Guest post by Christine Alexander You’ve been slaving for hours to get that project design completed, and you’re just about ready to send it off to your printer. Just what is it that your print provider is looking for when they open up your files and prepare them for proofing and press? Sizing First and […]
Category Archives: Brochure Printing and Design
What does print ready artwork mean?
Hello inkheads! Let me start off by wishing you a very happy June! Summer is my favorite time of year and luckily, PrintFirm’s celebrating the season with lots of exciting sales and promotions. I’m also planning a few more of those free print product giveaways you guys like so much. I don’t want to spoil […]
Solutions to CMYK Conversion Problems
Happy hump day, inkheads! Today’s regularly scheduled blog post about sexy summer flyers is going on the backburner by request of our operations manager, Alex. As much as I’d love to inspire your creative designs, Alex asked me to explain a very common printing issue that came up with a customer yesterday. The seasoned ink […]
When to Use Plain vs Rich Black
Hello inkheads! We all know print design projects have several pain points, especially when it comes to color matching. For instance, have you ever held your freshly printed piece in your hands and wondered, “Why the heck does the black stuff look grey???” After the initial shock dissipated, you probably questioned what the press operator […]
Brochure Typography: Serifs vs Sans
I’m always amazed at the lack of good resources for print design. While a handful of popular print products get a lot of tutorial and template love (business cards come to mind), other important items are ignored by most of the designer sites. Judging by the amount of people searching for brochure layout and typography […]
Why Print Communications Make Emotional Connections
Guest Post by Robert Alpha Avant Hello everyone! Today I’m very pleased to introduce a friend of mine, independent marketing consultant Robert Waddington, aka Robert Alpha Avant. I like to call him the Alpha Dawg because of his aggressive style and fierce sales stamina. Robert is a digital marketing master, yet he’s a print geek […]
7 Things Not to Say to Your Printer Part 3: I Don’t Need a Graphic Designer
Hello and welcome to the 3rd installment of our educational series on commercial printing! If you have questions about image resolution or colors, you might want to backtrack and read the prior posts first. Today’s post will be a bit different because we’re going to discuss an important business investment you may be neglecting—professional graphic […]
7 Things Not to Say to Your Printer: Part 2 | PrintFirm.com
Welcome back to our educational series on commercial printing! Last month, we introduced this article collection with an informative post on image resolution. If you’ve ever wondered why a photo came out blurry in print, you’ll probably find your answer there. Today we’re going to cover another common round of associated questions we get from […]
Print Design Trend: Flat Style in Ink | PrintFirm.com
Are you still using dramatic drop shadows and garish gradients on your website? What about your print marketing materials? There’s no accounting for taste, but I welcome the return to simple graphics with minimal accents. The designers in the community are probably already sick of seeing this topic on the big creative hubs, although the […]
7 Things Not to Say To Your Printer Part 1: PrintFirm.com
For most small business owners, commercial printing is a whole new ball game. If you’ve never worked with professional printers before, some of the terminology and design specs can be confusing. Your graphic designer might not even have a lot print experience as many focus on the web exclusively. To help you understand the ins […]