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So you need some brochure design, eh?

Tri-fold brochures are one of the most common types of marketing pieces.  They are thin and convenient to carry, or can easy used as a self-mailer.  They offer a slight element of surprise by enticing the viewer to open it and see what’s inside.  Despite how familiar most consumers are with this format, it’s still surprising how few people know how to properly setup their files to create one.

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Easter Photos + Wide Format = Special Memories for a Lifetime

Nothing says SPRING quite the same way that the Easter holiday does.  The weather is getting warmer, the grass is getting greener, and flowers and trees begin to bloom with vivid colors.  It’s a time for reflection and renewal, breaking out of the “cabin-fever” of a cold and grey winter.  For many people, it’s a time to get together with friends and family. Some dress up in their Easter finest, with brightly colored Easter hats, Easter dresses, Easter shirts and ties.

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Is Printing Offshore a Good Idea, or Just Plain Lame?

Offshore Printing - Just Plain Lame

We’ve noticed over the past several years that some of our clients have tried the offshore printing gig (like in China, for example.) As far as we can tell, they have all come back to buying locally with someone they can trust, have a face to face conversation with, and avoid experiencing any of the challenging cultural differences.

This experience has been both rewarding and frustrating for us. Frustrating because we usually don’t find out until a client has already printed overseas, been burned or let down, and then come back. Rewarding because they do come back, with similar stories and a realization that the trust, professionalism, quality and reliability we provide as a “given”, which they had previously taken for granted, has real value to their companies.

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It’s about CHOICE! Digital Printing vs. Offset Printing

Helping you decide between Digital and Offset Printing

One of the advantages of being in business for over thirty years, is that we’ve seen a lot of exciting changes in the world of commercial printing and graphics communications. Computer-to-Plate (CTP) systems have made a huge impact in traditional offset printing, providing better printing plates capable of amazing image quality.  Our chemistry-free plating system develops on press which adds an incredible environmental benefits as well.  Technology has lead to major improvements in the areas of digital printing and copying also — using faster, more precise RIPS, and producing higher resolution output in shorter periods of time. When you add our GRACoL G7 processes into the mix, you get dynamic color which is repeatable and matches across ALL devices. Exciting stuff!

As proven experts in both Digital Printing and traditional Offset Printing, we have a great deal of experience and advice that we’re more than happy to share with our clients. First, let’s take a look at the advantages of each printing method:

Advantages of Digital

  • Lower cost per unit for shorter runs (no money tied up in plates or make-ready)
  • Faster turn-around times (no drying time required.)
  • Variable Data printing so each page can be unique
  • Instant Proofing, since each proof IS a print
  • Less waste since there’s virtually ZERO make-ready

Advantages of Offset

  • Lower cost per unit for longer runs (Unit cost goes down as print quantity goes up)
  • Better Quality with higher image resolution (especially when combined with CTP, like we do!)
  • More paper options (Most digital devices require special papers and smooth finishes, which makes linen and laid finishes challenging or not possible)
  • Pantone Spot Color and Metallic Ink options (Not all colors can be built from CMYK, no matter how hard you try!)

Making your decision…

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Universal Printing’s Elite Eight!

NCAA March Madness 

“It’s NCAA

Tourney Time,

Baby!!!” 

– The Legendary
“Dickie V”
Dick Vitale

Yes… Universal Printing produces a bunch of of projects and ships them all across the country and throughout the world, but our base of operations is smack in the heart of North Carolina. Specifically, the Triangle — That happy bustling region that includes Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, but also encompasses Apex, Carrboro, Cary, and Morrisville. 

Around here, we like our College Basketball!  We’re surrounded by 4 of the 12 ACC teams (UNC, Duke, NCSU, and yes I’m counting Wake Forest!) and when it comes down to “Tourney Time,” we are right here in the thick of it!

So in honor of “March Madness” and the NCAA Basketball Tournament, we’re posting our own “Elite Eight” of our 8 most popular blog posts.  We hope you’ll take the time to read or re-read them, or share them with friends and colleagues!  In the meantime, we’ll be rooting for Duke and Carolina, and the other ACC teams representing the Atlantic Coast this weekend.

  1. Choosing Inks for Color Printing – Coated vs. Uncoated

  2. Tips to enhance your graphic design portfolio

  3. More about Color: Digital Color | RGB vs. CMYK

  4. Choosing Inks for Color Printing – Spot Color vs. Process Color

  5. Direct Mail… Back-in-the-day or Future Play?

  6. Choosing Inks for Color Printing – Metallics and Other Specialty Inks

  7. How to Save PDF files for Better Printing!

  8. Tweet me… Social Media and Commercial Printing CAN work together!

 

Universal Printing Blog Logo

Universal Printing
Offering quality printing and communications solutions to
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, and the Triangle since 1979.
www.universalprinting.com

 

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Commercial Offset Printing: Just Ink on Paper… or IS it?!

It should be pretty clear to anyone who knows and does business with us, that we love what we do!  Each day is different, filled with new projects and opportunities (and occasionally some  “curve balls” to troubleshoot and solve.) But I can promise… it’s NEVER boring!  We work on a lot of different types of projects, too.  Sometimes we have an awesome graphic design project in-house or some large direct mail project, other times we’ll have complex kits to produce and assemble.  It’s safe to say, that every project we work on is unique and important in its own way.

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5 Things to Remember for Setting Up Your Files for Printing

Great printing starts with great files.  I haven’t crunched the numbers, but I would guess that maybe 9 out of 10 jobs delayed from getting on press are because those files had to be kicked back and fixed.  For those clients that send files which are truly “print ready”…  THEY get 1 million COOL POINTS!

Here are a few things to keep in mind when setting up files for printing:

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Choosing Paper for Your Printing Project… Part 2

So you want to know even more about paper, eh?  I don’t blame you. Our previous blog post went over some of the basics of paper, like the type of coating or finish, and caliper, weight and bulk.  This post will cover opacity, brightness, shade and grain. Let’s get started!

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