Ordering Commercial Printing For Your Company Can

Ordering Commercial Printing For Your Company Can Be Indimidating

by: Robert Kennedy

กI went to see a printer today to get my companyกs stationery printed. They ask too many questions, I can’t answer!ก I feel kinda dumb.

How many times have you felt this way? Itกs kind of like going to the auto garage for a tune up and being told you need a new 02 sensor, your syncro mesh gear has a tooth missing and so on. You know you have to get it done but who can you trust to give you the best quality, price and service. There is a reason why I include all three กquality, price and serviceก

In the 80กs and early 90กs it used to be กquality, price and serviceก…pick 2. These days, with the internet as a resource, buyers and sellers alike can truly benefit from forming bonding relationships with their print and design firm of choice. Location is no longer an issue. In fact, I will bet money you can always find what appears, to be better than what you are getting. It can be overwhelming and too much information, which may lead to a regretful purchase. Neither the buyer or the reputable seller desire this result.

Here are a few tips on what you should figure out before you talk to your printer:

1) Decide how many inks colors you are going to print in. Here are a few links that will help you understand this:

Pantone color chart in RGB and html; http://www.weprintcolor.com/pantone_RGB_convert.htm

Convert from RGB color to CMYK color;

http://www.weprintcolor.com/rgb_CMYK.htm

Explain CMYK, RGB and Pantone Color; http://www.weprintcolor.com/pop_ups/Templ_modificatons_full.htm

2) Have a pretty good idea of the paper and texture of the paper you would like to use. Learn some ‘buzz words’ in your conversions with the printers you speak to. Here is a list of printing terms commonly used by people in the printing industry;

http://www.reprotechprint.com/printing_terms.htm

3) Have a general idea of the quantities you would like to purchase. If you’re not sure don’t be afraid to ask your printer to provide a quotation on several different quantities. In printing, the more you order the cheaper the per unit cost is. Here are a couple of examples of this:

Business Cards;

http://www.weprintcolor.com/businesscardscolour.htm

Postcards;

http://www.weprintcolor.com/postcard_index_4x6.htm

4) Will you provide a ‘print ready’ digital file? When I say ‘print ready’, it is important that you understand this. Many printers will attempt to print from a ‘none print ready’ file. This will sometimes lead to undesirable results. Here is a couple of links to help you with this:

Free digital file inspection; http://www.weprintcolor.com/upload.htm

Specifications for sending files; http://www.weprintcolor.com/SendingFiles.htm

Once you have gathered education with the terms us printers use you will understand , more clearly, what you are getting for your money. You will also appear more educated in your future purchases.The moral of my story? Buyers need to be more armed with knowledge to make an educated purchase and sellers need to be sharp, knowledgeable and willing to share this knowledge…Everybody wins.

About The Author

Robert is an online leader in graphic design and print. Online since 1999, Robert has spearheaded the success of http://www.weprintcolor.com by providing the finest online graphic design system on the web.

This article was posted on December 13, 2004

by Robert Kennedy

PIM Team Case Study: Creating Text Effects With PH

PIM Team Case Study: Creating Text Effects With PHP and GD

by: Bobby Handzhiev

See how you can create graphic effects on text with PHP and GD drop shadows, arcs, fonts and colors.

Problem

Atec Signs and Sraphics Inc. launched a web site with the idea to sell decals online. To achieve better customers ineterest the website had to integrate online decal builder. The company is offering also decals for vehicles which brought some specific requirements to the builder like having the decal text turning arround 4 types of arcs.

Goals

Provide users with preview area

Allow visitors to choose font and color

Allow adding drop shadow and selecting drop shadow color

Allow turning the text into arcs

Real Time calculating

Solution

Because of the need for increasing customers interest we had to think about not for perfect math formulas when showing the graphs in the preview area, but for the people who will look at them.

As we will reaveal below, there were few problems going arround human appreceptions for something กperfectly smoothก and the matchematical perfect figures.

Methodology

We were going to extensively use PHP GD library for the text effects. It provided easy changing of fonts and colors, adding drop shawdows and rotating the texts.

We had also to create color palletes which to appear when user click and disappear when color is selected (You can personally try the decals creating here). Using hidden layers and javascript was supposed to do the work.

The main problem in this site was to create 4 types of arcs so when the user selects one of them the text is created arround imaginary arc (like in the vector graphical softwares). We were going to study Bezieกs formulas and create these arcs with its help.

Implementation

PIM Team Bulgaria had the task to build the full functional online decals builder with the following features:

Decal background

Some users were supposed to have their decals placed on colored background. We had to allow the preview area to be painted in a selected background. First we created the image in temp folder:

// the name of destination image

$dest=กdecals/ก.time().ก.jpgก;

//the background

imagefilledrectangle ( $im, 0, 0, 590, 60, $colors[$_POST[กbcolorsก]]);

$colors array contains the available color which are stored by the administrator in the database.

Thus, when the visitor selects a background it is passed as parametter to imagefilledrectangle function.

Font selection

Users should be able to select fonts for their future decals. Knowing that we can’t consider all the fonts will be available on all visitorกs computers we had to upload them on the web server directory.

We allowed the admin to manage the fonts, adding their names and uploading files in admin area.

The fonts in the select box came from the database. Selected font was passed in the call to imagettftext funtion which is drawing on the previously created image.

Color Selections

The color selections had to be a palettes which appear when user clicks and disappear when color is selected. The palette had to look as a table with colors and these colors are also defined in the

admin area so they had to come dynamicly. We had to seed a static javascript function with dynamic content.

We created a PHP cycle which was taking the colors from the database and then creating a string for HTML table. This table is then passed to a javascript function which creates the palletes with the help of hidden layers:

function showTable(table)

{

mouseX = window.event.x + document.body.scrollLeft+25;

if(table==กbackgroundก)

{

var content=กก;

var y=460;

}

if(table==กfontsก)

{

var content=กก;

var y=690;

}

if(table==กshadowsก)

{

var content=กก;

var y=810;

}

document.getElementById(‘tablerก).style.pixelLeft=mouseX;

document.getElementById(‘tablerก).style.pixelTop=y;

document.getElementById(‘tablerก).style.visibility=กvisibleก;

document.getElementById(‘tablerก).innerHTML=content;

}

Of course, once the user select the desired color we had to hide the pallette:

function setColor(elid,color,fromid,shc)

{

document.getElementById(elid).value=color;

document.getElementById(‘tablerก).style.visibility=กhiddenก;

}

Thus we created nice palettes which appear and disappear on a single click and don’t take much space on the screen.

Drop Shawdows

The decals offered has the ability to have a drop shadow added so we had to add this option to the online builder. PHP however didn’t offered a nice function for that. We created a procedure which draws the texts twice once the original 100% saturated text and once the shadow with a percentage of the color and appropriate displacement. Of course the shadow was drawn on the image before the main text.

@imagettftext($img, 20, $gr[$i], $x+$dx, $ys[$i]+$dy, $scolors[$shadowcolor], กfonts/ก.$_POST[กfontsก],$word[$i]);

Arcs

The main problem came when we had to กrotateก the texts thru arcs. First we created perfect Bezie funtion which to draw the curves and adjust the letter above them. But what a surprise the curves looked perfect alone, but when we adjusted the letters above them they seemed rough.

After studying this problem we realised that the rough screen resolution and the disability to antialise the images wouldn’t allow us to create nice arcs. We were standing against insoluble problem.

We decided to create few arcs with a graphical software (CorelDraw) and to see what could be wrong.

We noticed that Corelกs curves were looking great after they are manually adjusted. However you can’t just leave the program to create perfect curves automaticly. A human eye was needed to judge when a curve looks right and when not.

We got a totally different direction. There wasn’t an universal function to help us. The solution we found was to กmanuallyก adjust each letter. We created a procedure with cases which were adjusting each letter on the appropriate place and with appropriate rotation depending on how long was the text. It worked!

We created 2 arrays for each arc type one array with the positions and one array with the rotations.

The rest was simple:

if($arctype)

{

$start=(35$l)/2;

if($start%2) $start+=1;

$gr=array_slice($gr,$start,$l);

$ys=array_slice($ys,$start,$l);

}

if(!$arctype)

{

$ys=array();

$gr=array();

//making the arrays

for($i=0;$i

You can go on the atecกs site and try the arcs we achieved (http://atecsigns.com/decal/step_1.php).

Results

Now Atec Singsกs web builder creates perfect decals with graphs, calculates the price and allows you to add the decals to your shopping cart and chgeckout (the shopping cart software is also created by PIM Team Bulgaria).

The builder allows the visitor to create the desired decals with any color, dropped shadow, background and shape, to preview it and to calculate the cost for different sizes and quantities.

The website and builder were promoted with massive radio advertising company. At that time it was the only decal builder which allowed creating texts arround arcs.

Conclusions

Use GD to create text effects

Do not forget that you can create you own functions for what GD does not offer

Do not always search for math perfect formulas. The graphical effects are intended to the human eye

Load fonts in the server

Use javascript and hidden layers to achieve great flexibility

About The Author

Bobby Handzhiev is a senior developer in PIM Team Bulgaria

http://pimteam.net

[email protected]

This article was posted on November 02, 2004

by Bobby Handzhiev

Color Me Blue

Color Me Blue

by: Rosalind Gardner

Chris, a new consulting client, asked me to help him increase sales on his affiliate marketing site.

As he was describing his site and the problem, I thought, ‘this is going to be a quick fix.ก

How wrong I was!

His site was excellent. Other than a few minor points, it followed all my basic rules for a successful affiliate marketing site.

The site was focused around a single theme in a profitable niche, with an excellent selection of highpriced, highcommission products.

Chris had gone the extra mile to have his site professionally designed, and it was simple, elegant and userfriendly, employing consistent navigation and a nifty databasedriven search results system.

He was working directly with his merchant partners to create ad copy that offered his visitors the best possible deals.

And he was advertising in the payperclick search engines to drive tons of targeted traffic, and using hundreds of keyword listings with brilliantly worded titles and descriptions.

So, why on earth were his sales so low?

I knew I was picking at straws, but during our first session, I made a host of recommendations for improvement, which included:

a domain name change

a background color change

reformatting the page table size

rephrasing offers more positively

adding relevant graphics and photos

dropping poor performing merchants

adding a newsletter

adding new products

redirecting nonbuyers to additional offers

Chris implemented all my suggestions as well as a few of his own. After giving the new version a few weeks to prove itself, we scheduled our second teleconsulting session. I was anxious to hear how well the site was now performing.

You can appreciate my dismay when Chris told me that his sales had actually dropped!

Aargh!

I reviewed his site again, and it suddenly struck me… he should try blue links!

Why?

Because web design convention suggests that links should be blue, visited links purple and active links red. Although nothing written in stone about link color, I believe that those conventional colors should used whenever they compliment site design.

Iกd changed my own site links, SageHearts.com, from maroon to blue sometime before and noticed a nice conversion rate increase.

Sure enough, that WAS the answer to Chrisก site problems…

His conversions increased 1100% almost overnight JUST by changing his link color to blue.

In addition to being underlined, people expect links to be blue, and in some cases visitors may have problems with sites that don’t conform to their expectations.

With the average site visit lasting only about 8 seconds, we don’t have time to waste confusing our visitors with basic site navigation. Use blue links if possible to keep your navigation instantly recognizable, unambiguous and consistent.

© Copyright Rosalind Gardner, All Rights Reserved.

About The Author

Article by Rosalind Gardner, author of the bestselling กSuper Affiliate Handbook: How I Made $436,797 in One Year Selling Other Peopleกs Stuff Onlineก. To learn how you too can suceed in Internet and affiliate marketing, go to: http://NetProfitsToday.com.

This article was posted on March 30

by Rosalind Gardner

Seven Things to do NOW to Look Good ALWAYS!

Seven Things to do NOW to Look Good ALWAYS!

by: Renu DalalJain

Fashion magazines target people every day with lists and charts telling them the latest trends and techniques to look better, skinnier, smarter, where to buy the hippest clothes or the latest shoes! If you’re a woman, you are probably bombarded more often than you like, and if you’re a man, you may not get the information that you really want to know! Due to the glut of information available, most people know the obvious things to do to look elegant or well groomed, such as getting a good haircut or wearing certain brand name clothes. However, this may lead people to overlook some simple, basic things that can be done RIGHT NOW to add that subtle flair and polish to your everyday look!

Renu DalalJain, a certified image consultant and the owner of Flair Consulting in Philadelphia, PA, works with men and women to help them put their best personal face forward in social or corporate settings. She maintains that there are seven essential things any man or women can do, and often overlook, to help them present a wellgroomed, neat, and elegant appearance to the world! And all this without spending a dime!

1) Keep your skin and lips well conditioned. Ashy knees, flaky skin and chapped lips do not look nice, and will make your skin look old and tired. This is especially important in colder weather. If you wear lipstick, it is imperative that you keep your lips moist, because chapped lips are even more apparent under color. Keep lip balm in your car and your bedside table and apply it whenever you get in the car and before going to bed at night.

2) Make sure your nails are well shaped and all a similar length. Nothing says you don’t care like ragged nails or nails that are different lengths! (Ladies, I know you worked hard to grow those nails but just because only one broke, you shouldn’t think nobody would notice!) If you polish your nails, keep your everyday color one shade brighter than your skintone. This looks professional and clean and makes your hands look elegant, especially if you wear rings. If you like brighter colors make sure you repair chipped polish right away! Chips in bright polish are extremely noticeable and make you look sloppy.

3) Make sure your clothes and accessories are in a similar color family – don’t wear shades of beige or brown clothing with black shoes or a white belt. As a rule of thumb, make sure your belt, shoes, and watchstrap are in the same color family. Sometimes a strikingly different purse or shoes can make a statement, but it has to be well planned. The article in question must be of good quality and in good condition, since you want people to notice it.

4) Your socks or hose must match either your shoes or your pants. Do not EVER wear blue socks with brown shoes, or black socks with sneakers! If you are wearing slingback or openback shoes, make sure your socks or hose are the color of your shoes or nudecolored. If you are wearing sandals, do NOT wear hose unless it is patterned (think fishnets) and ขdeliberately worn to make a trendy statementข.

5) Wear the highest length socks you can (at least mid to high calflength). NOBODY wants to see shiny shins peeking out when you sit down!

6) Polish your shoes and clean your sneakers! The number one thing people forget to do when going out is to check their shoes for scuffs or dirt. Polished shoes show that you care about your appearance. The most expensive shoes in the world will look horrible if they are dirty or scuffed!

7) Keep your wallet or purse organized all the time. Nothing makes you look disorganized like an overstuffed wallet hanging on for dear life in your back pocket, or a purse bursting at the seams! Make yourself a system to keep the business cards, credit cards or receipts you don’t need all the time, in your briefcase or at home.

And a bonus: an understated use of scent (aftershave, cologne or perfume) shows that you take an extra step with your grooming and can have a positive effect not only on your own mood but on those around you. According to the Social Issues Research Center in Oxford, UK, subtle fragrances can have dramatic effects in improving your mood and sense of wellbeing. In addition, in experiments, subjects exposed to pleasant fragrances tend to give higher ‘attractiveness ratings’ to people in photographs. The regular use of pleasant fragrances helps to reduce mood disturbances in men and women.

About The Author

Copyright © 2004 Renu DalalJain, MS, CIC

Flair Consulting

http://www.flairconsulting.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on November 04, 2004

by Renu DalalJain

Graphic Designer: Four Color Postcard Making

Graphic Designer: Four Color Postcard Making

by: Marlon D. Ludovice

Being a graphic designer is not an easy job. You cannot just enter the scene and do the job instantly. It needs a lot of positive characteristics to fit for the said endeavor. But you may ask, what is a graphic designer? What do graphic designers actually do? Iกm pretty sure that most people can name at least a few things, but the graphic design spectrum is perhaps broader than you think.

ขGraphic design is the process and art of combining text and graphics and communicating an effective message in the design of logos, graphics, brochures, newsletters, posters, signs, and any other type of visual communication including post cardsข. So usually they are the one who formulate and create four color postcards for their clients. They are the one who has a greater knowledge and skills in art, computers, and problem solving and even designing creative works.

One task of a graphic designer is lay outing, it is usually a large range of work, but generally a layout artist is dealing with the structuring and laying out of images and text in a pleasing format for printed media. They transport the idea of your project in a software application, then after some creative works they are the one who gave you a final output or your project itself.

They choose the right blend of color for your postcards, the design and everything that must be included to your postcard. They are responsible that’s why creating a four color postcard is now a piece of work without much time and effort to take. With their computer skills in different printing programs the quality and service of the four color postcard is guaranteed.

About The Author

Marlon D. Ludovice is a graduate of Bachelor of Arts major in Political Science at Bicol University College of Arts and Sciences. Well actually iกm not fun of writing, i dont write at all. i am not expecting that i will be in this field. But i love to read books…almost everything interest me. reading is my passion! but now that i am in an article writer team, writing gives me an additional thrill in myself…Before i love to read books but now im also in a writing stuff. I can say that im not a good writer but i am trying to be one.

For additional information and comments about the article you may log on to http://www.mypostcardprinting.com/commercialprintingcompany.html

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 04

by Marlon D. Ludovice

How to Achieve a Perfect Color Scheme

How to Achieve a Perfect Color Scheme

by: Maricon Williams

Your choice of colors reflects you and your business. Color expresses intention, emotion and character. You must be cautious when choosing your color scheme because it will reflect the message you want to convey to the viewers. Wrong choice of the same may spell danger and loss on your part. Color plays a pivotal role in a websiteกs impact, thus, it must be considered warily.

There is a way to have an effective – actually a perfect color scheme. You can use Adobe PhotoShop however, this technique is also compatible with any graphic creation or editing program that has the ability to open an image file. The first step is to find an image. You can search anywhere – especially on the web where you can find visually appealing colors. Do not be bothered by the copyright because you will not be copying any part of it. If you’re perplexed if it is the design or the color that makes it attractive, blur the image in your imagination. If the color remained appealing, use it.

The second step is to save the original image and open it in your image editing application. After that, you open a new document in the same work area. We will call it palette image. From the original image, establish the color that occupies most of the area. Use the eyedropper tool to get that color. Use the paint bucket tool in your palette image to set it as a background color.

With the use of the eyedropper tool, select another color from your original image. Be cautious of the image overall proportion. In your palette image, use the rectangular selection tool to generate an area that has approximately identical proportion to the whole palette image and the source color has to the original image. Use the paint bucket tool to set the new rectangle to the new color. Continue transferring colors in the approximate identical proportions until you already achieved four to five palette image colors aside from the background. If you have an able imaging application, convert the image to web safe colors then save your new color palette. After that, write down the hex codes for your colors. Finally, decide on the relative proportion each Web page element has to the overall page. Next is to assign the corresponding palette image colors to each of them. After these steps, there is still a need for you to tweak your colors a little bit. Nonetheless, you are already saved from the tedious process of trial and error.

When choosing colors for your image choose wisely this is because colors have superior impact on viewers. In addition to the color scheme, the proportion of those colors is also critical to the overall look of your image. Try to master it all and you will never go astray.

About The Author

Maricon Williams

I love reading. Give me a book and Iกll finish it in one sitting. Reading is the chance to be transported to a different world and so is writing. Iกm more enthusiastic about writing however, since you can relay your ideas to someone else. I can only imagine that feeling when I hear a complete stranger talking about my ideas which read on an article somewhere. To relay my message to as many people is the same as touching people with music. Only mineกs less harmonic. I try to make up for it with the color I bring with words. And most of the time, it’s more than enough.

For comments, questions and additional information about web development, visit http://www.webdevelopmentpros.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 15

by Maricon Williams

The One Simple Trick That Can Double Your Adsense

The One Simple Trick That Can Double Your Adsense Revenue

by: Brad Bahr

Iกve been working with Googleกs Adsense program for a while now. If you’re not already in the program, why not take a look at it now at https://www.google.com/adsense. I really like Adsense. It makes me money and itกs easy to work with. Just some simple copy & paste into your webpage and you’re done. Right?

Wrong! You can do it that way if you want. Who knows? Maybe youกll get lucky and get a lot of clicks. But if you’re really serious about making a lot of money with the program, you’re going to have to tweak it a little.

Iกve invested quite a bit of time experimenting with the program. When I first signed up, I got some clicks and made a tiny bit of money. That wasn’t good enough. I knew there must be a way to get more of my visitors to click on the ads.

Google has a strict policy about not pointing to the ads in any way or asking people to click on them, so there were two things I couldn’t do. What else was there?

Then I remembered reading an article once that discussed the psychological impact of colors on the human mind. I started researching everything I could find on the subject.

After a lot of reading, many tests and periods of watching my clicks go up and down, I found the one color combination that seemed to work the best.

Testing previously done at supermarkets had revealed that the same product could pull more sales from just changing the colors of the label. What were these colors? Red and yellow! The combination of these two colors has an immediate impact on the person who sees them. They make your eyes stop and focus. They pull your eyes right to that part of the page. They grab your attention! Iกm not sure exactly why the combination of red and yellow does this, but it does. On one of my sites, I changed my Adsense ads to a bright red border and a yellow background with black text and URL.

My click through rate more than doubled with just that one simple change. Thatกs what worked on my site. Your siteกs color scheme may work better with a slightly different color combination. Try lots of different color variations. Make a change in the morning and let it ride for the whole day. The next morning, try a different set of colors. Change the border, background, text. Change everything you can. Most importantly, keep detailed records of the color scheme you used, click ratio and revenue generated.

After youกve done all the experimenting you want to, go back to the most profitable one and let it run for a week or so and see how it does. Iกm always trying different colors even after my run of good clicks with red and yellow. There are a lot of color combinations to choose from. You never know when youกll find just the right one.

(c) Brad Bahr All Rights reserved

http://www.nononsenseinternetmarketing.com

About The Author

Brad Bahr is the author of the NEW eBook: กHow to ‘reallyก Make Money on the Internetก. Itกs filled with no nonsense, practical information. To get your FREE copy of the book, go to ==> http://www.nononsenseinternetmarketing.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 19, 2004

by Brad Bahr

Hot Multimedia Tips

Hot Multimedia Tips

by: Grannyกs Mettle

Some of Howwiredกs best web developers and designers have converged to share their techniques to create effective audio, video and animation in the web. Here are excerpts from the poolกs tips, tricks and wizardry to help you optimize your multimedia efforts.

• Use layers as often as you want to. Using a liberal dose of layers will make it much easier later when itกs time to reedit and animate. In addition, it doesn’t add much to the overall file size.

• Save copies of the file as you work when using Flash. This is especially helpful when you’re using a Mac. This will come in handy when you suddenly experience problems in opening a Flash file youกve been slaving your days with.

• Use color outline layers and guide layers liberally. Both are found under the layer pulldown menu. The color outline layers show a layer in its outline form great for getting quick and precise positioning particularly with scanned drawings. Guide layers are for positioning bitmap guides or for testing layers you may want to remove from your final version. They allow you to keep a layer from exporting.

• Mix and match programs and media to get better results. Experiment and try combinations such as flat color vectors with photographic bitmaps for an interesting and rich output.

• For additional depth and color to vector images, use gradients; but don’t overuse so as to avoid adding to the file size and speeds.

• Don’t overdo your media. Your audience will definitely get indigestion from your web site.

• Never make your audience wait. Downloading an image that takes millions of years to finish will definitely make your audience cranky. Theyกd probably clicked to another site even before your banner finished downloading itself. กIf people have to wait, be sure itกs really worth their while,ก says HotWiredกs resident interface designer.

• Design delays that cover the loading process. Flash features full attributes that helps in keeping the audience occupied while that giant sound file is loading in the background. Flashกs Bandwidth Profiler is said to provide a big help on this.

• Use the knowledge and wisdom of your friends and colleagues. A good multimedia comes from a diverse source of skills found in people. The adage that two minds are better than one definitely applies here. Talk to other multimedia designers or join groups and mailing lists to share ideas and knowledge. What you think is trash for you might be a goldmine for another artist.

About The Author

Grannyกs Mettle is a 30something, professional web content writer. She has created various web content on a diverse range of topics, which includes digital printing topics, medical news, as well as legal issues. Her articles are composed of reviews, suggestions, tips and more for the printing and designing industry.

Her thoughts on writing: กWriting gives me pleasure… pleasure and excitement that you have created something to share with others. And with the wide world of the Internet, it gives me great satisfaction that my articles reach more people in the quickest time you could imagine.ก

On her spare time, she loves to stay at home, reading books on just about any topic she fancies, cooking a great meal, and taking care of her husband and kids.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 07

by Grannyกs Mettle

Digital Printing Press: An Update

Digital Printing Press: An Update

by: Marlon D. Ludovice

Way back in 1998, the digital printing world refined its processes and made significant production operating cost reductions, as well as introduced various new equipment and technology in printing. This revolutionary trend is expected to accelerate as the industry moves in the coming years.

Digital printing progress is being made in both the fixedimaging onpress plate making approach, as well as the directtopaper technology (plateless variable imaging) alike. The popular กI can do it better, faster and cheaper than you can,ก was the battle cry of Indigo, Xeikon, IBM, Xerox and Agfa, as the variable imaging digital color printing press pioneers intensified their maneuvering for market share. A good sign of variable digital color printingกs expanding reach into the traditional print market is the press dealerships.

The association of new models and the noticeable modifications on existing modern machineries opens a better and less expensive production performance which will provide a better service to the general customers. All moving at the direction where cost of digital variable printing has declined considerably. And a decline in cost is enlarging the market.

Xeikon one of the leading provider of hitech digital printing services recently announced strategic partnership with Varis which is expected to result in sophisticated fullcolor digital printing software becoming available early this year. Indigo has announced two new press configurations, one at each end of the cost and performance spectrum.

Today with highspeed color copiers are beginning to look more like lowend variable imaging digital printing presses. Xerox has split its DocuColor 40 copier/printer line into two basic versionsthe 40 CP and the 40PRO. The 40CP is a network connected copier/ printer equipped with a digital controlled from EFI. Itกs suitable for walkup copying as well as lowvolume network printing. The 40PRO is intended for sophisticated color document production, which emphasizes speed and color quality.

As printers look at reequipping their plants for the 21st century, difficult choices between conventional and an emerging digital press must be made. A mistake can put a firmกs survival at risk, but failure to reequip to meet client expectations will almost certainly be fatal. Knowing when to harness available pressroom technology has become printing managementกs most difficult task.

Digital press development is proceeding at an accelerating pace for both fixed image and fully variable imaging presses. Fixed image developments are being led by directtoplatemaking onpress technologies. Fullcolor, 100 percent variable capability presses are entering the production mainstream as their operating costs decline, while output quality improves and the presses become wider and faster.

About The Author

Marlon D. Ludovice

Actually I’m not fond of writing, I don’t even write at all. I am not expecting to be in this field. But nevertheless, I love to read books…almost everything interest me. Reading is my passion! And now that I am in an article writer team, writing gives me an additional thrill in myself…Before I love to read books but now I’m also in a writing stuff. I can say that I am not a good writer but I am always trying to be one.

For additional information and comments about the article you may log on to http://www.aprintingpress.com

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This article was posted on April 13

by Marlon D. Ludovice

Think Inkjet Unleash Your Imagination

Think Inkjet Unleash Your Imagination

by: Niall Roche

Add unlimited dimension to creative crafts with your computer, inkjet printer and specialized media. Inkjet printing opens the door to thousands of colors. Why print them all on white paper? If you can think it… you can inkjet!

Unleash your imagination. Specialty papers are just the beginning of endless media alternatives to standard printer paper. Highresolution photo papers in glossy and matte finishes transform family photos into enduring memories. Parchment and confetti papers add elegance and personalization to text printing, making treasured gifts and display items out of your favorite writings and adding warmth and cordiality to your invitations and greeting cards. As wonderful as these papers are, they are only the beginning of what you can do with a little imagination and your inkjet printer.

Metallic inkjet media is available in gold, chrome, and silver. Although metallic inkjet media accepts print in either color or black and white, generally black and white prints will present better on gold. If you print yellow on silver metallic media, it will look like a gold inlay. Orange printed on silver looks like bronze.

This transformation takes place between the ink and the media so you don’t have to apply difficult text and photo manipulations to achieve elegant results. Add dazzling effects to photos and text with holographic film. The base color of holographic media is silver. Holographic film reflects the full color spectrum and presents your print project in a rainbow of colors, changing along with the angle of view.

Super Color Shrink is a pliable plastic that accepts inkjet print. After printing, you bake the plastic and it shrinks and hardens, reducing the size of your image and adding texture to your project. Super Color Shrink is available both transparent and white art sheets.

Even if you can’t paint like Monet or Van Gogh, you can still create a masterpiece on canvas with Super Color Art Canvas. Designed for use with inkjet printers, Super Color Art Canvas is actually a specially coated nylon surface that renders your images and photos so beautifully that you probably won’t even want to frame them!Cling Window media makes window posters and removable art that adhere to most glass, plastic and baked enamel surfaces.

As you probably know, it is impossible to print the color white, but you can make white embossed prints with inkjet embossing paper and white embossing powder. Inkjet embossing paper keeps inks from drying. Sprinkle your prints with embossing powder and then heat the image with an embossing tool or heat gun and watch as your design becomes an embossed raised image. Find both white and clear embossing powders at any good craft retail store. Preserve embossed images with a clear acrylic spray.

Apply your designs to unpainted wood, marble, slate, and leather with inkjet rubon decal paper or use water slide decal media to decorate glass, metal, ceramics, candles…

Combine imagination and specialized inkjet media to extend your creativity to the limit. The possibilities are endless when you think inkjet!

About The Author

Niall Roche

http://www.inkjetprintables.com provides tons of useful information for any inkjet or printer owner. Everything from tips and advice to reviews of individual suppliers Inkjet Printables has it all.

This article was posted on October 18, 2004

by Niall Roche

How To Choose A Camera System

How To Choose A Camera System

by: Amy Howard

There are many reasons to install a camera system. If you own a business, you may want to be able to identify or avoid theft or keep vandalism from your property. Or you may just want to be able to keep an eye on things without actually being there physically. As a homeowner there are a bunch of other reasons to have a camera system. You may be having trouble with a neighbor, trespassers, vandals, or perhaps you have kids and want to be able to keep an eye on them but you can’t be there every minute of every day.

Whatever your reason for wanting a camera system if you don’t get the right kind of equipment based on your needs, you will just waste your money. So if you are thinking of getting a camera system, you will need to look at your situation in order to get the right system.

Some questions to ask yourself:

1. Is what you want to see indoors or outdoors?

2. How many areas do you want to see at your location?

3. Is there a lot of light available throughout the day and night?

4. Do you want to see a wide area, such as a parking lot, or a specific location, like the front door?

5. Is it important to see the small details or is a general idea good enough?

6. Do you need to see the picture only on sight or is off sight viewing necessary?

7. Do you need record what the camera sees?

8. Do you need to record for a long or short period of time?

Okay, now that you have an idea of what you are trying to view, we can take a closer look at the equipment.

Camera

First let’s look at the camera itself. There a hundreds of cameras to choose from. There are even fake cameras that you can use if you only want to give the illusion of having a system. Of course there are different prices ranging from cheap (poor quality) to the ridiculously expensive but does everything. If you don’t know what to ask for, you could be disappointed in what you get.

Do you want color or black/white? If you need to see the details clearly and you have good lighting throughout the time you need to keep watch, then a color camera is probably going to be the way to go. Color cameras are typically more expensive than black/white and they don’t see very will in the dark.

If you only need to have a general idea of what is going on in the area then you can go with black and white. Don’t misunderstand me, you can get a nice clear picture with a black/white camera but if you are looking to be able to identify someone and not have there be any question, then color is for you. If the lighting in the area is bad then color may not be the best camera for the job. If you only have lighting issues at night then you can get a day/night camera. That will get you a color picture in the daytime and a black/white picture at night.

Lens

Now let’s focus on the lens for a while. The type of lens you want will depend on what you want to see, how far away it is, and how wide of an area you want to see. For most applications you can get a lens that is adjustable to fit just about all your needs. There are some cases where only a very specific lens will work, but those usually only occur in high end jobs. If money is real tight, then you can get a camera that has the lens built in. I would like to caution you here and say that once you get a camera like this, you can’t just go and adjust it to get the picture you originally wanted. So, make sure you get a camera with the right lens.

Quads/Multiplexers

A quad processor will give you the ability to view more than one camera on one screen or one at a time. If you have a system with four cameras you can see all of them on one television screen or if you see something going on one camera you can choose to see only that location. Caution – the recorder you put on a quad will only record what the quad is allowing you to see.

A multiplexer is a step up from that. You can view your cameras any way you want. You can see each camera individually and multi cameras on the screen, in intervals. The playback, allows viewing the cameras in any form you like.

Recording devices

First you must decide how long you want to record. If you have a business and you are closed on the weekends and holidays, you may want to record for at least 72 hours. If it’s for your house and you go out of town for long periods of time you may want to consider a longer recording time. There is a time lapse recorder (very reasonably priced) that can record for 960 hours. That’s 40 days and a whole lot of video to watch if you are looking for something that happened a week ago.

Something that has been on the market for a while and is finally coming down in price to something that is almost reasonable is the Digital Video Recorder (DVR). The DVR comes with so many features it’s a little scary. First the picture quality is improved because you aren’t viewing it from a tape that has been recorded over again and again and again. Second, it has a built in multiplexer that will let you view more than one camera at a time on the same screen. Third, it’s easy to upgrade so that you can view your cameras remotely. So if you want to go on vacation and still keep an eye on things you can. Forth, the video is stored internally and it’s a whole lot easier to view video without having to rewind and fast forward. Plus there is no need for a tape library. There are probably a few more things a DVR can do but these would be the most popular.

Monitors

What do you want to see the picture on? Monitors can vary in size and picture quality depending on your budget and how much space you have. You can view cameras on your existing television or you can view them on your computer screen or over the Internet.

Wireless Systems

A word about wireless systems. Wireless technology has come a long way. It’s more reliable and the picture quality has improved greatly. I also like the idea that you can easily move the system. There is a system that just came out that has an awesome price. I have no idea how long the system will last, what the range is or if there are some environmental factors that can interfere with the picture. But if you are on a serious budget, this could be the answer for you.

I would like to thank you for reading this report. I hope this report has helped you learn a little more about camera systems. It’s not easy to make an informed decision when you know very little about the subject. I hope now that you have read this report you have gained some insight into what kind of system would work best for you. If your system is driven only by cost, then please don’t expect to get a great quality picture. If your system is driven only by features, then you had better open you wallet a little. I would highly recommend that whatever you are looking for, that you talk to a security consultant and discuss what is available for you in your price range.

Listen I have only scratched the surface when it comes to cameras. There are so many varieties available today it can be a little overwhelming for someone who doesn’t know what they are doing. There are cameras that can PanTiltZoom. There are covert cameras that would make James Bond proud. You just have to know what you want and how much you can spend. I’m sure you wouldn’t go shopping for a car or a house and not know what your budget is or have an idea of what you wanted. Take this information and use it wisely

About The Author

Amy Howard has been in the security industry for more than 13 years. She understands the frustrations that people can go through when trying to find a camera system that will fit their needs and not break the bank in the process. She has created a website for people to get more information on camera systems and camera equipment. You can visit her website at www.cctvhomeonline.com.

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This article was posted on August 31

by Amy Howard

Color Psychology in Marketing

Color Psychology in Marketing

by: Al Martinovic

On the internet we don’t deal with face to face selling. The internet is a visual and psychological medium. The words, or sales copy, on your website have by far the greatest psychological impact on your visitors and thus becomes your most important communication and sales tool.

But another important psychological aspect of your website that is often overlooked are the colors. Yes, thatกs right… I said colors.

Just as you use words to express yourself, colors can be used as an expression as well and are a language all on their own.

The background color of your website, the color of your header, the color of your text, headlines and subheadlines etc. can all have a psychological impact on your visitors.

Here is a list of some of the common colors and what type of psychological emotion they invoke in people:

RED is associated with love, passion, danger, warning, excitement, food, impulse, action, adventure.

BLUE is associated with trustworthiness, success, seriousness, calmness, power, professionalism.

GREEN is associated with money, nature, animals, health, healing, life, harmony.

ORANGE is associated with comfort, creativity, celebration, fun, youth, affordability.

PURPLE is associated with royalty, justice, ambiguity, uncertainty, luxury, fantasy, dreams.

WHITE is associated with innocence, purity, cleanliness, simplicity.

YELLOW is associated with curiosity, playfulness, cheerfulness, amusement.

PINK is associated with softness, sweetness, innocence, youthfulness, tenderness.

BROWN is associated with earth, nature, tribal, primitive, simplicity.

GREY is associated with neutralality, indifference, reserved.

BLACK is associated with seriousness, darkness, mystery, secrecy.

You can use the above as a guide when choosing colors for your website. It really boils down to your target audience and what psychological message you want to convey in colors.

Blues and white backgrounds work best for business sites. Maternity sites should consider some pink. Golf or lawn sites sites should consider green. Food sites should consider red, etc.

There are also numerous shades of the same color that you can use too. Here a link that lists 216 colors that work in all browsers: http://www.geocities.com/webtvbeth/hexchart.html

It also boils down to common sense too. As far as using colors in text, black text on white backgrounds may be dull but it is the most readable and pleasing to the eye.

Yellow text on white background is not only unreadable, but causes eyestrain which will have people leaving your site quickly. Nothing will lose sales faster than eyestraining text.

Hereกs a link for a กcolor wheelก that shows which colors compliment each other, and which ones don’t: http://www.saumag.edu/art/studio/chalkboard/cwheel.html

In conclusion, not only can the sales copy on your website have a psychological impact with words but the colors you use can as well.

Use them wisely…

About The Author

Al Martinovic works from home and runs a successful mlm business at http://www.ineedsmokes.com and also publishes a popular internet marketing newsletter: http://www.milleniummarketers.com

This article was posted on April 22, 2004

by Al Martinovic