. Letterpress scoring is the best quality score you can do. On cross grain folding, I would highly recommend scoring of some method to reduce or elimininate cracking.

Printing Guy asked:


While it is not as critical as choosing who you are going to marry, choosing a printer does hold similarities. My wife loves the “Bachelor” TV Show so since she loves it, I must also show enthusiasm toward it. It is always interesting to see who is going to crack under pressure. Last night I was trying to write this article and thought of how funny it would be to be picked as a printer this way. What could I say that would keep me in the running.

How does someone make decisions to use a printer. I’ve seen all types of ways in the 20 years I have been doing this. Most people go about doing it in a logical fashion. Do they trust the person they are talking too? How long has that company been in business? How long has that salesperson been at that present company? If they have been at 4 companies in 10 years you might want to think twice on giving them a rose. There in it for themselves. How knowledgeable are they about printing?

Many salespeople have been selling printing for 10 years and still don’t know much. I still learn something every day after 20 years. How well does the companies equipment fit your needs. Is it a good fit? Do they do both offset and digital so your covered on a multitude of quantities. Do you decide on price? Price is a consideration but if you are the “Bachelor” is looks the only factor you consider?

Try meeting the friends approach and ask for some references but also realize they aren’t going to give you a bad one. It at least gives you a chance to talk to someone that deals with the company. Samples are always a good idea but any printer can pick good samples just like they are going to be on their best behavior on the first date.

Go visit their plant. That will usually give you a pretty good idea of fit. Kind of like meeting the family you get to see the whole clan. Remember, those are the people that will be producing your job. Most of all, how do you feel about your contact can you depend on them to watch your project all the way through? Can they catch up on that late running project and see problems before they happen?

Those are a few thoughts on selecting a printer. Or you can do it like one person I know and choose who drives the coolest car and wines and dines the most. Not that I’m bitter. Anoybody have a TicTac?

Printing Guy asked:


How quick can I get it? The answer is changing all the time. It also depends on what you need printed and what printing company you are talking with.

I will attempt to give you some guidelines although there are exceptions to every rule. First of all, let’s take a print job that just needs to be printed and cut. Digital printing can be turned in hours sometimes due to the reduced number of production steps and the ability to handle the job almost immediately.

Most the time you will be able to turn a digital job in 2-3 days if it is simple and possibly same day. You probably will only have the option of a PDF electronic proof or you need to be at the printer to approve the first sheets that come off the press.

The danger is that the ink does not cure. The digital printing manufacturers will tell you that the work can be cut right off the press but that is not true 100% of the time. We would always prefer to let a digital job sit overnight if possible. An offset printing job that does not need anything but printing and cutting can not usually be done the same day. This is due to the ink needing to dry or cure. A job needs to set several hours to insure that the ink is dry.

There are exceptions to this but it brings quality issues into play that customers should accept that they may be getting less than ideal print jobs. If your job requires extra steps to finish you should add extra time in planning the job. Each extra step in the production needs to allow additional time. Does the job score or diecut? Does it need to fold? Does it need to glue or bind? Does it have finishing such as embossing or foil stamping. A good rule of thumb is add an extra day for each process it is going through.

Many times multiple processes such as scoring and folding can be done on the same day but as a rule of thumb give yourself the time to have a day per process. Here are issues that might affect that rule. If you are producing a large quantity of items it maybe more than one day overlap due to some machines or processes being slower than others. Processes that are not totally automated sometimes can definitely slow your turn time. Gluing of pocket folders especially ones with capacity pockets or products that face two directions can decrease automation sometimes and slow the process.

Ask your printer to give you his timeline if deadlines are tight and try to have a “plan b” possibility for difficulties. It is our job to make our clients look good and believe me we don’t like not making you look good because we know you have put your trust in us.

Printing Guy asked:


Digital printing is a term that encompasses a lot of different equipment that produce different products and different levels of quality and expectations.

First let’s start with the term digital printing:

Digital printing’s definition is taking an electronic file and directly from that file creating your final output without going to plates or any other type of intermediary step or proof. It can be black or color.

The black is usually done by copiers on the low end and machines such as the Xerox Docutech or the Kodak Digimaster. These machines are capable of @ 100 copies a minute. Even these machines use toner although they are capable of higher resolutions than copiers. Although, higher quality than copiers the docutech & digimaster still don’t rival true offset quality of true offset presses.

The reasons these machines evolved and have become so popular is the ability to do low quantities at reasonable costs. They are limited as to the products and substrates that customers will use these machines for.The evolution of doing this same thing to color was a natural evolution. The higher the quality the better it could replace offset on the low end of the quantity spectrum.

Also as color digital printing machines improved customers deemed quality acceptable for more and more products and uses. Color copiers came first and use toner in the four base colors of CMYK to reproduce color photographs and images. The quality is on the low end for color and is susceptible to scratches and rubbing more than liquid ink. Then there is the classification of digital presses. There are toner and two types of liquid ink presses.

All of these color machines have strengths and weaknesses like any other kind of manufacturing process. Toner based machines are the IGen3 and the Nexpress. The quality is much better than color copiers but can still have toner look to them and sometimes don’t print smooth screenes. The only true offset entries are either Heidelberg or Ryobi machines. These actually produce temporary plates to produce the print job that is on press at that time.

This is true offset printing but has some limitations because the vast % of machines are small format and don’t have the ink carrying capacity that larger presses do. These machines also can’t print variable data printing where the image or text can be changed from sheet to sheet. The other liquid ink machine is the HP Indigo family. The Indigo 3050 can print variable data while rivaling offset quality.

The Indigo digital press family is the only machine that can print variable data as well as being capable of printing PMS spot colors as well. Customers will use this machine to print postcards, brochures, posters, sales sheets, flyers and any other printed product. These are your choices in digital printing. As final users have continued decreasing quantities of their orders and use more and more of customized marketing digital printing’s market share has increased. It is a powerful option to promote your business from small startups to large corporations.

Printing Guy asked:


This article could also be called digital printing or offset printing. Photocopy is an old term that primarily describes black on white copy work. The business has evolved into color as well.

The digital printing is mostly done through copier machines on the low end and digital presses on the high end. The term printing is usually associated with offset printing on presses that have to be set up, put in register and adjusted to get to the right color. Although the technology has become automated making offset presses more competitive in getting a job ready to be run in a shorter period of time you still have more fixed material costs on setting up for a printing press.

That is the beauty of digital presses is realistically there is very little or no set up time or material costs to run a job. Their downfall is they run on a small sheet and at one speed with the maximum speed being slower than the top speed of an offset printing press. All things being equal short run jobs of 500 -1000 press sheets or less will normally be more cost effective on digital presses and as you go above those quantities it becomes better to print on an offset press.

Quality is also a consideration to consider. Offset printing for the most part will give you a better quality job. Digital printing has improved significantly over the last 5 years to the point of it being hard to tell the difference between offset and digital. That being said pictures and solids are still not reproduces quite as well digitally.

Time is the other consideration. How quickly do you need it? This question can also help you determine whether digital or offset is better. If you need something that afternoon or the next day digital printing is known for quick turntimes. Offset printing because of the different steps it still goes through will normally take longer.

In summary if you need 50 of something overnight do digital printing. If you need 100,000 of a high end brochure and aren’t Daddy Warbucks the job should be printed offset.

Printing Guy asked:


So you want one guys opinion on color digital printing quality? Here it is.

If you are a mom and pop color copiers are an option although you don’t pay much more for much better quality. Toner based machines no matter how much they cost are still toner particles. Nexpress & IGen3 do a very good job but will still show their toner ancestry on many jobs.

These 2 machines will be very consistent on color from print to print.

The liquid ink possibilities include the DI(Direct Imaging) offset presses and the Indigo digital press family. The DI options are Heidelberg and Ryobi DI machines. These machines can’t do variable data and have a limited ink carrying capacity so can show more issues like ghosting and gradation problems.

They also will depend more on the skill of the pressperson for print to print consistency. The DI can print spot colors and uses temporary plates to produce each job.

The Indigo 3050 digital press has liquid ink technology and rivals offset printing in quality. It can do variable data printing and true spot PMS colors and will be very consistent from print to print. All in all if you want my vote for the best machine it would be the HP 3050 digital press because of the availability of doing variable data printing and quality rivaling offset.

It will be very consistent from print to print and can do spot PMS colors for branding or better color matching. It also doesn’t have that color copy ancestry look and will print screens and solids in a close to offset printing look.

Vikram kuamr asked:


New York is one of America’s top three most populated states and New York City takes top honor as the “Big Apple”. With the number of people and businesses in the area, a large number of them have the need for overnight short run digital printing, which is why they say you can find the best printer in New York City.

Short Run digital HP Indigo printing is a very popular form of printing that uses liquid ink digital technology to produce super high quality printing that rival’s traditional offset printing. Traditional offset printing technology, which has been around for many years requires the making a plate before any printing can take place. This step adds cost and time to the production process. In today’s fast paced world it is harder and harder for businesses to wait a week or so to get their marketing materials, brochures or other custom printed products back in their hands.  Time is money as they say.  Digital printing technology has become so sophisticated in recent years that now many professional printers have adopted digital printing to meet their customers’ needs for very fast turnaround on small quantities’ of flyers, business cards and other printed products.  Using digital printing technology makes for a much more “green” printer.  Since there are no metal plates to be made and because the “make ready” process for digital printing creates a lot less waste, digital printing is much better for the environment.

Room for Growth for Digital Printing

Technology is continuously advancing, which is why even New York City print shops are growing with the use of digital printing. The quality of digital printing is improving every year, giving more businesses the opportunities to save money on their printing needs while getting faster turnaround and higher quality. And because a digital print shop takes up a lot less space than a traditional offset printing plant it is still economical for companies like Influence Graphics to be located in the heart of a major metropolitan city like New York City.  This offers print customers the convenience of working with a local print shop while still getting the highest quality of printing available.

Today, digital printing has completely revolutionized the printing industry with regards to cost and quality of the prints. From digital printing comes short run printing. We all want things to be done as quickly as possible without compromising the quality of the print and without having to pay a lot of money. With short run printing and digital printing, we no longer have to wait for several days before we can get our hands on our prints. This is now considered to be the standard in terms of digital printing.

Short run digital printing done in New York City is a trade secret, because not too many average New Yorkers are aware that digital print shops still exist in the heart of NYC. But more and more companies and businesses are starting take advantage of what short run digital printing in New York offers. Short run printing is giving the consumers the chance to place small orders at a very economical cost. Some printing jobs require orders to be in bulk to make the project cost effective. With short run digital printing, customers can place small orders. In fact, small orders can often be printed and then delivered to the client overnight.

When you need to get short run digital printing services in New York, the best print shop to visit is Influence Graphics. This print shop guarantees quality digital printing services for your business cards, company brochures, invitations, booklets, flyers, or post cards. Jobs printed at Influence Graphics are so economical and fast that you will be able to get what you need in no time at all. Trust Influence Graphics to give every project they receive the utmost attention accorded to special clients like you. Why look elsewhere for a print shop? There is no need to worry about how your print project will turn out because short run digital printing in New York is now available at Influence Graphics.

Printing Guy asked:


There are several treatments in printing that are considered special processes. Not many printing companies do this in house and many of these processes are sent out to graphic finishers that specialize in “finishing work”. Foil Stamping, embossing, combination stamping, and die cutting are the most common that we will discuss.

Foil Stamping can be either a flat foil stamp or a combination stamp where the image is raised above or below the surface of the sheet. Foil stamping is the process where foil is transferred to the substrate(paper) through heat and pressure. The pressure is applied through the die that carries the image to a platen of a letterpress usually. The platen is also heated to release the foil to the substrate. Dies are made of metal and the most common metals used are: Brass, Copper and magnesium. Combination stamp dies actually carry the depression of the image while the counter die carries an exact opposite image. The paper is then squeezed between the two with heat to transfer the foil and emboss the image at the same time. Combination stamp dies are more expensive to make but that is the only sum cost difference between flat and combination stamp jobs.

Embossing is basically a very similar process to foil stamping only there is no transfer of foil. The level of the image is either raised(embossing) or lowered(debossing) from the original level of the paper surface. Blind embossing is where the image that is being raised has no ink on it. If you emboss and need to register to the ink it is called color register embossing. On embossing a die and counter die are always needed to be able to emboss the paper between them. This pressure will flatten the paper fibers to help create an image. Heat can be used to enhance the image by actually helping to iron the paper to a smooth finish.

Die Cutting is a process where a steel rule die is used to cut the paper into the desired shape of the die. This is how pocket folders and other shaped pieces are produced. They are usually printed on square or rectangular sheets and then die cut to create the desired shape. Then the die cut piece is scrapped out of the sheet either by the press itself or by hand. Nicks are put in the die to prevent the piece from falling out in the die cutting press itself. Pocket folders, brochures, direct mail, postcards, flyers are all pieces that can be diecut to special shapes.

Kiss Cutting is a diecutting process where the die cuts through the first layer of the material but does not cut through the backing. Most commonly used on label material to help the label to be easily peeled off the backing. Diecuts can be in any shape or size. Kiss cutting is usually done on a letterpress machine such as a Kluge or Heidelberg windmill. It does involve a steel rule die. The pressure is adjusted to cut just through the first surface but not the base material.

All of these processes are done in house at The Odee Company.

Vikram kuamr asked:

Not too many people are aware of the short run digital printing services being offered in the marketplace nowadays. For many years the advances of printing technology constantly improved the quality of the printed image. However, all that printing technology did not result in reducing the cost of the printing process. Whether you ordered a few hundred or a few thousands, printing cost remained expensive. But today, digital printing has been completely revolutionized the printing process. Short run digital printing makes it possible for small quantities to be ordered at reduced printing costs and can even result in a much faster turnaround for the printed materials.

Short run digital printing is the greatest innovation in the printing business today. The technology answers the needs of both big and small businesses in terms of providing quality custom printing while at the same time controlling their printing costs. Now printing projects are easier, faster and more economical. This printing revolution illustrates that there is a continuous, ongoing effort to finding ways to produce high quality and affordable printing at a cheap price. This is what consumers are responding to; a completely hassle and worry free method of printing.

Short run printing is very advantageous to businesses and companies. There is no need for bulk orders to get cost savings in printing services. The modern technology used in short run digital printing makes it possible to produce even small quantities of 4 color printed products that are affordable for consumers. To completely appreciate the advantages of short run digital printing in these difficult economic times the following points should be thoroughly understood.

Quality printing: There are two printing processes that a consumer can choose from—digital printing and offset printing. Although offset printing has proven to be very high quality and very cost effect on extremely large print, digital printing now offers the same quality printing at a more economical price point. You do not have to worry that quality is being sacrificed because cost is not a factor here.

Fast printing: In our fast moving global economy, speed is of the essence.  With short run digital printing you can have your brochures, flyers, booklets and business cards printed very fast….may times overnight.

Green printing. We are all looking to protect the environment.  Digital printing results in much less waste then traditional offset printing.  With short run printing no plate is required resulting in less waste product.  The digital printing process also does not require many sheets of paper to be run through the press to “make ready” or get the quality just right.  Only one or two sheets need to be printed to check the quality and then the job is run.

Small Order Printing: It is estimated that 31% of all printed materials are thrown out because they have become outdated.  With short run digital printing you can choose to only print the quantities of brochures, booklets, flyers, catalogs, business cards or post cards that you need for the immediate future.  Then if business or economic conditions dictate that you make changes to your documents you do not have to throw away your printed materials.  This concept will help us to contribute less waste to landfills.         

Variable Data printing. Since digital printing does not use a static plate in it’s printing process you can incorporate variable data printing into your documents.  Each brochure, flyer, post card or direct mail piece can be individually personalized with your customer’s name or account information.  Variable data printing can result in much higher response rates which leads to higher profits.

Cost effective printing: Because of the new digital printing technologies it is now economical to print small batches of documents.  You no longer have to print more materials than you actually need just to reach a “price break”.

For fast and high quality digital printing with the best customer service, you do not have to look far because Influence Graphics in New York is the only print shop that guarantees all three. Influence Graphics offer quality services with economical printing costs. It is a completely digital printing shop and that distinction allows them to offer high quality printing with fast turnaround at cheap prices.