If you've worked with a commercial printer for any length of time, it's likely that at some point they've asked you to supply your files in CMYK, or they may have told you that the color of your job shifted because your files had to be converted to CMYK. If you didn't know that meant, and were brave enough to ask, your printer undoubtedly told you that CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black.
Unfortunately, you were told wrong.
For all the talk about how creepy and stalker-like marketing personalization has become, the simple fact is that it has been around long enough to establish itself as an expected component in modern marketing communications. Even in an age where social media and government spying has made audiences wary of how their personal data is used by companies and marketers alike, lack of personalization is often viewed as a “snub” and can make a company feel “out of touch.”
Don't believe me? When's the last time you've opened a letter addressed to “Current Resident?”
If you read last week's post about Vectors, you'll see that the two posts are very related. In fact, you might consider Raster the 'Yin' to Vector's 'Yang', or an older brother… or something. Anyway, let's get started.
If you've ever worked with a commercial printer, chances are you've heard them mention paper weights in relation to your job's cost and quality. You can usually get the basic idea that heavier weights amount to higher quality and costs, but it can get really confusing once you start comparing text weights to cover weights, and so forth.
Also, you might wonder why your printer tells you the paper is 26 lbs, but the finished product is considerably lighter — where does that measurement come from, and how do paper weights work anyway?
Let's face it, hashtags are everywhere. What started out as a Twitter trend for those 'in the know' has worked it's way across all the major networks (Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn all use hashtags now) and is making some feel the way they might've felt the first time they saw LOL in a chat room or text message.
Like any other Internet trend, there's a lot of misinformation and misuse going on. So to help our readers look like Social Media pros, I compiled a hashtag cheat sheet for the uninitiated. Enjoy!
Picas, pronounced PIE - KAH, are a typographic measuring system developed in 1785 by François-Ambroise “L'éclat” Didot that replaced the traditional cicéro measurement system. Comprised of 12 “Points,” Picas are still the standard measuring system for typography today, but many designers still prefer to use more widely accepted measurements such as inches and millimeters. So today we'll try to answer the question: What are Points and Picas - and what's the difference?
Bleeds, or printing images and color right up to the edge of the page, are one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to enhance the professional appearance of your print job. Having your graphics bleed delivers a more visually rich appearance, while typically not resulting in a significant increase the price. This is why most major publications and professional marketing collateral include bleeds as part of their design.
So why doesn't everyone use them?
Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion and misinformation surrounding the process. Everyone has their own workflow and software they use to output their print files, and the procedure for including bleeds in your output file is different in every one of these scenarios. Sometimes, even with the right software, a lack of understanding of how bleeds work can lead to poor results. People that fall into this category might be asking:
One of the fastest growing sectors in the Print Industry is Web to Print & Online Print Management services — in particular, online commercial print management for medium to large sized organizations. What started out as an easy way to order business cards and flyers has recently grown into full-fledged customer-branded online print management portals, but the question remains:
Is it really worth all the hype?
If you're in just about any walk of the communication industry, be it Publishing, Marketing, Graphic Design, Web Design, Journalism, blogging or you name it, chances are you've used special characters — and lots of them (see what I did there?).
Special Characters are a category of typographical elements that include ligatures, diacritics, glyphs and punctuation marks, and, although we use them all the time, you would be surprised how few people in our industry know the proper typography vernacular. So if you're an old typography pro, take a moment to brush up. If you're new to typography, this is an excellent opportunity to learn more, so read on!
