With the Olympic Flame lit and as a London based company, Printhouse Corporation can feel the buzz in the air for Olympic Games London 2012. Still thinking of a few last minute plans to execute for your business? Printhouse Corporation is here to help you with all your print needs, also as Dan explained in his last blog post – There’s No Such Thing as Impossible.

All businesses have been thinking how they can be affected by, or prosper from the Olympic Games being held in London. Businesses might have Olympic Games specials, new or extra deals. Most probably new or extra printing products are involved. If you are still finalising your ideas and need some help with artwork of your printing products, hopefully this post will make things a bit more clear what you can do and can not do regarding setting up your artwork for print.

It makes sense that businesses are eager to use the Games to boost their business activities by marketing their products in connection with London 2012. Companies which are official London 2012 sponsors have that right. But to protect the sponsors’ investment in the Games, and to give them the exclusive association with London 2012 for which they pay, London 2012 Organsing Committee must prevent other businesses exploiting London 2012 in a way, without their authorisation.

Thus, the only people entitled to use the London 2012 brand and the Protected Games’ Marks are:

• LOCOG
• LOCOG sponsors
• Official broadcasters
• Official merchandise licensees
• Licensed noncommercial partners

Here you find a thorough document of the Olympic Games Brand Protection guidelines for business use.

The following are some of the current items that make up the Protected Games’ Marks:

• The Olympic Symbol
• The Paralympic Symbol
• The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Emblems
• The London 2012 mascots
• The word ‘London 2012′
• The words ‘Olympic’, ‘Olympiad’, ‘Olympian’ (and their plurals and words very similar to them – eg ‘Olympix’
• The words ‘Paralympic’, ‘Paralympiad’, ‘Paralympian’ and their plurals and words  very similar to them – eg ‘Paralympix’
• The Olympic Motto: ‘Citius Altius Fortius’ / ‘Faster Higher Stronger’
• The Paralympic Motto: ‘Spirit in Motion’
• The Team GB logo
• The ParalympicsGB logo
• The British Olympic Association logo
• The British Paralympic Association logo
• london2012.com (and various derivatives)
• The London 2012 sports pictograms

An illustrated overview of the Protected Games’ Marks:

It’s been a busy week here in PrintHouse, with a whole heap of new projects on the horizon, all seemingly more complex yet needing faster turn-arounds than ever before.  But hey, “bring ‘em on” I say – as you know that’s what we’re all about here;  making the impossible possible.

Well I say ‘we’.  In all this I have the easy job.  You see, I can make you all these promises but it’s down to this magical man we hide away in depths of the building to deliver on them!  I’m the ‘yes man’, but it’s really my friend in the gloom, locked away in a room with no windows, who has to make it happen.

Tweak your artwork – sure, no problem.

Set up that cutter guide – of course, leave it with me.

Impose my multi page file and check all my images set up correctly – piece of cake.

Get it ready for Monday – yep, we’ll work on it all weekend.

I need it delivered it to 32 global locations – don’t you worry about, it’ll be sorted.

At PrintHouse Corporation it has become our mantra; if you have a problem, we’ll find a solution.  Anything from troublesome files to the most urgent deadlines to the most complex finishes…we’ll make it happen.  I mean it’s not that hard is it – if they can introduce Salmon Fishing to the Yemen then we can, and we have (just look at our testimonials pages), solve almost anything print related.

Oops, and there I go again, saying we! I must stop that.  What I meant to say was it’s mostly down to…Oh come on, you never really thought I was gonna tell you his name now did you and allow him to get your credit?  I mean, I can’t have him getting the letters, the praise, the thanks, the booze, the lunches and the golf invites now can I?

I recently visited the Warner Brothers Harry Potter tour. I was amazed to find an old printing press in the merchandise shop. this gave me an idea of replicating an old style look for a magazine, article or publication for a future project.

This could be made in a nice piece of printing matter. I could use the faded, aged look of the Daily Prophet newspaper from the Harry Potter films.

I really like these printing methods used. At first I thought you were just making the lines grainy in some spots because it was supposed to look like something from a very old printing press, and maybe the ink didn’t apply so evenly. But then I saw there were words in there. What would be great was if you had some sort of holgram, colour change for each picture to make it look real and animated.

Anyway here are some photos i took of the old press.

The printing industry continues to change at an ever quickening rate. With Drupa looming next month it will be interesting to see what the major manufacturers will be showing.

The realities of the internet age are that everyone wants things quicker. Therefore the pressure in the industry is to be able to get from concept to finished product in ever quicker times.

All the emphasis on workflows and software solutions is on being able to process ever larger amounts of data at ever quicker rates.

Likewise the press manufacturers are moving to greater automation both in the physical handling of plates to the transfer of data from the pre press area direct to the press so that make ready times continue to get faster.

The race to get from plates starting to be mounted to the first saleable sheet coming out of the delivery continues with the ‘big two’ (Komori and Heidleberg ‘slugging it out’ as they have done for the last several major exhibitions.

Even with shorter run lengths the running speeds of presses is now reaching the heady heights of up to 18,000 sheets per hour which is considered near the physical limit of being able to move and continue to control a sheet of paper.

Of course with ever shorter run lengths the industry is turning to high speed ink jet printing as a way to economically produce such jobs. Again the large amount of money being invested in research and development into producing multi head arrays of high speed ink jets reflects the view that many manufacturers have that ultimately much printing will be done by non impact methods.

Many people think that the added automation and the emphasis on digital output is reducing the need for skills. However while this is true to some extent there is no doubt that having a grounding in the traditional skills is a tremendous asset to those of us that remain in the industry.

 Having seen this tremendous change I cannot help but wonder what the Drupa after this one will bring us!

Notwithstanding the evolving demands in print and, in certain cases a PDF or online version completely replacing “hard copy”, there are certain industry sectors where the printed format remains a major presence. One of these is TRAVEL … and travel-related sectors.

With so much information readily available online it can be straightforward to put together a bespoke “package” remotely, albeit potentially more time-consuming and offering less protection (in some cases) if things don’t go to plan. But wherever your final destination(s), there’s usually a plethora of printed information to browse, ranging from maps to attractions and also very niche services on offer.

Many travel-related companies take regular exhibition stands to promote services – bearing in mind the time & expense of planning/attending, it would be extremely brave to simply direct interested parties to a web site address or QR code without any physical literature to pass on.

Perhaps there’s still an element of tradition for many, where collating and thumbing through brochures before making final decisions remains integral.

I couldn’t help but notice on a very recent trip that when visiting several galleries & museums, even with audio guides and phone/pad applications prevalent (both a growing market), more visitors were still referring to printed guide books and/or venue literature than anything else, indicating a strong demand remains for all versions. On viewing queues to purchase the main printed catalogue, it emphasised to me how these various mediums can successfully work in tandem as opposed to being viewed as direct competition.

At PrintHouse we continue to develop long-term working relationships with a range of travel-related companies, based on a combination of understanding the marketplace, ensuring any “immoveable” agreed deadlines are met (see below) and with printing presses to perfectly suit the vast majority of project requirements.

With “eco-credentials” an important and hot topic right now, as we’ve full FSC environmental accreditation we’re equally keen to promote and ensure materials used are from sustainable sources – more than happy to discuss options available and advise of best route. Its fine to include relevant logo & supporting text on majority of printing, there’s no cost implication here.

From our West London base, we’re also perfectly placed to complete & deliver last minute projects directly to London locations – I’ve lost track of the number of times we’ve got people out of a very tight spot with speedy turnarounds, even it if did require a courier direct to stand on morning of the event; not ideal for blood pressure levels, but if needs must …

We’re working with an increasing number of overseas clients exhibiting predominantly in the UK and London in particular (but also a series of European events) to remove the hassle and extra expense of organising/shipping printed items to the venue(s) in question.

You might have experienced that we at PrintHouse are a very sociable lot, but you might not realise we also actively maintain our on-line social life — our own Facebook page! And we’ve just added a really cool feature to our page, which alone should make you like us a lot (just click that “like” button to let us know!).

We have developed an application explaining — and showing — popular paper formats to help both inexperienced print buyers and casual information seekers visualise various paper sizes in real-life situations. Often, it is hard to realise how big is an “A1″ format, not to mention the fact many people don’t know the exact dimensions of a popular “A4″ size.

How big is an “A4″ size?

We hear much more of similar questions regarding paper formats, as apart form the popular “A” series, there’s a “B”, “C” and more. Obviously, we weren’t the first to try explaining paper sizes and plenty of diagrams can be found on the Internet (even a dedicated Wikipedia article). However, they all are still quite abstract and don’t show the fundamental aspect — how does a specific format feel in your hand and just how big it is in real-life situations.

That’s where PrintHouse comes to the rescue! With the help of PhotoRoom, our brand new packshot & still-life photography studio, we shot some nice printed samples. Now you can learn not only a format’s dimensions and useful information but how it feels in your hand.

So, head for our Facebook page now and check out the brand new “Print Sizes Exposed” app. Don’t forget to let us know there what you think and what other paper sizes would you like us to present.

Following up from my last blog on ‘finished style’ another area to cover on the post print finishing options is the various additional extras you can have to make your print stand out even more. Here is one of many that will follow.

Foil blocking – shine out from the crowd

Foil blocking is the process of applying metallic or ‘foil’ effects to a surface.

The technique produces effects which are practically impossible to achieve using traditional litho printing. Foil adds an impression of quality. Foils are available in a variety of finishes, including gloss, matt and satin. Along with standard gold and silver, you can choose from many other metallic colours including holographic.

Not only does it provide a uniquely vibrant image with depth, foiling can be applied to a much larger range of materials. A clear foil is also available giving a finish similar to UV varnish.

Fascinate with foil

Foil blocking can transform conventionally printed materials and make them ‘shine’. Stationery, business cards, greetings cards, invitations, packaging, folders, brochure and book covers and a whole host of other products can all benefit from its magic touch. You won’t have to spend a million to look a million dollars!

And if the above still leaves you confused as to why you should choose foiling then why not ask to see a sample. Our lovely samples room is full to the brim with all manner of printed items with all the sorts of wonderful finishes.

Don’t forget I am only an email or phone call away if you wish to discuss in more detail.

Generally the inks used in litho printing are transparent. In the case of process colour (full colour) printing, this is because the four ink colours used (cyan, magenta, yellow and black, known as CMYK) are designed to sit on top of each other to create all possible other colours. For example, 100% magenta and 100% yellow will create a strong red colour, but every printable colour will be made of some combination of percentages of these four colours, overlaying each other in a “screen” pattern of very small ‘halftone’ dots. These dots are too small to be seen with the naked eye, and combine in the eye of the viewer to create the effect of continuous tone colour. Process colour inks need to be printed one on top of the other in the correct sequence (KCMY) and at the correct ink strength (density) to accurately reproduce colours on press.

The fact that inks are transparent means that the viewer is actually seeing reflected light from the paper the inks are printed on – the highlight areas in pictures are very near to being plain white paper – which is why there is no white ink used in process colour printing (more on this in a minute).

Even pantone (spot) colours – which are usually intended to print on their own on items such as stationery – are generally transparent, and can be used in combination by an inventive designer (although it can be difficult to predict the results of making one pantone overprint a second one with any degree of accuracy).

However, there are a couple of exceptions to this… Metallic inks are opaque, which means they can be used to print onto coloured materials successfully. It also means great care has to be taken if using metallic colours in combination with other colours, especially CMYK, since, being opaque, they will either change the base on which the other colours sit (if printed first and left to dry) or cover up whatever has been created by the other colours (if printed last and overlaying the other colours). There is a related issue with printing halftones in metallic colours; which is that their metallic effect relies on the viewer perceiving light reflecting from the shiny surface of the ink, rather than the base colour of the paper below it. But if a halftone pattern is applied to a metallic ink, the viewer can see through the dots to the paper beneath, which can lead to some unexpected effects; as the sheet of paper is moved in front of the viewer, sometimes the eye sees reflective ink, sometimes paper and sometimes neither very clearly (when the sheet can appear suddenly and disturbingly dark).

Opaque white ink has been in use in screen printing and flexography for some years, and allows both simple use of white type on coloured or foiled backgrounds, and can be used in combination with other colours to create a whole raft of effects not possible with CMYK only printing. Recent developments in digital technology have also allowed the use of white opaque ink, which can, for example, be used to create a shaped base layer on transparent acrylic materials which is then overprinted with colour – giving the effect of an opaque image against a transparent background – something that was almost impossible to do in the past.

In my blog post at the beginning of the year, I shared templates of marketing folders available to download. Another important candidate in the collection of marketing materials, that can not be overlooked, are business cards.

In the 17th century merchants in London began using a trade card. Not much different to today, it was basically an advertisement. A picture and company name on the one side and directions to the merchant on the other side, to bring customers to the merchant’s location.

After all these years, printed business cards are still popular today. It has become a bit smaller, less elaborate, more colourful and varied. The choice of paper is endless. To make business cards more elegant and eye catching a wide variety of print finishes such as spot UV and foil blocking (just to name two) are also available.

The two most popular sizes are:

90mm wide X 50mm high

This is the metric version of USA’s & Canada’s business card size. The aspect ratio of 3.5 x 2 ” arose from the Victorian calling card. Because of this popular size, a lot of accessories, such fashionable business card holders came on the market, which made it even a more popular size.

85mm wide X 55mm high

Using bank cards instead of cash has become more popular in the last ten years. And most people tend to keep everything together in their wallet. 85mm wide X 55mm high, is the same as a bank card. This business card size will make your situation more likely for someone to keep your business card in their wallet.

The above mentioned are a standard if you want to play it safe and go with the flow. Feel like breaking the boundaries? One of my favourite websites, Card Observer showcase a robust gallery of unique business cards.

If you need any help with designing or printing an exquisite looking business card, get in contact with us at PrintHouse Corporation.

By now pretty much all print buyers understand and accept the differences between conventional litho printing and its digital counterpart. In a nutshell the latter is ideally suited for the shorter run work that’s needed in a hurry, with the compromise generally being a little in the way of quality. As the producer, each “copy” or “print” costs me the same, so while there are no set up costs like plates to pay for, beyond a certain point this steady unit by unit rise exceeds the litho set up. There is no fixed point at which this happens, but on multi page brochures and books for example this would normally be around the 250-500 mark.

Yet within the term “digital” there are still a couple of choices for you and at PrintHouse you will find us able to offer you both. The xerographic systems are great for producing good quality work at the lowest costs in the fastest timelines. Looking perfectly professional this system offers an ideal solution for those on the tightest budgets or for those items where absolute premium quality (I’m thinking flyers, posters, leaflets, handouts and the like) is not essential. For where it is the Indigo Press is the way to go. The xerographic systems are limited in the range of stocks (style and weight) they can run onto. And as the technique uses an oil to fuse down the toner (iron filings), the finished look often has a slightly glossy sheen. Where the Indigo differs is in its use of a specially formulated ink rather than a toner (oh, and in that the machine itself costs around 10 times as much!), allowing for a flatter and far more litho like finished look. And with a wider range of materials and an ability to run on up to 400gsm in weight, it really is an excellent substitute for litho when a short run or lightning turnaround are required. Yes it’s slightly more expensive than its xerographic cousin, but where a top quality booklet, brochure, report, book or the like is the name of the game then it’ll be your best spent few extra pounds!

Still a little unclear what’s you? Well worry not as myself and the team in sales will gladly advise what’s best for you — so any questions as to the right route for your next project just leave it to us to make the right suggestions.