With the summer coming to an end and the fall quickly approaching, you might not be thinking about the new year quite yet, but in the printing industry now is the time to get started on your 2018 calendar projects.

While an annual calendar may not seem like the most original marketing idea but the reality is that they are one of the best avenues to promote your company. 

So, you’ve finally finished dotting your I’s and crossing your T’s on your direct mail campaign. You’ve spent countless hours carefully collecting data, choosing the best direct mailer for your needs and now it’s time to send it out. Envelopes are often an afterthought – the less attractive, less interesting necessary evil just to get your direct mail into the hands of your consumer.

Recently a print buyer from an agency requested a mockup of a side-sewn bound book needed for a presentation. He provided detailed specifications down to the color of thread and the paper stocks required.

When he received the mock-up he realized side-sewn did not match how he pictured the book should look. It turned out what he really needed was a Smyth-sewn book. He had to do the presentation without the correct mock-up.

Like many print professionals, he wasn’t aware of the difference. Whether you are producing a book, brochure, calendar, or pamphlet, it is important to know what options you have for binding together printed pages.

Polywrapping - you’ve seen it before, usually around magazines and thicker catalogs that have inserts. Did you know that it’s now a great solution for direct mail campaigns? You can even “wrap” promotional items, newspapers or flyers!

The portable document format (PDF) revolutionized commercial printing services by making it possible for anybody to supply print ready files, complete with all the text, graphics, and data. The PDF is largely responsible for the rapid growth and popularity of digital printing and print on demand. It's commonplace for printers to receive print ready PDF files for both offset printing and digital printing projects. Equally common is the discovery that the PDF files are not print ready.

Secure data printing is a tricky beast. Keeping up with ever-evolving compliance requirements while still staying on schedule is a handful, at best.

Direct mail marketing can be a powerful tool, allowing companies to reach past or potential customers who may not be actively engaged via email, social media or another medium. Direct mail encompasses a wide variety of materials, including postcards, newsletters, brochures, catalogs and more. It can be one of the easiest and most effective ways to reach out to new and existing clients.

Behind the emerald curtain in the Commercial Printing industry a war quietly rages. Rather than a war between good and evil, this war is fought between Account Executives, and Production is trapped in the middle of the fray. Account Executives seeking new business in a fiercely competitive marketplace often agree to tight turn times or seemingly impossible deadlines. Production is charged with completing all projects for every client accurately and on time. The number of projects and client expectations frequently create production scheduling conflicts, bottlenecks in the availability of equipment and labor. In the past, many printers resolved scheduling conflicts based on factors such as an existing client’s annual revenue or new client’s potential future revenue. But this is a new era and technology is rapidly evening the playing field through the implementation of sophisticated plant management software and scheduling automation.

Print quality is affected by numerous factors, such as the type of paper used and the viscosity of the inks to name a few. One of the biggest concerns all print buyers should be aware of is the effect of climate on print quality. Temperature and humidity are responsible for a host of problems including picking, misregister, wrinkling, and curling. Quality issues like these may necessitate pulling or reprinting the job, and that means buyers sometimes must choose between compromised print quality and missing a critical deadline.  Neither scenario is acceptable, which is why print buyers should only work with commercial printers with climate controlled production facilities.