Book Printing – Choose the Right Company

Virginia SelkeyPrinting

You finish writing the last chapter of your book and click save. Over the next several months you proofread, proofread and then proofread some more. Years of compiling your story has finally come to an end and you let out a sigh of relief that you’re finally finished. But are you? Now you must decide on which book printer is best suited for your needs. This is after all your baby that you’re handing off to a complete stranger. You need to feel at ease that the book printer will take extra care and attention to your hard work. Below are a few tips to consider when selecting a book printer: Service Nothing is more frustrating than trying to call a company and being greeted with an automated attendant making you press 1 to speak to a real person only to go to voicemail. Expect more from your book printer! …

Ultra-Shield™ Laminate

Laura SchmidtFinishing, Menu Printing

Have you ever looked at your grocery store rewards membership card and wondered what it’s made of? Most likely, it’s printed paper that was laminated. If you have a project that demands resilience for continued use, then look no further than Ultra‑Shield™. With Ultra‑Shield™, you’re guaranteed protection with one of the most prevalent and durable plastics known to man, PET. What is PET? PET, or Polyethylene Terephthalate, is a lightweight and durable plastic in the polyester family of polymers. You may have seen it used for: soda bottles, peanut butter jars, salad dressing containers, clamshell containers for fruit, clothes, spun as polyester fibers, film for cameras + x-rays, and some to-go food containers. It’s a hard, stiff, strong, and stable material that absorbs little water – making it virtually waterproof. It was first synthesized in the US in the 1940s by chemists attempting to make new textile fibers. It’s used …

Health-Shield™ Laminate

Laura SchmidtFinishing, Menu Printing

Looking to lessen your exposure to harmful germs? If you or a loved one work in healthcare, childcare, food service, or another essential business then you’ll benefit from learning about the most recent innovation in protective lamination technology: Health-Shield™ by Advanced Print & Finishing. Until now, film laminate was limited to enhancing durability and the look & feel for printed materials. With the introduction of Health-Shield™ by Advanced Print & Finishing, lamination now has the added ability to protect us from disease. This is made possible by embedding the film surface with an effective and durable antimicrobial solution.  What is an Antimicrobial? An antimicrobial is designed to reduce the presence of microbes. Microbes are germs, such as: bacteria, fungi,  rusts,  molds,  and mildews. Limiting the spread of bacteria through Health-Shield™ Health-Shield™ works by permanently incorporating a silver based antimicrobial agent with the laminate film the antimicrobial laminate encases your printed …

What is… Finishing? (part 2)

advancedpfFinishing

Part Two… If you missed it, you can jump to Part 1 for an introduction to finishing and for some of the particulars of Decorative Finishes. Click here for Part 1. Otherwise keep reading to find out more about Conversion options in Print Finishing.  CONVERSION As stated earlier, conversion processes enhance usability of a product. In some cases, such as lamination, conversion may also enhance the look and feel of a product.  In no particular order let’s explore some of the more popular conversion options… Lamination – When it comes to durability, lamination should be your go-to choice. And the number of choices for material is both wonderful and intimidating.  A quick look at our materials inventory and I see gloss, matte and soft touch finishes, standard and super stick adhesives and a myriad of options of each with different thicknesses of lamination and adhesion layers. And we can laminate …

What is… Finishing? (part 1)

advancedpfFinishing

Part One… Finishing, or Print Finishing, encompasses all processes that occur between printing and shipping. Finishing steps can be broken into three general categories; Binding, Conversion and Decoration. Although Binding is a finishing category, we typically exclude it (collating, saddle stitching, wire-o, etc.) when referring to finishing. Binding is complex enough to deserve it’s own consideration.  What’s left are the decoration and conversion categories. Decorative process typically will enhance the look or feel of a printed product but can also increase durability.  Conversion processes may also enhance the look and feel of a product but the primary purpose of this category is utility. Whether we are laminating for extra durability or index tabbing, conversion makes a printed product more useable.  Decoration Foil Stamping – Everyone is familiar with gold and silver foil but don’t stop there. There are hundreds of foil colors and sheens to choose from along with options such as …

Plastic Coil and Wire-O Binding

advancedpfFinishing, Printing

Among the many ways to bind sheets of paper together, two of the most popular are coil and comb binding. To make things confusing there are coil and comb options for both metal and plastic materials.  Of those options, the two that have risen to the top for professional purposes are Plastic Coil and Wire-O (metal comb). Although these methods are similar there are a couple of distinctions that can help you decide which method will be best for your project.  Durability vs. Appeal Generally speaking, Wire-O is considered to be a better looking product and Plastic Coil is considered more durable. Both are very durable and will almost certainly keep those pages together. However, if really smashed the plastic option will spring back to its original shape where the metal coil may remain deformed.  Because of this durability, Plastic Coil binding is often employed on volumes that will see …

What is… Rich Black?

advancedpfPrepress, Tips & Pointers

The color black – simple. Right? In the world of print the color black is anything but simple. There are points that should be understood when putting black ink on paper. Read on to find out more about the whys and hows of black ink.  Process Color / CMYK The problem of black ink is rooted in color theory. That’s boring though so let’s skip ahead. The colors of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow when combined should arrive at the color black. In the real world though they add up to a muddy brown. And even if 100% CMY equalled black we would be stuck with 300% total ink density and the resulting drying issues.  So CMY loads up the ink while not making black. Thanks CMY. Then how can we cut total ink density and arrive at a true black? You guessed it – use black ink (the ‘K’ in …

Gusseted Pocket Folders

advancedpfFinishing, Printing

Standard pocket folders are great for general presentation. But what about those times when you have bulky materials such as a perfect bound catalog or if you have a large volume of materials to include? Maybe you need to include digital media, a folded poster or a book of samples.  A Box for All That Stuff Gusseted Pocket Folders are the answer. A gusset is simply an extension of the pockets and flaps. We add scores to create a boxed area to accommodate those thicker contents.  Go BIG! While we’re at it, why not include a custom diecut shape on those pockets or flaps. How about a velcro dot to keep everything together? Or to really stand out, consider embossing or foil. Whatever your requirements, Advanced Print & Finishing can create a custom gusseted pocket folder to meet your needs.  A Lasting Impression By tailoring your pocket folder to the …

What is… a RIP?

advancedpfPrepress, Tips & Pointers

Raster Image Processor RIP is the acronym for Raster Image Processor and is a system that translates computer documents to a printable format. Just like the graphics card in your computer translates digital code into a viewable image, a RIP is necessary to ‘display’ digital content on paper.  Unlike your desktop printer with a built in translator, commercial printing RIPs requires a lot more horsepower and has to tackle far more technical problems. At the heart of the RIP is the screening engine.  Screening In traditional multi-color printing we would expose images through color filters and very fine screens to break the continuous tone image (photograph or illustration) into a series of tiny dots. These dots are visible under magnification but at normal reading distances the human eye will blend the colored dots back into a continuous image. With the image broken down to dots and component colors we can …

Steel Rule Dies / Die Cutting

advancedpfFinishing

A steel rule die consists of various shapes or lengths of steel blades that are formed or bent to cut unique shapes or designs in different types of material. Dies can be made into just about anything imaginable, from a simple shape such as a circle or square to more detailed shapes such as pop ups inside of a book to candy or video boxes.  Metal, Rubber and Wood To make a die, the cutting rule is formed and then typically placed onto a wood block with small pieces of rubber that are used to help with the pressure of the cutting process. The wood block is then attached to the press and readied for cutting.  Measure Twice, Cut Once The press operator will then measure where the paper needs to be underneath the die and cut a series of test sheets to make sure things are properly lined up …