In-Plant versus Ooops

To err is human, to really screw things up takes a committee.

Or, in this case, a Corporation.

R R Donnelley Screws up a job for Google, as reported by In-Plant Graphics. And they point out that an external company has to ultimately answer to their own shareholders more so than to the clients they are printing for.

Not sure if this qualifies as a full point for the In-Plant Team, but I know every In-Plant manager out there is making a copy of this story to put in their files.

Happy (Fiscal) New Year!

Happy Fiscal New Year everyone.

Line by Line

I guess I'll keep with a theme and share another Letter Press story, this time about Jerry Richardson in Fargo North Dakota...

Jerry Richardson is a man of letters – many, many letters. 

Talk to the 82-year-old and you’ll likely get a carefully considered, concise response delivered in a low, quiet, even tone. 

While not known for his prose, he is well respected for his visual presentations of words in print. 

In the basement of his Ninth Street home in Fargo, Richardson runs two letterpresses, producing some of the finest textual prints in the region, from individual literary lines to limited edition books and broadsides. 

To paraphrase a great orator, Teddy Roosevelt, “Speak softly and carry a big pica pole.”

One of the printing presses in Richardson’s basement weighs about 2,000 pounds. Each piece of paper that is printed on is placed by hand. Dave Wallis / The Forum
Read the entire article here: http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/374709/

Old becomes new again....

Everything old becomes new again.... not sure I have the cliche exactly correct even if the idea is appropriate.

http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/entertainment/168205986.html


In a small town in Canada, at the Okanagan College, a new project called 'The Bunker' is opening soon.

What makes The Bunker so special? It is a Letter Press shop that is going to teach students how to set type by hand and print with ink on paper. And when I say ink I mean the kind that gets under your fingernails and stains your fingertips like your Father and Grandfather used in their shops.

I am very excited to see a program like this opening even if it is in Canada, and therefore very far away from here, because this is how I got my start in printing. I have a huge appreciation for modern typesetting and layout programs because I know what it used to be like. And I truly appreciate the irony of early in my career being 'rushed' to manually typeset a newsletter in several days to now being 'rushed' to typeset the same newsletter in an hour or less. As the technology improves so do the expectations placed upon the technology.

Anyway... click the link above and admire some beautiful equipment and enjoy the glimpse back to the print shops of the 50's and 60's.

The smell of a good book

Paper satisfies all five of the senses....

Paper can be beautiful to look at.

The tactile process of turning a page in a book satisfies both the fingers and the ears.

Well, OK, not so much does paper satisfy your taste-buds, but I had to keep you interested up to this point so I could show you how paper can satisfy your sense of smell....

Paper Passion perfume.

"the smell of a freshly printed book is the best smell in the world."

Read more here.










http://www.huhmagazine.co.uk/view_article.php?id=3887&s=culture&t=news

Paper or Plastic?

No, not for your shopping bag... for your milk!

Print Week has an interesting article about plastic milk jugs compared to carton-packs.


While carton-packs are less common here in the U.S., maybe we should become a bit more familiar with them for some environmental reasons.

Follow the link and see for yourself.




http://www.printweek.com/Business/article/1138764/bottles-use-50-finite-resources-carton-packs/?utm_source=WhatTheyThink+Newsletters&utm_campaign=dfe2065890-wtt_goinggreen_11110111_1_2011&utm_medium=email

Why are deadlines so important?

Why are deadlines so important? I mean why not just do everything as soon as it comes in?

Well..... what gets done and when is a delicate balance of what paper is available for which job on which machine in which order based on what has to be done before, during, and after the project. There is a lot of science to the process, and a surprisingly large amount of artistry. When a production schedule works it is a thing of beauty. When a production schedule goes wrong it is the source of heart burn, headaches, and unhappy customers.


Let me offer you the following example:

Project A is going to take 1 hour to complete using  Machine 1.

Project B is going to take 2 hours to complete, 1 hour on Machine 1 and 1 hour on Machine 2.

Project A is due in 2 hours, Project B is due in 3 hours.

It looks like it is a simple thing to do, Project A and then Project B. Everything gets done in order and everything gets done on time.

True.

But that is not the best way to organize those jobs. If Project B is started first, then Project A can run next in line while the second part of Project B is worked on. The result is both Projects A and B getting done at the same time with an hour to spare to do something else.

Not so intuitive to put the second project ahead of the first, is it?

That is why a complete Due Date is so important to us here in the Copy Center. If we know exactly when you need your project we can mange our schedule to better provide you what you need, when, and at the lowest possible cost.

So please, give us a complete due date. Help us to help you.

Some Link-Love

It looks like the Union for Hollywood is working on a new website.

http://local2432.com/

Stop by and say hi, I am sure they would appreciate the company.

Gift Wrap

Remember being a kid on your birthday and seeing your present all wrapped up with a big bow on top?

Or all the presents under the Christmas Tree with the ribbons and bows?

Or, maybe more recently in your life, all of your wedding gifts or baby-shower gifts wrapped in the cute papers with the matching bows and matching cards?

The mystery of what is inside that box that rattles so tantalizingly? The wish that you could see through that wrapping paper to try and glean what the box underneath says?

What would you do without gift paper? What would you do without wrapping paper? How much fun would it be if everyone just handed you the box and said Happy Birthday and denied you the excitement of tearing through that gift wrap to see what gift awaited underneath?

Paper has presence.

Paper has meaning.

Paper matters.


Thank you to Hammer, Stitch, Burn for the great image.

Get it? Presence... Presents.... I should probably get out more.

Paper Ephemera

A gentleman by the name of Chuck Whiting runs a blog called Paper Matters where he discusses rare ephemera and out-of-print books. Its a nice blog, you should check it out when you have a minute or two...

The reason I am point out Mr Whiting's blog is specifically because of this image:

A ticket from a 1968 football game at Houston's Astrodome.

With the push to have more of your life 'in the cloud' or otherwise represented by bits and bytes I have to wonder.... what are you going to pin to your bulletin board to remember the things from your past? What are you going to tape into your scrapbook to remind you of the things you forgot?

Having your concert tickets represented as a bar code on your smart phone is neat and being able to check in to your flight the same way can be more than a little handy.

But is it better?

The Paper Trail

Sometimes, there’s just no substitute for paper.

Really!

Another article from Paper Because that I enjoyed and think you will too....

Two points specifically from the article:

...Indeed, financial institutions have been promoting this service [Paperless Options] not only for its convenience to customers but also as a way for them to help “save trees” and protect the environment by reducing paper use. The latter may be a great selling point, but is it true?

Well, it might be saving tree's but that isn't really their goal. It is saving the company money. But how much of that savings is being passed along to you as the end user/consumer?

And the second point:

...a strategically placed “honey-do list” is a constant and persistent reminder, improving the odds that items will get checked off. In fact, a survey conducted by lifehack.org showed thatnot only do most people use a paper to do list, but that paper is more than twice as popular as any other method listed."

I know my wife uses the 'strategically placed to-do list' all the time. And it is always on paper.

See the Forrest for the Trees

I keep hearing "Print Kills Trees!"

I say No, it doesn't.

And Oce was kind enough to write this press release backing me up....

Customers Benefit As Océ Eco Start Program Accelerates

... funded the planting of over 350,000 trees in 2011...to help offset CO2 emissions attributable to the energy usage from production equipment during the first year of operation. 

Well, OK, they didn't write the article for me. They did, however, plant 350,000 trees in 2011 to help offset the carbon footprint of the company.

Print may kill trees, but the companies that make print happen are doing a whole lot more than you think to put trees back in the ground.

Good Design

Good design still matters

Paper Because has an interesting article about the benefits of paper using 'Good Design.' The best line from the article, in my opinion at least:

...Design really does still matter, whether your ultimate goal is to open people’s minds to new experiences, generate profits, raise funds or increase awareness of an important social issue. And a quality printed piece can speak loudly on your behalf – and get you the response you are looking for.

Quality design, quality product, quality response. There seems to be a theme involved.....

The end of money?

Found an interesting idea that Canada is working on called MintChip. No, not an ice cream flavor... an attempt at making the future of money digital.

There are lots of reasons to make money not actually be physical money, and probably as many or more not to. And one of the reasons that is probably only obvious to printers like myself....what happens to all the printers who print the money? What happens to all the specialized printing equipment that now isn't needed? There is considerably more at stake than just making money be on your smart-phone.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

Jason and the Paperless Office

Fun little two-minute video I thought you might enjoy.

Wait for the end....

http://www.paperbecause.com/media/jason-and-the-paperless-workplace

Ha!

Pixels versus Paper

Received a link to an interesting article today regarding Pixels versus Printing.

Paper And The Sustainability Issue by Joann Whitcher.

The article discusses the increasing push-back from the Paper and Print industries regarding some of the environmental claims of 'Paper is Bad for the Environment.' Some of the highlights of the article are the claims of environmental sustainability of email versus printing as well as some of the claims of environmental impacts and carbon footprints from both sides of the debate.

Can email be as 'green' as a letter when less than 20 percent of a computer is recyclable and more than 80% of the computers and electronics wind up in a landfill.

Follow the link. Read the article. Let me know what you think.

Printing versus D.I.Y.

Economic Times are tough all over. Pennies have to be watched, belts have to be tightened, basically everything needs some attention.

Paper is a good opportunity to save money. Print everything two sided and reduce the amount of paper you use. This is just a good idea anyway, reduce the amount of physical space your archives will consume, lighten the load when moving those archives, both of which reduce the total carbon footprint of your operations.

However,the actual money savings are slight when you figure the cost of a sheet of paper is somewhere around a penny. It takes a lot of pennies to make a difference. So if your printing two sides to save money immediately, you aren't really saving any money immediately. You should keep saving those pennies, but with the understanding that they are only pennies.

Let me give you another example of a money saving idea that doesn't really save any money: Envelopes.

Envelopes should be the easiest thing in the world, order a rubber stamp or print some labels, stamp or stick, and away you go! Easy as pie!

But did you save any money?

A box of envelopes from the local office supply is about $9. And that is for the most basic of envelopes.

If you want to go with a rubber stamp, you can get an a typical address stamp for about $15. And a stamp at that price point should last you between 3 and 5 thousand impressions.

Now, how fast can you stamp a box of 500 envelopes? And what is that time worth to you? What could you be doing, what should you be doing, instead of stamping a box of 500 envelopes?

Keeping up with me so far? Your envelopes have cost roughly $19 a box if you count two cents per stamp to cover your time and the initial cost of the stamp.


Oh, there is a quality issue as well. Your $15 dollar rubber stamp is going to print kind of like this:

And the longer you use the stamp, the more it will fade and then you start hitting it harder which shortens the life span even further..... you get the idea.

That life span of the rubber stamp I mentioned above, between three and five thousand impressions, a case of envelopes is 2,500, or five boxes of 500. That means you will be lucky to get two cases of envelopes stamped from one rubber stamp. How many boxes of envelopes do you use in a year?

The alternative?

The Copy Center!

This is our blog, did you not see that one coming?

Envelopes can be printed for $25 per box, or if you have room to store them you can get a case for $100, or $20 per box.

And we have specialized machines for envelopes that can print as many as 2,500 envelopes an hour. That is a case of envelopes in an hour. And all it takes you is the time to send us a work order. A few minutes of your valuable time and you get a professional presentation that looks something like this:

Clean, neat, professional looking, everything an envelope from the City of Hollywood should be.

Lets recap:

Crappy rubber stamp impression on an envelope - $19 ish dollars for a box.

Professionally printed envelopes from the Copy Center - as low as $20 per box.

Any questions?

New Equipment!

Welcome to the shop our newest piece of equipment....

We shall call it "Gluey!"

It is a table-top Perfect Binder capable of binding up to 1 inch thick spines at up to 200 books per hour.

Perfect Binding?

Perfect binding is the same kind of binding you see on your average paper-back book. The cover wraps around from the front to the back across the spine. The pages are basically glued into the cover instead of a manual connection like a staple or rings.

It is not the most durable bind available, but it is one of the prettiest because the spine can be printed.

OK, maybe not the most exciting thing to happen around here.... we don't get out much and we are easily amused.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I have been a very good boy this year. I ate all of my vegetables and I help old ladies cross the street when I can.

I would like for Christmas this year one of these:

Thank you

CK



The machine above is a Duplo Cutter/Slitter/Creaser Model 645.

It can cut business cards in just a couple of minutes as well as cut and crease any number of other projects. I saw the machine in action at Graphics of the America's last week and am really impressed. I don't really have room for the machine, but if Santa really brought me one I would find room.

Printer refuses to publish Legacy mag - News - The Daily Reveille - Louisiana State University

Printer refuses to publish Legacy mag - News - The Daily Reveille - Louisiana State University

Saw this article today about a printing company in Alabama refusing to publish the college magazine because some of the content was objectionable to the staff and leaders of the printing company.

It makes for an interesting question....

How much influence does, or should, the printer have in the process?

For many, many years now 'the Printer' has been trying to climb up higher into the decision making process and doing so under the guise of collaboration. Don't get me wrong, that is a good thing! By getting into 'the game' sooner the printer can help the client get a better project, sooner, and hopefully at a lesser cost by being able to steer the client away from costly mistakes.

The Printer in the article above is claiming Religious and Moral objections to the content of the magazine. Which is fine, it is their company after all.

But!

The Printer signed a contract to provide print services for a certain number of issues and, according to the client, had nothing in the contract indicating that the Printer could refuse work because of the content.

Its a tough one.