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Bleeding Edge: How to Properly Create Bleed Area for Print

 

Bleed Area for Print

We’ve written at ImageBlog before about how to create proper bleed area for your print files. Missing or insufficient bleed area and crop marks rank in the top three of prepress problems along with color separations and font issues. Interestingly, thanks to improved pdf creation in desktop publishing applications and the more forgiving nature of a digital printing workflow, those latter two problems are increasingly a thing of the past. But not for the old missing bleed area problem!

Bleed is any printed area that extends off the edge of the page. Presses do not print to the very edge of a sheet, so files with bleeding elements must be larger than the desired finished size and printed on larger sizes of paper, then cut down. Knowing that ahead of time, you can easily create files and export pdfs that will trim out exactly as you expect.

You might be surprised, but many folks think their printer can add a workable bleed area to most any file. In reality, some printers will attempt to make a non-bleeding file “work” without telling you the customer, in an effort to save the extra time and hassle. A file can be printed slightly larger than 100%, which will allow a slight trim area. Also, some printers will cut a file slightly smaller than the finished size – a risky move if done without your consent, but one that also will create a finished bleed edge. If the bleed is a solid color, the file can be imposed on top of a bleed area of the same color. All of these work-arounds are less than ideal solutions, and you could be charged more in prepress costs for the fix. Here’s how to create the bleed you need in your layout program.

Remember, the bleed area you define upon originally opening your new document is only the bleed area that appears on your screen as you work on your file. It IS NOT (necessarily) the bleed area that automatically ends up in the pdf file you output for print.

 

InDesign

InDesign makes this very simple. Set up your new document size, and at this step give yourself as much Bleed Area to work with as you want. Some folks put in 1/8″ because the actual pieces of artwork or color rarely need to extend any further off the page than that small amount. However, when you export your final pdf, go to the Marks and Bleeds Tab, choose only crop marks, then at this step add .5″ of Bleed Area to the pdf file on each of the four sides. Do NOT check the box “Use Document Bleed Settings”.

Marks and Bleed Area
Crop Marks and 1/2 inch Bleed Area

If you do, the final pdf will try to size itself to include the bleed area you put in at document setup. If that is insufficient to hold the crop marks, the pdf will auto-enlarge to accommodate the crop marks and the finished size will be something odd like 8.821 x 9.415 – not so easy to work with when imposition time comes. Keeping the math simple, if you put in .5″ at export as your bleed area, your 8.5″ x 11″ document will create a pdf that is 9.5″ x 12″ wide. Perfect for a bleed.

PhotoShop

If you design entirely in Photoshop, you need to initially create your document LARGER than the finished size. Again, keep the math simple by using .5″ extra on each side: a finished piece at 9″ x 5″ would be a PhotoShop document of 10″ x 6″. You can add the crop marks yourself, or simply tell your printer that the bleed area is there and let them add the correct crop marks for final cutting. The important part is to have the actual bleed area on there!

Illustrator

If you work in Illustrator to create your final print files or pdfs, simply choose File – Save As and then choose pdf/x-1A. Just like in InDesign, go to the Marks and Bleeds tab, turn on crop marks and allow a .5″ bleed on all four sides of the finished pdf file. If you submit a native Illustrator file or eps, you can also add crop marks around an object by choosing Object – Create Trim Marks. Just be sure your Artboard is large enough to accommodate those marks.

 

ImageSmith is proud to be a printer in an exciting era of digital communication. Your printer should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmental responsible printing. They should also be able to work with you to solve any difficult prepress issues with your files. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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ImageBlog’s 2013 Print and Design Year in Review

ImageBlog 2013

End of the year reflection time – which means of course a Top 10 list, right? Imageblog is our online newstand of conjecture, knowledge, experience and opinion about the world of print, design, marketing, technology and sustainability. Looking back at 2013, it was a year of growth. We were excited to feature our first guest blog authors, and hope to bring you more of that in the future. Below are articles we featured in 2013 that covered events unique to this year – changes, updates, memorials, anniversaries, and historic firsts. This list hopefully highlights some of the unique events of the past year:

  1. USPS Issues First-Ever Global Forever Stamp
    Just like the popular domestic first class mail Forever stamps, the USPS began offering a Forever stamp for international mail in February of 2013. For $1.10, you can send a one ounce letter anywhere in the world. The great circular design of the stamp is eye-catching and popular with philatelists.
  2. Boston Magazine Cover Highlights the Power of Print with a Moving Tribute
    After the tragic terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon in April, many newsstand covers featured stunning and moving photography and design memorializing that day. One we liked the best for its design, color and ability to capture the personal side of such an event without capitalizing on any tragic images, was Boston Magazine’s image of the shoes of actual Boston marathon runners forming a heart. Even better, proceeds from the sale of an accompanying poster go to benefit the One Fund–Boston, which has raised millions to help those affected by the attack.
  3. “Pencil to Pixel” Exhibit a Great Success Gill Sans Italic, original pencil and ink drawings
    British firm Monotype’s “Pencil to Pixel” exhibit in New York provided a museum setting exhibition for typography lovers in May of 2013, following an initial run in London in 2012. The rich show highlighted the craftsmanship and design behind well-known typefaces of the past and present.
  4. Coke Gets Personal with VDP and Integrated Marketing
    Variable Data Printing (VDP) and Integrated Marketing techniques continued this year to bolster the power and profitability of print advertising in an increasingly digital age. Coke experimented with personalized bottles in some foreign markets, as consumers begin to notice and expect individualized content in all forms of marketing.
  5. TCM in the Spotlight with Awesome Graphic Design
    ImageBlog took a look at the great graphic design work produced over at Turner Classic Movies on their website, on air productions, print materials and marketing collateral. Nothing’s more inspiring than great design and TCM and the charles s. anderson design co. are doing a world class job.
  6. 20 Years On: Newsweek Prophetic 1993 Vision of the Future Cover story on Interactive Technology from Newsweek
    A 1993 cover story from Newsweek offered a surprisingly accurate look ahead to today, contemplating the coming “interactivity” in the world of marketing and the resulting ethical dilemmas that might arise. An interesting read, but perhaps the most interesting part is that Newsweek did not foresee their own 2013 about face: first halting print production in favor of an online-only version at the end of 2012, then reversing course and planning a return to weekly print in 2014.
  7. 1931 Frankenstein Poster Sets World Record
    The only confirmed known insert poster of the 1931 Universal movie “Frankenstein” sold for over $262,000 dollars – over 5 times the estimated amount. Print is valuable!
  8. New Help for an Old Question: What is that Font?
    As just one example of the innovative ways technology is providing great solutions, we highlighted three online sites that help solve a problem designers and prepress departments have always struggled with – identifying a mystery font! Sooner or later, you’ll have the same problem and here are some great online resources.
  9. The World’s Most Expensive Printed Book is Sold Digital Bay Psalm Book
    The Bay Psalm Book now holds two world records: it is the first book printed in British North America and now the most expensive as well, having sold at auction for over $14 million! You can peruse the book yourself with the digital copy that is now available online for free, courtesy of the Old South Church in Boston.
  10. Cyber Monday: an Ongoing Evolution
    The busiest online shopping day of the year, Cyber Monday continues to evolve as  technology and social media change. Small players are now part of the game and the line between brick & mortar stores and their online enterprises gets blurrier. This day is a phenomenon that surely represents trends that will continue to define the changes in print and marketing in the year ahead.

Here’s hoping you will find some interesting topics in our list, or some useful information about print, design and marketing for the year ahead. Thank you for stopping by!

 

 

Rely on your printer for advice and direction with all your marketing needs. the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmental responsible printing. They should also be able to work with you to solve any difficult prepress issues with your files.. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!
 
Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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Explore the World’s Most Expensive Printed Book: The Bay Psalm Book

 

Fan of the long s? Then you should enjoy the finging the pfalmes from the most expensive book ever published. Read on for some interesting facts about this record-setting publication and how you can perufe every page:

Bay Psalm Book Preface

The Bay Psalm book, a small Psalter, holds two world records. It was the first book printed in British North America, of which only 11 are known to exist, and now it has sold at Sotheby’s in New York City, for the highest price ever.

  • The price? $14,165,000, which was actually lower than some pre-auction estimates that ranged as high as $30 million.
  • The new owner? David Rubenstein, entrepreneur and philanthropist, plans to generously lend the book to libraries and exhibits. Rubenstein also bought a copy of the Magna Carta in 2007 for $21 million.
  • The printer? This book was, amazingly, printed a mere 20 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock by Stephen Day, the first colonial American printer.
  • 1,700 copies were originally printed. Only 11 are known to still exist.
  • The previous highest price paid for a Bay Psalm book? $151,000 in 1947. At the time, that was also a record for a printed book. Quite an appreciation in value!
  • Sotheby’s website includes fascinating detail about the publisher, printer and the creation of the book, its many errors and other printing details. If you are a printer, you’ll find out all about everything from watermarks, hyphenation and typesetting to quartos, folios and financing.
  • Typos? Oh yes. Even at the time, the Bay Psalm book was criticized for its poor quality of printing and abundant errors. Misspellings, inverted commas instead of apostrophes, uneven inking…. nobody’s perfect, right? A critic, over 200 years ago, noted the book “abounds with typographical errors” and said the printer “must have been wholly unacquainted with punctuation.” (source)  Ouch.
  • Other firsts in 1640? The first Finnish university was founded in the city of Turku. The first European coffee house opened in Venice. Charles I (another first) was on the English throne.

And best of all… you can study every page of the Bay Psalm book online for free, courtesy of the Old South Church in Boston (the same church where Benjamin Franklin was baptized).

Digital Bay Psalm Book

 

 

 

ImageSmith is proud to be a printer in an exciting era of digital communication. Your printer should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmental responsible printing. They should also be able to work with you to solve any difficult prepress issues with your files. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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Pin Up Your Marketing with a Bulletin Board Test

Whose Menu Stands Out on the Bulletin Board

So what looks good for lunch today?

This is our breakroom bulletin board – your workplace might have a similar one. While scanning the take-out menus and ads for various local eateries, think of that bulletin board as a little microcosm of a larger marketing environment: each piece hangs there hoping to catch attention, influence behavior, provide information. Some use mouth-watering photos of their meals; others provide detailed descriptions of their menu choices while still others rely on the familiarity of their logo and brand to catch your eye. They come in all sizes and colors. Each local eatery, vying for your daily lunchtime dollar, wants to outshine the others.

Now think of your marketing material on a bulletin board among those of your competitors. Will they stand out? Would you stop and take notice, feel drawn in by the imagery or design? Which one will make you decide to eat – or shop or invest… and why? If you saw a Pinterest page with a screenshot of your website alongside others in the same line of work, how would you feel about what that homepage says about you? Consider those “bulletin boards” as your marketing litmus test.

Back to Basics: Design & Message

If simply designing with eye-catching color was all that was necessary to get noticed, then most marketing would be a neon, day-glo mess. Yet color choice remains central to making design stand out. Consider if your colors are consistent with your branding and company image, if use of an out-of-the-ordinary color would be efficient, or if even black and white or a minimalist design might give you the desired effect. Keep up with the print and digital advertising of your competitors in the marketplace – the more you understand their efforts the better you can craft your own message to stand out.

With print marketing, shape  – whether in terms of scale or geometric shape – can be very important. This is true whether you are printing a flyer, direct mail piece, handout or poster. Over-sized pieces draw attention, yet at times an unusually small piece might stand out from the herd. Die-cuts add an extra step in production but often create a very unique and memorable end product. Your information might fit onto the front of one sheet, or you might need to expand into a folded piece or multiple page publication – all basic and important decisions.

How is your message unique? In other words, what does your business do better than anyone else? Does your marketing simply repeat the same claims all of your competitors are making, or does it reveal why a potential customer is missing out by not discovering what your enterprise has to offer?

The bulletin board test can bring forward some of the most basic questions about your marketing efforts through a simple, real-time comparison. Taking the time to do that comparison can lead you toward finding more productive strategies for success.

Consider the ways you can use inspired graphic design to market your small business. Your printer should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmental responsible printing

. They should also be able to work with you to solve any difficult prepress issues with your files. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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Online Help To Identify an Unknown Font or Typeface

Identifying unknown fonts

Common problem: a client wants you to recreate a previously printed piece, match their corporate style, or shows you a photo or scan of some typography they like. How can you fulfill their request when you have no clue what font they are referencing?

I remember over 15 years ago, one of the most tedious, time consuming and inaccurate tasks in the prepress department involved trying to “match” or identify a customer’s typeface when resetting or designing their print jobs. Then as now, many print buyers do not necessarily know the name of the font family used for their brand. Now back in the day, we kept a print out of “Line Showings” for all the fonts to which we had access at our shop. My memory has never been anywhere near encyclopedic, so while sometimes I could luck up and recognize the correct font match, or ask a coworker to take a look, usually I had to leaf through page after page of line showings hoping to see an “a” with exactly the right terminal or a lowercase “y” with the correct tail. Needless to say this was not always successful and could eat up a lot of time. Just as Arial and Helvetica look an awful lot alike, many other typefaces closely resemble each other. I distinctly recall wishing out loud for “some kind of tool that could scan a printed font and tell you it’s name!”

Well there are several such tools out there now, and we have found them to be extremely helpful. Here are just a few that have served us well:

Whatfontis.com

Web Type identification tool

This site has saved several jobs for us by correctly identifying a scan of a client’s printed words. Submit a clear, straight scan of text and after typing in the letters below each piece of the scan (as seen at the right above), the site provides a list of “matches.” In the sample we submitted, the font was very close to one named MuseoSans, but the J was not right and the O not quite round enough. Whatfontis returned a long list of possible answers, and after scanning down the list (seen below) I was able to see an exact match in Novecento Wide Light. The site provides links to founderies where the font can be purchased or if it is a free typeface, to where it can be downloaded. You can submit up to 10 samples per day at no charge, or opt to upgrade membership for a small fee and submit as many as you like. Problem solved. We look great to the client, and are confident we will provide an exact match for their branded style.

Novecento was identified as the needed font

Whatthefont.com

Font identification tool

This webtool over at Myfonts.com works very similarly to Whatfontis.com, whereby you submit a scan then are presented with possible matches. As a test, I tried the same scan I submitted to the previous site. Whatthefont returned five possible matches: all very close but none were an exact match of Novecento. This one sample, however, in no way shows which tool is most effective. Use them both as a resource for font identification. Often, a close match is all that is needed when a client is seeking a similar look rather than an exact match that might require you to purchase the new font.

Typophile.com

Typography lovers web forum

A different approach: crowdsourcing your question to a community of font experts! On this site for all things typographic, just quickly set up your user account, navigate to the Type ID Board page and post your scan. Check back to read your responses and even an ensuing discussion about your font from people who share a knowledge, experience and love of typography. You can also join in the discussion and share your knowledge. Judging by the timeline, a lot of folks would welcome your help!

You may find other useful online tools to identify your unknown typefaces. These are just a small sampling of ones that have worked for us at ImageSmith. With all your marketing issues, your printer should be able to provide you the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail and integrated marketing. They should also be able to work with you to solve any difficult prepress issues with your files. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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1931 Frankenstein Poster Sells for World Record Amount at Auction

 

Frankenstein, 1931 starring Boris Karloff. Insert Poster.

Frankenstein just stomped Casablanca.

That’s not an indie horror movie, but the results of a world record setting auction on July 27. As reported on artdaily.com, an original 1931 “insert poster” for the Universal movie Frankenstein sold at Heritage Auctions for a record $262,900. It is the only confirmed insert poster for the 1931 Boris Karloff film known to exist. To make the story even nicer, the consignor was Keith Johnson of Ottawa, IL who had bought the poster for about $2 in 1968 at an antique store and just kept it in a closet. The pre-auction estimate put the price at perhaps $50,000 – it went for over 5 times that amount!

The previous record holder for highest price paid for an insert poster was  $191,200 bid in 2012 for a “Casablanca” poster.

An “Insert Poster” is vertical format American movie poster that measures 14″ x 36″ and is printed on card stock. These were made to be displayed in standard sized window frame displays in movie theatres. Movie studios stopped issuing these in the early 1980’s, according to the CineMasterpieces website.

Posters are a uniquely powerful form of media with a brilliant cultural history. They have weilded political power, changed minds and attitudes, and served as influential icons of art, politics and popular culture. Think of the “Wanted” posters of Depression-era gangsgters, the pin-up girls from World War II, music and movie posters from the sixties and seventies, and political posters from every campaign since the press was invented. In the digital age, posters have proven no less powerful –  the Obama “HOPE” posters or the art generated by the Occupy movements. Look around town at the musical, political and social events being advertised in shop windows and on phone poles. The poster is alive and well and as intersting as ever… and proof that PRINT IS POWERFUL!

 

Rely on your printer for advice and direction in creating and distributing posters of your own. Advertize an upcoming event, promote your business or your politics, or generate your own cultural meme! To get yours produced at the best price, and seen both online and in public, the best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

 

ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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Retro Print Artifact: Still Going Strong in the Bindery

 

Lassco-Wizer Model 20

So what is this thing pictured above, anyway?

 

A true workhorse in the bindery, this manual contraption has been going strong for an untold number of years. While there is no information on the piece to date it, the instruction panel on the underside does include “celluloid” as one of the materials that can be processed by it! To my knowledge, it has also never needed any major maintenance or parts replacement, and is still used in our shop today for small jobs… no internet or digital hookup needed. Heck, there’s not even any electricity needed – just a strong arm!

 

Lassco-Wizer Bindery Equipment

This is a manual corner cutter or rounder. Less expensive than a custom die cut, rounded corners can add some style to business cards, invitations or other print pieces by smoothly rounding off the corners after printing. This machine can be set for different degrees of roundness. On small quantities of a quick turnaround job, it is still earning its keep today in our bindery. In some cases, hand-finishing print is still the way to go!

Printed samples finished with rounded corners

printed label for bindery corner rounder

 

This particular model, which has no doubt paid for itself many times over through the years, is a Lassco “CorneRounder®”. Lassco-Wizer in Rochester, NY is still in the business of making quality industrial bindery tools like drills, paper joggers, perf-score-numbering equipment, staplers and press equipment. New models of their corner rounding machinery operate pneumatically on large quantities, yet they still produce a manual model very similar to this one above – though it appears to have a few more plastic parts these days.

True quality design and construction stand the test of time.

 

 

Strive to buy your print locally! A community printer will understand communication and design, with a special emphasis on your local market. They should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmental responsible printing with FSC certified products. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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Buy Local, Buy the Book – Indie Asheville and Print Go Together

 

print, bookmarks and promotion

Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe is the flagship, downtown, indie bookstore in Asheville, NC, and always does a great job in outreach and marketing to the community. With an award-winning events program, website and social media plan, a sister-store at Downtown Books & News, and a bustling café with local pastries and house blends, Malaprop’s is nationally recognized as a leading independent bookstore. Even their free bookmark shows me why they are such a success.

Last week I bought a book at Malaprop’s and the associate stuck a free giveaway bookmark into the volume – a simple, direct way to reach your customers. The bookmark (see above) promotes shopping at local, independent establishments like Malaprop’s and Downtown Books & News, and spells out 10 clear reasons why doing so helps you, helps your community and helps the larger world as well. Click the photo above to see a larger version and read the 10 great effects of your choice to buy local and indie.

What makes this marketing piece so effective?

  • It is useful, and will therefore have longevity. A printed bookmark will stay around to mark your place while you read, getting notice each time the book is opened – a much longer “life” than for most printed direct mail or marketing pieces.
  • The message is clear. The card draws a clear connection between the act of choosing to spend your dollars locally and 10 specific results of that choice.
  • It is thought-provoking. Issues of job creation, environmental sustainability, choice, local economics and growth and more are effected by the decision to shop locally from independent merchants.
  • It rewards the consumer. The free bookmark is positive reinforcement for a smart choice.

And all from a small piece of printed paper! Print and paper are the perfect marketing fit for a bookseller, but if a bookmark is not a natural fit for your business or product line, consider the huge selection of promotional products that you can brand with your logo and message to use in a similar way. Think creatively about new ways your business can reward customers while establishing in their minds the message you want to promote. This little bookmark can help get you thinking about ways you can do that in your own style.

 

Don’t forget to buy your print locally! A community printer will understand communication and design, with a special emphasis on your local market. They should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmental responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.