When it comes to buying CDs, which would you rather, a plain CD or one that comes with a professionally printed CD cover or CD sleeve? The reason for this question is plain and simple, in order to sell YOUR CD, you must be able to get into the minds of your target demographic and provide them with a product that will enchant and captivate. Put yourself in their shoes, how would you feel if someone offered you a plain old CD for purchase? Would you be tempted to buy it?

A Good Image Can Be the Ticket to Your Success
Regardless if you are selling or distributing software, data, or are a musician that wants to give your music a chance to be heard, professional looking CD cover can set you apart from the rest, build brand loyalty and trust, and add a sense of legitimacy to your work.
But, what if you don’t know how to get started or you are working with a small budget? You are in luck because, to be honest, it doesn’t take much cash or a lot of flashy odds and ends to provide your customers with a professional looking product. If you would like take advantage of the above benefits of CD sleeves, here are some simple tips that will help you save money and without sacrificing quality:
1. To Be Basic Or To Be Fancy– That Is The Question…
Generally, there are two kinds of CD sleeves:
• Basic: These open like book to reveal the CD inside. Although not as elegant as Fancy CD sleeves, they are a good choice for those who are on a budget.
• Fancy: These have an extra flap and panel so that it folds over itself once and tucks closed. This is a favorite of most professionals because they are aesthetically pleasing and they offer more space to place song lists, biographies, credits, attributes, and other information.
2. Little Details Make Big Things Happen
Think back on the feeling that you get when finally pick up that eagerly anticipated CD release – that sturdiness, courtesy of thick cover stock, exuded a sense of durability and professionalism; you just knew that you were going to have this CD for all time. But that doesn’t sum it up good enough; do you remember its unique smell and that rich artwork that seemingly popped off the sleeve? Let’s not even get started on that shiny, glossy finish; you can produce the same effect in your customers by choosing 12-poiont cover stock with glossy sheen on both sides.
3. Make It Uniquely Yours
Along with your incredible design idea (or even if you don’t have one), here’s a simple idea to further set your CD sleeves apart from the competition; get them foil stamped. This method lends a sense of unflattering excellence and prestige to your CD covers that speak volumes for the work inside. But that’s not all—foil stamping also shimmers in the light. In other words, your CD will be hard to miss; whether it’s on the shelf of a software or music store.
Yet another option to customize the look of your CD sleeve is having them printed in custom sizes. Let’s say that you are trying to put out a three CD compilation (similarly to Led Zeppelin and other popular musicians) instead of selling three different CD cases, you can sell one CD sleeve with all of your CDs inside. In this way, it will look like a special edition and entice your clients even more to add it to their collections.
4. Bulking Up
Getting everything together so that you launch a successful venture can take a lot of capital. One way that you can minimize costs, without sacrificing quality, is by printing your CD sleeves in bulk; the price that you are paying per each individual piece will be decrease significantly as the quantity of the product goes up.
To make things even easier, and to make sure that you will have no problems at the press, you have the option of downloading free CD sleeve layout templates for your graphic design program. Because they are already set to the correct resolution, size, and they also include bleed lines, cut zones, and helper lines for safety areas, you can be sure that your design will line up when it’s time to print them out.

http://99designs.com/album-cover-design

 

The Ultimate Guide- Design Develop and Print a Tri-Fold Brochure

“Marketing is a contest for people’s attention.” – Seth Godin

As Seth Godin and other marketing gurus have said, right marketing means getting your business in front of your prospective customers in the most efficient and effective way possible. Is your business accomplishing this?

Today, we’ll talk about how to get your marketing right, particularly in the print arena, and even more specifically via the age-old but always effective ‘tri-fold brochure.’

Although they can be expensive to produce, brochures are a great way to deliver a message to your intended audience. The purpose of a brochure is to educate the customer and to encourage them to get in contact with you. In fact, a well-developed brochure can be designed to be both practical and affordable; they are easily mass produced on a desktop printer, photocopier, or printing press.

Basic Functions of Brochures

Your brochure design will depend on how you intend to use the finished product. Brochures have two basic functions, they are:

• Attracting attention: A brochure that is designed to attract attention should contain a punchy headline, short paragraphs, a reasonable amount of white space, and a call to action.
• Provide information: On the other hand, a simple design and lots of product knowledge are the staples for brochures that provide information.

Benefits of Brochures

The biggest reason that brochures are so popular is because of their fundamental design; they can fold for easy portability and they are the perfect readable size. Other benefits include:

• You are given complete control over every detail including what is said, how it’s said, and how visuals are used.
• You control who gets it and where its placed
• They provide flexibility in cost and design
• If due diligence is performed, even a beginner can create an effective brochure. On the other, utilizing professionals to do this task for you can save time and hassle.

In addition, they can be used for a variety of promotional purposes. For example:

• They are utilized in the tourism industry in order to promote area attractions, hotels, resorts, and more.
• Department stores use them to create tri-fold mailers that include coupons and promote upcoming sales.
• Clubs, agencies, and organizations utilize brochures to educate readers about important public issues and to promote their efforts.

When creating a brochure, it’s important to understand that it should reflect the principles of design to create an attention grabbing and interesting piece of marketing; this is where desktop publishing can be of use.

What is Desktop Publishing?

With just a basic knowledge of the processes involved with desktop publishing, you can bring your vision for your brochure to life. It is a modern printing process that utilizes relatively easy to use design software to create and edit layouts that will help you produce a variety of materials that include:

• Brochures
• Magazines
• Reports
• Flyers
• Newsletters
• Books

Desktop publishing provides your personal computer with ability to utilize the traditional printing presses to create amazing visual pieces. However, this is easier said than done. Before you begin creating your brochure it is important that you understand the importance of using basic design fundamentals like line elements, space, rhythm, balance, texture, and color to your layout in order to create a quality product.

Basic Design Elements and Principles: What You Need To Know

A brochure with a well-designed layout is has an increased chance of carrying out its purpose effectively i.e. attract its target demographic and effectively communicate the creator’s intended message. However, before we delve deeper into this subject, it is important that you get a basic understanding of the different design elements and principles to help you create an effective and eye-catching brochure.

Design Elements

Your design elements can be used individually or in combination with one and other. They include:

• Lines: Lines connect points in order to form a visual image. They can be used to convey an emotion, describe a personally, or create patterns and/or shapes.
• Shapes: Shapes are connecting lines that have dimension (height and weight). The most common shapes are squares, triangles, and circles

Another important design element concerns universal images, and three things that contribute to this facet include:

• Texture: The feel or look of a surface
• Color: Adds dimension to your design and grab the attention of your target readers. However, when used inappropriately, it can hide your intended message
• Mass: This refers to the amount of space around or between objects. The only time it gets noticed is when a design is cluttered or if there’s too much white space.

 

Design Principles

When utilized properly, design principles will help you place the design elements appropriately. They include:

• Emphasis: This is the element that grabs the attention of your target audience i.e. the focal point of your design.
• Rhythm: The way shapes are used to create a pattern
• Balance: The casual or formal distribution of design elements
• Unity: Combining all the design elements together in a natural looking way

The Fundamentals of Writing Good Copy

After getting an understanding of the basic principles of design, it is time to put pen to paper to develop effective copy. You can worry about choosing the pictures and graphics that will reinforce your message later on in the process.

To write effective copy, there are some things that you need to keep in mind:

• Write from the point of view of your target consumer. In other words, your copy should contain information that your customer wants to know, not what your business wants to say
• Stay away from use of the words “maybe” and “if;” they invite possibility of a negative response from your customer.
• Be sure to phrase any questions in a way that the only answer is “yes.”
• Describe the features and benefits of your product or service
• Once you have finished writing your rough draft, revise you copy to make it concise but descriptive.
• Instead of the common “justified” format, try the “ragged right” type; it is easier to read, breaks the monotony of justified type, and provides the eyes with pleasing variety.
• Make your paragraphs as short as possible; two or three paragraphs on average.
• Use bold or italics when you want to stress a point; capitalization and underlining are now archaic methods to do this.

 

Choosing the Appropriate Font

In order to write an effective message, you must consider the type style that you will be using; the wrong type style can create a link, or a chasm, between the designer and the intended audience of the brochures. Therefore, it’s important to note that types replace the human voice and have the ability to demonstrate expressive tones and moods. For example, there are some that sit down and have a connection with the audience while others shout the messages.

To help you choose the appropriate typeface for your copy, consider the following five factors:

• Readability: Is the text easy to read? Does it convey the information effectively?
• Legibility: Is it easy for you to recognize the characters (letters and numbers) of the typeface?
• Relevance: Does the typeface fit the message that it is trying to convey? Will it attract the intended reader?
• Reproduction value: Is the type easy to reproduce even when different methods of printing are utilized?
• Practicality: Is this font readily available? Is it easy to find?

In addition, there are six major classifications of types that are regularly used by designers. They include:

• Historical Text Type Style: This type is commonly used for formal invitations and announcements e.g. receptions, graduations, and weddings
• Roman Type (Serif) Style: This type has serifs on the letters and is easy to read. It is because of these main two elements that it is commonly used for long passages.
• Sans-Serif Type Style: This type is commonly seen in newspapers, magazines, and books.
• Square-Serif Type Style: This type is perfect for letterheads and headlines that only require little reading
• Script Type Style: This type has a look similar to personal handwriting and is commonly used for invitations, announcements, and advertisements.
• Novelty Type Style: This type includes all the other types that don’t fit into the above classifications

Finding Inspiration

In order to find inspiration for design, take a visit to a major hotel, the Economic Development office, or Chamber of Commerce in your city and make a beeline for their brochure rack. Take some time to study it and ask yourself the following questions:

• Which brochures got your attention immediately?
• Which ones are begging to be picked up?
• What makes the attractive ones so compelling? Is it the typeface, ink color, headline, typeface, visual design, or paper color?

You’re not done yet, consider the brochures that you didn’t select and ask yourself:

• Why didn’t they grab your attention?
• Is there something specific that rendered them seemingly invisible to your radar?
• Do they lack eye-catching graphics?
• Is the typeface hard to read?
• What about the headline? Did it lack sales appeal?
• Was the headline a simple label verses a call to action?
• Is the color of the paper it’s printed on boring?

You may also want to check out the brochures that your competitors have to offer, this may also provide some inspiration.

The Trifold Offers More Bang for Your Buck

When it comes to the actual design of your brochure, you must consider its shape and size; these will vary based on its desired function and aesthetics. In a nutshell, you can be as creative as you like; your only limitation is the size of the paper that the brochure will be printed on and the folds of your margins.

If your budget is tight and are working with a small format printer, a trifold brochure would fit your needs perfectly; they are excellent for regular computer paper. In addition, if you want to switch things up a little, you can experiment on blank paper to determine the best folds for your needs.

Create a Trifold Design Layout in 4 Simple Steps

• Step 1: Create a thumbnail sketch; these are simple and quickly drawn designs for your layout. Once you’ve received your inspiration, from researching other brochures, sketch out the possible designs in your head as quickly as possible. You don’t have to spend a lot of time here, simply do a rough sketch or write down what comes to mind.
• Step 2: Create a rough layout; this is done utilizing a newly drawn version of the thumbnail layout that bares a close resemblance to the final product. Once you’ve gotten a better idea of how the final product/design to look, it’s time to start thinking about margins, folds, images, color, and type. The computer is an integral part of this process and you can use your desktop publishing program to begin your layout. If you find it to be necessary, do some cutting, pasting, resizing, etc. to create the exact look that you are going for.
• Step 3: Create a comprehensive layout; a full color layout that provides a detailed look of the final product. This part of the process is very important and must be handled carefully. It should be done on the computer where you can make use of type, color, and images in the proper space design. The purpose of this “dummy” is to provide you with an example of how the finished brochures are supposed to look and to help suss out any last minute issues with design.
• Step 4: Create a complete detailed representation; this is the final step before printing and it should include all of the images, colors, texts, proper margins, folds, etc. that will be on the final product. Make sure that your page elements closely mirror those of the comprehensive layout, but with any corrections that were needed.

Printing Out Your Brochure

When it’s time to print your brochure, you are faced with two options:

• Printing it yourself: If you have access to a black and white copier, you can use colored paper to jazz things up a little bit. No matter what copier you use, simply run each paper through the printer twice to make sure that the brochure will have two sides. Your design will dictate how the brochure should be reloaded. To make sure things proceed as planned, do a couple of single test sheets beforehand.
• Utilizing the help of professionals: Although printing your own brochure may sound like an attractive option, it may actually be easier and cheaper to have a commercial printing and copying service do this step for you; especially when your budget and the equipment you have available are taken into consideration. Simply, take the digital file that you created on your desktop publishing program or a finished proof to printing experts for reproduction to ensure that the job is done right.

The Bottom Line

A brochure must be able to effectively represent your business in your absence and should tell your customers why your product or service is invaluable to them. On the other hand, if you cut corners and deliver a shoddy piece of material, it speaks volumes as well. Show your customers who you are and what your company has to offer by following the above steps to help you create a well-designed brochure.

Resources:

Design Tips by Mashable

 

Preparing Perfect Prints: What You Need To Know

If you are an interested in creating your own designs, but don’t know where to start, check out the following guide to help you avoid the common mistakes that we all have experienced at one time or another.

This simple guide will help you catch any mistakes before you send your printing material to the printer; which can make the difference between your print looking professional and well-designed or just another wasted effort that ends up in the bottom of your wastebasket.

1. Review Your Copy to Avoid Spelling and Grammar Mistakes

Once your design is complete, be sure to review your copy to make sure that it doesn’t contain any grammatical errors or typos before you send the finished product to print. If you are uncertain of your editing skills, let someone else proofread your prints. In this way, you will receive objective feedback that may make your prints even better.

2. Choosing the Wrong Fonts

The fonts/typography that you use in your print can make or break its overall design. To avoid these mistakes, you must take into account the color, size, background, and purpose of the end product that the font is being used for. If your font is too small or too difficult to read, then it is not fit of public consumption and this will reduce its effectiveness as a marketing tool.

To avoid making this mistake, the minimum font size you should be utilizing is 8 point, but this is only in regards to print. If you are doing something commercial, 16-18 point is the accepted font size because it is easily read by people across all the demographics.

In addition, you must make an effort to limit the number of fonts that you use in one print. Lastly, stay away from fonts that feature fine lines; these can blend into the background and hide your message.

3. RGB vs CMYK

If you are designing a brochure or other print material in color, it should be prepared in CMYK mode. CMYK, or cyan, magenta, yellow and black (key) color mode, uses inks to mix color schemes. Although its colors are not as vibrant as RGB, utilizing this color mode will provide more accurate printed color schemes than its counterpart.

RGB, or red, green, and blue color mode, looks good onscreen and can be utilized for web design and photography, but it shouldn’t be used to create professional prints. This color mode provides you with access to a broader color packet which creates a brighter result. Unfortunately, that’s where the benefits end; RGB colors are not properly reproduced in print and will come out dull or off-colored dependent on the type of printer that was utilized.

To take advantage of the benefits of both color modes, set your document in RGB color mode when designing in Photoshop but, when you are finished with your design, convert it to CMYK mode so that you get the best print performance.

4. Convert Your Document to Greyscale

If you have a black and white design that you think will look good in your print job, you have to make sure that your document is either converted or set up to a working gray space or profile so that everything is properly formatted. If it’s not, the print job will add yellow, magenta, and cyan colored inks to the image, by default, during the printing process. The penalty for allowing this to happen is twofold:

• It makes the print job significantly more expensive
• You will not get the quality that you were hoping for

5. Use a Bleed at All Times

If you are unfamiliar, a bleed refers to artwork that extends past the boundaries of a document. Although it sounds like a bad idea, it is one of the most essential elements of a good print job. Let’s say for example, that you are printing business cards. Because of their small size, they are not able to fit on a full printed page. Consequently, it size must be adjusted with a cutting tool called a guillotine. Unfortunately, guillotines are not the most accurate devices, so a bleed (about 1/8^th of an inch around the print job) will effectively minimize any trimming inaccuracies that may occur. Not using a bleed can result in parts of your designing being cut off or thin white strips of paper along the edge of your print.

6. Raster vs Vector Based Test

When it comes to designing print, most beginners tend to utilize raster typography in their design. Unfortunately, using raster (pixel based) text cause blurry edges when printed. So, if you want your typography to be laser sharp, you must always use vector based graphics and typography.

With a properly formatted vector graphic, you are able to customize your print to any size you can think of and the result will still be perfect. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to use this type of typography. Let’s say, for example, that your design is based on a photograph or raster image, vector would not be recommended in this instance. Instead, you will have to set the document’s resolution to, at least, 300ppi nor should you print anything larger than A2.

7. Get an In-house Proof Before Taking Materials to the Printers

Get an in house proof of your print before you take it to the printers. In this way, you will have a more accurate representation of what the final product is going to look like; compared to what you think it will look like. If there are any inconsistencies with your vision and the actual proof, you can make relevant changes before the prints head out the door.

8. Consider the Design of Your Prints Carefully

Any print that you design is an extension of you as a business entity. In other words, if you create a print that looks weird or tacky, this negative impression will impact the way that your target demographic looks at your business. If you don’t have a lot of design experience, make sure to set some time aside to do your due diligence and research everything you can about creating effective print material. In addition, taking heed to the above steps will give you a basic grasp of the kinds of concepts that may be of use to tou. In fact, don’t be surprised if you find that creating effective print material is not that difficult at all.

Related:

Business Card Printing

Design Tips

 

Making Your Own Giant Posters: A Beginner’s Guide

If you’ve ever gone looking for that perfect piece of big beautiful art to hang in your home, you probably know by now that big art costs big money. Even if you settle and purchase a mass produced canvas, like the ones found at Pier 1 Imports or Ikea, you still have to deal with lugging that huge painting around or paying someone bring it to your home.

If these options aren’t available to you or if you are a little budget conscious, there are a couple of easy solutions that you can use to print larger posters from the cheapest printers.

Image is Everything

When you decide that you’re going to print out your own giant poster, the first thing that you must consider is the image. Regardless if it will be printed in full color or black and white, it is important to make sure that you use a bright image that provides a lot of contrast. It can be a picture of your dog at the park or you sunbathing at the beach, these are all fine choices. However, that dim, blurry photo of you and your friend at the club should definitely be removed from your list of poster picture candidates. Not only is it going to look awful, but it’s going to use up a lot of ink.

In addition, it’s important to note that, if you choose to print out pictures that you find on the internet, without the permission of the owner or if you don’t own their copyrights, you may be committing an illegal act. We do not encourage or condone the illegal distribution or duplication of copyrighted content.

Processing & Printing

Once you have saved the chosen image as a digital file on your computer, it is now ready to be processed, or formatted, so that you can make sure you get the look that you want.   This sounds complicated but usually all this step involves is enlarging the image and printing out the separate copies. If your computer doesn’t have the capability to do this, sites like Faster Poster and Block Poster will enable you to do these kinds of basic chopping and scaling, plus you get a downloadable PDF that will enable you to print your giant poster quickly and easily.

Although these types of photo enlargements don’t provide the best results, they’re still cool in their own way. They also provide some insight as to what the overall effect would look like if a large format printer was used. Unfortunately with this method, it’s easy to spot the seams between the pages and the color printing quality of full sheets of color images tends to push the limitations of the majority of consumer printers. But that doesn’t mean that you should give up on this method; it’s perfect for small projects like printing a garage sale sign or a banner.

Download Rasterbator

If you are looking for a way to create a poster that you can hang on your wall and that will stand the test of time, download the Rasterbator program. Despite the questionable name, this free program is quite harmless. The Rasterbator program takes things a bit further than the ones mentioned above and applies a halftone filter to the image; this technique is used on pictures that appear on billboards and newspapers. To be honest, the result may seem abstract if you look at it too closely, however when it is seen at a distance, the effect is pretty awesome. The abstraction effect will also make things easier when you are trying to stitch the poster together.

One Final Tip

No matter which process you go decide to utilize, the end product is still a stack of printed pages that you have to spend a decent amount of time cutting and gluing together. Needless to say, it takes time and patience to get a good result, but there are some shortcuts you can take to speed things up a bit. For example, if you use a sharp paper cutter to trim the edges around the image, your cuts would be neater and it would make things easier when gluing the arranged pieces to posterboard.

If you don’t’ have the patience or the posterboard, trim the edges from alternate pages and place them on top of the uncut pages. Try using a glue stick and taping the seams on the back of a finished poster to give it added strength.

Plan Your Strategy And Conquer: Designing the Best Flyers For Printing

So, you’re not a designer. You’ve never even designed a flyer in your life. Sure, you’ve seen them hanging around- who hasn’t? When it’s finally your turn to design an eye-catching flyer, it doesn’t have to be something to fear. We have all the information you need to turn your disastrous nightmare into the media frenzy potential that you need to put your prospective business on top. It’s all about how you present the information.

When you’re putting everything together, you may have several design dilemmas and small crises, but it’s completely normal and natural- you don’t have to be a design professional, or even competent with Photoshop or any other design programs. What it does take is thorough planning, openness to be creative and basic design software.

Initially, you have to Plan Your Approach

What is your goal? What do you need to say on your flyer? Here are some guidelines:

-If something at your event costs money, make it very clear

-Don’t just fill up your flyer with words. Most people see words as work, and people avoid work at all costs

-Compress all of your information as much as you can and make sure it still makes sense

-Try to make necessary information easy to understand and digest

-Don’t just fill it up with bullet points. Obviously, bullet points are a great tool to direct thoughts, but they need to be used properly to be effective.

-One of the easiest and most effective ways to make a simple, print ready flyer for most uses is to mesh together two images, using one to display pointed information.

Creating Your Information Block

Your headline gets you off the ground and rolling, so take care of it soon and work on it often. You don’t have to put your headline anywhere specific and it shouldn’t be traditional. Make it unique and make it stand out- if you don’t, you’re losing business, because your flyer risks being boring.

Next, develop your most pertinent information. This usually includes who, what, where, why, and how much. Break up your information and put it all together in ways that are easy to understand and work with. Keep it simple, and keep it as streamlined as possible.

After that, find an effective way to sum up all your most important information into one semi-lengthy paragraph with several pieces of necessary information- who’ll be at your event, what your events all about, if it’s supporting anyone, why you’re putting up your flyer, save the rainforests- whatever your mission is, fill out a paragraph that sums everything up nicely. Find a highly noticeable location where it’s easy to read.

Looking for information on Business Cards? Click here.

Preparing it for Printing

Make sure that everything is aligned properly, and account for margins and other important details, like inks blending and bleeding. Establish what type of quality you need for your specific project and run with it.

Printed flyers are excellent when utilized properly and when placed strategically in highly populated areas- take advantage of them!

 

Top 5 Steps to Design the Best Print- Ready Business Cards

A good business card can get you places. How many businesses can you think of right off the bat that use business cards? Pretty much all of them right? And rightly so, because your business cards don’t just contain mere contact information, they are actually your advertisements.

Imagine your Business Cards as tiny little billboards

How many advertisements do you just gloss over? How many do you take the time to actually read?

The ones that really stick out.

The point of a great business card is to capture your imagination or intrigue you to keep the card for a further date. In fact, if you’re not thinking about what impression your business card presents to your potential client, than you shouldn’t even be printing any, because you’re wasting your time. Your business card should be just as personal as you are- plus it should be streamlined, well-designed, and meticulously planned out. Stick to designs that support your message. More info on business cards here by Design One Printing.

 

Here are our top 5 tips to design the absolute best business cards:

1. Figure out EXACTLY what you want from your cards

You have the potential to say anything you want, however you want. Take your time and understand the importance of this opportunity. What do you sell? What sets you apart? You have to establish clear and definitive answers for these questions before you even start putting a pencil to your design. Label four or five generic goals- like gaining attention, promoting an idea, providing information, or being unique and original and really focus on establishing it.

2. Should you use images in the design?

If you think a picture would make your card stand out or be easier to remember, go for it. The image should be at least semi relevant and have a goal in mind. You need to communicate quickly and effectively. Sometimes a simple splash of color draws the eyes as well as anything else.

3. Have you included ALL relevant information?

Sure, you got it all? Double check:

-Name/Title

-Company Name

-Address, Email, Website, Phone

4. What, How, How Many- and Unique?

Take a little liberty here- why are you making your cards, what are they saying and why. The sky is the limit, whatever works, works. Sometimes the originality and creativity gets your point across best.

5. Make sure the carpet matches the drapes- metaphorically speaking.

Sure, be as creative as you want, but make sure you get the point across. Match your card with your business. If you sell color- put it out there. If you’re creative, showcase it. If you’re serious, be serious- just be you.

Powerful business cards create powerful customer and client bases. What becomes most important is how you portray yourself instantly, what you bring to the industry, and how you present your information.

More information on printing business cards:

The ABC’s of business cards

5 things for business card printing

Giant Poster Printing: A Beginner’s Guide to Printing Posters

Avoid These 10 Common Printing Mistakes

A good printing job conveys professionalism and makes you stand out from your less savvy competition. Take advantage of this idea to give a boost to your marketing. Here, we’ve outlined 10 common printing mistakes that will take your print job to the next level.

Top ten printing blunders to avoid at all costs:

1. Not including enough bleed on your artwork 

If you’re new to design, you probably don’t understand that the guillotines that printer companies use to divide your design aren’t incredibly accurate, so if you don’t leave at least 3mm of space (typically around an eighth of an inch) your images could be completely off center, or get cut off.

Bleed on your artwork resource here

2. Small text on a black background 

Again, this is probably new news to you, but colored and black inks don’t mix. Don’t put small words on a solid black background, because the letters and colors will blur together and the entire thing quickly becomes illegible. Stick with solid white text with no black or other color.

3. The worst of all: spelling blunders 

One of the easiest ways to be ridiculed or passed to the side is to have spelling errors that you forgot to edit in your print. Take the time to double check to guarantee your document has no spelling or grammatical errors. Have someone else proof the document if you’re not sure about an error and don’t simply rely on spell-checkers.

240 common spelling mistakes here

4. Forgetting that borders should be quiet 

In general, keep all information about a quarter of an inch away from borders to ensure that you won’t lose any information when everything is cut and formatted for your needs.

5. Low resolutions 

Double check and make sure that your image is at LEAST 300 ppi- 400 ppi or it won’t look very good on your document- in all reality it would probably be impossible to decipher what the image really is.

Low resolution vs high resolution resource here

6. Raster versus Vector text 

Use solid, defined lines. This means using vector type fonts before anything else. If you don’t, your image won’t be sharp.

Resource from Design Shack

7. Making your black and white images color

Convert images in drop boxes to guarantee that they stay black, and don’t mix with cyan, magenta or yellow- because then you’re just wasting ink.

8. Not locking down layers on your document 

When your design is perfect, lock it down. It’s easy to move something unintentionally and screw up your whole document- so take care.

9. Not supplying a hard copy 

Make sure that you go in there with printed proofs, to show that you know what your design should look like.

10.Terrible design taste (don’t take it personally) 

Take your print job seriously- it defines who you are, what your business does, and how well you’re going to operate. If you fail to convert your ideas into print or media, don’t give up- there are a plethora of resources out there to provide you with information to get you headed on the right track.

How to tell if you have a top notch design

How to Hire The Right Printing Company For You

It’s tough to branch out and spend money you weren’t spending before. When you need printed materials, no matter what they are, it’s tough to pick the right printing company for you. If it’s your first time getting materials printed, it’s understandable that you won’t be 100% certain of the process or the end result, plus you don’t want to throw your money down the drain.

It’s often unclear how to find the lowest priced, best quality printing company. For these reasons, we’ve created a small checklist of things you should look for when you’re looking to hire a printing company for your business or personal needs.

 

Cheaper Isn’t Always Better

Don’t immediately gravitate towards the cheapest service. Generally speaking, there’s a reason that they’re so inexpensive. This doesn’t mean that you should always pick the most expensive option either- but when you see them all lined up, you’ll regret not making a different choice if your end result isn’t everything you dreamed it would be. Read more on the consumer perception of price here (pdf).

Search For the Highest Quality

Mama told me you gotta shop around, and she meant on everything. Check customer reviews and customer feedback. Double check portfolios to ensure quality, and make sure that the company that you’re going through is willing to double print if they’ve made a mistake. At the same time, don’t be afraid to spend money- the benefits of your printing and canvasing and the business you receive could greatly outweigh the potential negatives. Use yelp.com here to search reviews of printers.

Check Printing Equipment

Look into the machinery and options that a printing service have to offer you. They should have some of the most sophisticated tools to help them produce the highest quality media. Additionally, they should be in tune with all of the procedures that printing companies use and match the quality and price relatively easy.

Look at Some Samples

Ask the printing company to print you a sample copy of your document if possible. If not, have the company print a sample as close to what you’re looking into as possible so that you can narrow down your options. Establish the importance of an ongoing relationship to ensure better quality if possible.

Look Into Bulk Printing

Bulk prices always bring the best deals and better turnarounds. You might buy more than you need, but if you’re going to on executing your plan more than once, you can change small details on your printing jobs and reuse them in the future. While its sometimes tough to justify the extra costs, some times it’s worth it.

Why Hire a Printing Company?

It is often said in marketing circles that the print quality of your marketing material leaves a much bigger impression on your customer than one would expect. Therefore the right printing company can help you improve profits, share your messages more efficiently and put yourself out there more to take your business to new and exciting heights, but if done wrong, these printing decisions not only waste time, but also money.