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

Successful Print Advertising Designs

Successful Print Advertising Designs

by: Lala C. Ballatan

Do you often see print advertisements outdoors, as much as you see Web advertisements when you surf through the Web? I’m pretty sure that you have entirely different views and reactions upon seeing and actually taking notice to these two different kinds of advertising. The differences may vary in their use of color, typefaces, and space.

Whatever else the difference is between Print Ads and Web Ads, many would still prefer the traditional print advertisements in order to promote their business, products or services. Not all people have access to the Web, such that Print Ads are still widely used and appreciated. It is also practical for a shortterm marketing plan or strategy.

Do you know what makes successful print advertisements? Here are several useful things to remember if you are launching a Print Ad:

Take advantage of a small space by not crowding too much information into it. Leave a white space which can actually lead your reader to the important information.

Ads with large photos or illustrations of merchandise get higher readership and appreciation than those with small illustrations or no art.

People do not actually read your copy, but take a look at your visuals. Thus, make your photographs or illustration occupy at least half of your entire Ad.

You must know now how your readers read, so that you could strategically place your content and not be left unread.

Typography is an important key to effective communication.

In your print ads’ headlines, avoid all capital letters. Our eyes and brains are conditioned to identify lower case letters and words. Letters and words in lower cases may just be glanced over, but with full comprehension since people are familiar with them. People also tend to read words by the shape of the word and not by reading individual letters thus, your print ads’ words must be of a distinctive shape.

Your print ads must be consistent with important information placed where readers would expect to see it. Consistency is an important aspect of your print ad since most readers must be exposed to it seven times before they notice it or take action on it. Your ad must have consistency in:

Logo

Color

Typography

Margins and borders

Layout

Spacing

Photographs and captions

You must also be consistent in your page lay out and other design elements like contrast, balance, etc.

On top of everything else, you have to make sure that your print ad communicates the main point of your advertisement – the main attraction and the necessary information for your prospective clients.

For your print ads to turn out successfully, you must have at least a single great idea, on top of several good ideas. Remember, there’s a world of difference between a great idea and a good idea. 30

About The Author

Lala C. Ballatan is a 26 yearold Communication Arts graduate, with a major in Journalism. Right after graduating last 1999, she worked for one year as a clerk then became a Research, Publication and Documentation Program Director at a nongovernment organization, which focuses on the rights, interests and welfare of workers for about four years.

Book reading has always been her greatest passion mysteries, horrors, psychothrillers, historical documentaries and classics. She got hooked into it way back when she was but a shy kid.

Her writing prowess began as early as she was 10 years old in girlish diaries. With writing, she felt freedom – to express her viewpoints and assert it, to bring out all concerns imagined and observed, to bear witness.

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

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 14

by Lala C. Ballatan

Outlook… Not Just for Email! Using Your Outlook

Outlook… Not Just for Email! Using Your Outlook Calendar

by: Janet Barclay

Microsoft Outlook is one of the most widely used software programs for email, but if you’re only using it for email, you’re missing out on a great productivity tool! This monthกs column looks at a few ways you can use the Outlook calendar to make scheduling easier.

* Add public holidays to your calendar automatically.

On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click Calendar Options. Under Calendar options, click Add Holidays. Select the check box next to each country/region whose holidays you want to add to your Calendar, and then click OK. Your own country/region is automatically selected. Color code your appointments.

* When you select a label for each appointment, Outlook will assign it a color, drawing attention to your most important activities and allowing you to see at a glance how you are spending your time. The available labels are:

Important Red

Business Blue

Personal Light Green

Vacation Gray

Must Attend Orange

Travel Required Aqua

Needs Preparation Olive Green

Birthday Purple

Anniversary Dark Green

Phone Call Yellow

None White

* Turn a message into an appointment or task.

Whatกs the quickest way to deal with an email inviting you to a meeting or event?

Drag the message onto your Calendar and a new appointment will be created. The entire message will appear in the details section all you need to do is edit the subject line, location, date and time! Send an RSVP if necessary, and now you can delete the email!

Not sure if you’re going to attend? Set กShow time asก to ‘tentativeก and the appointment will display with a dashed border rather than a solid one. In this case you should also drag the message onto your Task Pad and a new task will be created. Edit the subject line to be a reminder to register for the event, and set the due date early enough that you won’t miss out if you decide to go.

* Print pages for your paper planner.

If you like the idea of using the Outlook calendar, but are more comfortable using a paper planner, Outlook allows you to print pages in daily, weekly or monthly layouts, formatted to fit a variety of commercial planners. Print the whole year, or just todayกs schedule!

* Itกs not just about work.

There are many websites that allow you to download schedules right into your Outlook calendar, including sports teams and TV stations, among many others. Youกll never have to miss your favorite team or show, and just think of the time youกll save!

Permission is granted to use this article, as long as the กAbout the Authorก section including the link to http://www.organizedassistant.com remains intact. An email letting me know which article you have used and where would be appreciated.

About The Author

Janet Barclay, Organized Assistant, is a Professional Organizer, Virtual Assistant and Time Management Consultant. For more information visit http://www.organizedassistant.com.

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 08, 2004

by Janet Barclay

Double Your Profits

Double Your Profits

by: Sylvie Minson

Easily Double or Triple Your Profits in Any Business

To some it may seem like common sense, but many folks running their own businesses don’t do this one simple thing to keep their business and profits growing.

Whether you’re running an online, mail order, or traditional business, the key to increased profits is, of course, more customers and more sales. The best way to get more customers is advertising.

You need to take a portion of your profits every month, up to 50 percent in the beginning, and invest it back into your business in quality advertising.

That is not to say you should ignore word of mouth, and viral marketing, but real advertising delivers real results. Use it to keep bringing in new business.

When advertising online be careful to get your ads placed in areas where your target audience is likely to gather. CPC cost per click ads are a good choice online, because you only pay if you get a good reaction.

Text ads are also getting a much better response these days, as opposed to banners and other flashy methods. Banner ads only seem to be effective in building a brand, not in getting measureable, on the spot results.

Popups are nearly dead, given the availability of popup blockers, and the fact that the next generation browsers are coming out with popup blockers built in. Apparently people don’t like popups I know I don’t so avoid them, unless you want to irritate your audience.

Print advertising, on the other hand, is much easier to target, and even if you have an online business, I wouldn’t recommend ignoring the potential of print. Run your ads in magazines and newspapers that deal with your subject.

Whether on line or in print, youกll want to test out different wordings for your ads, and do small runs, until you find the words the pull readers in the way you would like, not just to get inquiries, but results.

When writing your ad, don’t say กWe Have Blue Widgets!ก People don’t really care about what you have, they care about what they want so กGet Your Blue Widgets Todayก is probably going to be more effective.

Ask a question, or if you have something to offer for free a free sample, info packet, or test drive advertise that. Be sure to focus on what the customer gets, not what you have.

When you find an ad that pulls well, stick with it. Don’t change until it stops working, or until you change your offering.

ReInvest in your business, and you can double and triple your profits with ease.

About The Author

Start Your Home Business at www.prosperitynet.com

Get Your Slice Of the American Pie!

© 2004 ProsperityNet.com

This article was posted on August 26, 2004

by Sylvie Minson

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

Print Shop Deluxe Empowering Users To Do Publishin

Print Shop Deluxe Empowering Users To Do Publishing

by: Grannyกs Mettle

Professional and businesslooking cards have become so tedious that I have been trying to get other programs to help me create cards and albums without feeling that itกs a lot of work for me.

Broderbundกs ‘the Print Shopก has been doing that for its clients, particularly users who need a quick, easy and affordable way to do basic publishing activities.

Now comes another version of the popular Print Shop program that lets you design or adapt over 11,000 templates of everything from greeting cards and photo albums, to signs, banners, and even calendars.

The Print Shop Deluxe 12.0 is for kids, as well as for those kidsatheart, who love the idea of churning out fun projects. Aside from turning regular banners and greeting cards into great works that ensures attraction, the newest edition of the 16yearold printing and desktop publishing program includes a photo editor and tools that can help users produce simple paper products from menus to other marketing products. It also has easytouse interface, and a great online support.

Print Shop 12.0 is easy to use, never mind that the program has six CDs of clip art. One review even stated that you might need to find enough drive space for the whole กmonster programก. The review even said that even if one should stick with the minimum installation option, the program still needs 670MB of drive space. On the other hand, if one should decide to just keep the extra clip art CDs handy, swapping them every time you need an image may be a timeconsuming alternative.

But as Iกve said earlier, never mind the number of CDs. The huge collection of clip art and images will blow your mind. With more than 134,000 images and 11,000 layout templates, youกll have more than enough for the next decade of publishing, I think.

With its easytouse interface, the program is definitely simple and functional. Print Shop 12.0 has menus with scores of commands and toolbars easy enough to manipulate. One artist even boasts of its large open space in the center of all those icons and toolbars the better to design your work.

The program also boasts of 5,000 more templates than the previous version. Just choose a template from one of the many categories, do the easy instructions, then customize the text and art and your on your way to creating your very own greeting card, or banner, or whatever marketing material you need at the moment.

The new Color Set Creator also helps users change the Color Set on the background. With just one click, users can try different colors for their project.

With a userfriendly manual, even a kid can handle its features. The programกs help file is complete and clear.

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 03

by Grannyกs Mettle

The Idea of Reference

The Idea of Reference

by: Sam Vaknin, Ph.D.

http://www.britannica.com

There is no source of reference remotely as authoritative as the Encyclopaedia Britannica. There is no brand as venerable and as veteran as this mammoth labour of knowledge and ideas established in 1768. There is no better value for money. And, after a few sputters and bugs, it now comes in all shapes and sizes, including two CDROM versions (standard and deluxe) and an appealing and readerfriendly web site. So, why does it always appear to be on the brink of extinction?

The Britannica provides for an interesting study of the changing fortunes (and formats) of vendors of reference. As late as a decade ago, it was still selling in a leatherimitation bound set of 32 volumes. As print encyclopaedias went, it was a daring innovator and a pioneer of hyperlinkedlike textual design. It sported a subject index, a lexical part and an alphabetically arranged series of indepth essays authored by the best in every field of human erudition.

When the CDROM erupted on the scene, the Britannica mismanaged the transition. As late as 1997, it was still selling a sordid textonly compact disc which included a part of the encyclopaedia. Only in 1998, did the Britannica switch to multimedia and added tables and graphs to the CD. Video and sound were to make their appearance even later. This error in trend analysis left the field wide open to the likes of Encarta and Grolier. The Britannica failed to grasp the irreversible shift from cumbersome print volumes to slender and freely searchable CDROMs. Reference was going digital and the Britannicaกs sales plummeted.

The Britannica was also late to cash on the web revolution but, when it did, it became a world leader overnight. Its unbeatable brand was a decisive factor. A failed experiment with an annoying subscription model gave way to unrestricted access to the full contents of the Encyclopaedia and much more besides: specially commissioned articles, fora, an annotated internet guide, news in context, downloads and shopping. The site enjoys healthy traffic and the Britannicaกs CDROM interacts synergistically with its contents (through hyperlinks).

Yet, recently, the Britannica had to fire hundreds of workers (in its web division) and return to a payforcontent model. What went wrong again? Internet advertising did. The Britannicaกs revenue model was based on monetizing eyeballs, to use a faddish refrain. When the perpetuum mobile of กadvertisers pay for content and users get it freeก crumbled the Britannica found itself in familiar dire straits.

Is there a lesson to be learned from this arduous and convoluted tale? Are works of reference not selfsupporting regardless of the revenue model (subscription, adbased, print, CDROM)? This might well be the case.

Classic works of reference from Diderot to the Encarta offered a series of advantages to their users:

Authority Works of reference are authored by experts in their fields and peerreviewed. This ensures both objectivity and accuracy.

Accessibility Huge amounts of material were assembled under one กroofก. This abolished the need to scour numerous sources of variable quality to obtain the data one needed.

Organization This pile of knowledge was organized in a convenient and recognizable manner (alphabetically or by subject)

Moreover, authoring an encyclopaedia was such a daunting and expensive task that only states, academic institutions, or wellfunded businesses were able to produce them. At any given period there was a dearth of reliable encyclopaedias, which exercised a monopoly on the dissemination of knowledge. Competitors were few and far between. The price of these tomes was, therefore, always exorbitant but people paid it to secure education for their children and a fount of knowledge at home. Hence the long gone phenomenon of กdoor to door encyclopaedia salesmenก and instalment plans.

Yet, all these advantages were eroded to fine dust by the Internet. The web offers a plethora of highly authoritative information authored and released by the leading names in every field of human knowledge and endeavour. The Internet, is, in effect, an encyclopaedia far more detailed, far more authoritative, and far more comprehensive that any encyclopaedia can ever hope to be. The web is also fully accessible and fully searchable. What it lacks in organization it compensates in breadth and depth and recently emergent subject portals (directories such as Yahoo! or The Open Directory) have become the indices of the Internet. The aforementioned anticompetition barriers to entry are gone: web publishing is cheap and immediate. Technologies such as web communities, chat, and email enable massive collaborative efforts. And, most important, the bulk of the Internet is free. Users pay only the communication costs.

The longheralded transition from free content to feebased information may revive the fortunes of online reference vendors. But as long as the Internet with its 2,000,000,000 (!) visible pages (and 5 times as many pages in its databases) is free, encyclopaedias have little by way of a competitive advantage.

About The Author

Sam Vaknin is the author of กMalignant Self Love Narcissism Revisitedก and กAfter the Rain How the West Lost the Eastก. He is a columnist in กCentral Europe Reviewก, United Press International (UPI) and ebookweb.org and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory, Suite101 and searcheurope.com. Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.

His web site: http://samvak.tripod.com

This article was posted on February 2, 2002

by Sam Vaknin, Ph.D.

Playing With The Color And Image

Playing With The Color And Image

by: Blur Loterina

Does your image appear good on the screen, but looks blurred, jagged or fuzzy when you print it?

To clearly see the difference of the quality of image on screen and on print, take an image from the internet. Zoom it out or make it larger. Can you see how series of little squares appear on the image? Try to print it and you’ll see that the color will fade. There will be a change in the resolution.

Resolution is, basically, the sharpness or crispness of an image. When an image is shrunk, the color looks lively. When you blow it or enlarge it, the color will fade and the image will look unclear.

Resolution is defined as the number of pixels contained in the monitor. Pixel, from the words ขpicture elementข, is the basic unit of programmable color in a computer image. The resolution is measured by the number of dots per inch (dpi), which is equal to the numbers of squares of color in an inch. A standard resolution for an image should be 300dpi and 400dpi for images containing text.

The resolution of an image is inversely proportional to the size of the image. In other words, when you increase the size of the image the resolution decreases, and vice versa. For example, if you enlarge an image, the size, of course, increases. But the quality or sharpness of the image decreases, giving you a blurred image.

When you extract images from the internet, most probably, you will have a poor quality image. Internet images are mostly saved in GIF or JPEG file format, which only consumes 72dpi. The purpose of saving image files on this resolution is to make the image easy to extract. Meaning, these images are not for print use.

Scanners, digital camera, computer monitor and other display devices use the RGB (red, green, blue) color mode, while in the printing process CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) color mode is used. Meaning, you have to expect change in the color of the image when you print it. To reduce the problem, you must convert your image from RGB to CMYK. There are image editing programs that offer color conversion, such as Photoshop or Corel PhotoPaint.

Do not expect to get good images from the internet. You must resort to other sources like real photos or pictures from magazines. When you scan, compare the size of the photo to the size of your layout. If the photo is larger than your layout, scanning at 300dpi is enough. If it is smaller, adjust your scanner’s resolution setting and percentage size. If there are texts over the image, lighten the image so the text will be readable. If you do not know how create good prints, you can resort to a printing press.

About The Author

Blur Loterina

You may wonder why I write articles. Besides from the fact that it’s my job, I used to write short stories when I was younger. I think it would be helpful if I said I’m a big fan of Zach de la Rocha and Rage Against the Machine. This would explain my own views about a lot of things. Their songs were about national issues, politics and human rights. They support the American Indian Movement and Che Guevara, the face you see on tshirts. Not that it concerns me. I only like their music and idealism.

I’m not an artist, I’m not a poet. I just love writing anything I want. I wasn’t born a genius, I just want to know and understand something I don’t. I like to find the difference between similar things. It’s like counting birthmarks on each identical twin.

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

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 07

by Blur Loterina

The Medium and the Message

The Medium and the Message

by: Sam Vaknin, Ph.D.

A debate is raging in epublishing circles: should content be encrypted and protected (the Barnes and Noble or Digital goods model) or should it be distributed freely and thus serve as a form of viral marketing (Seth Godinกs กideavirusก)? Publishers fear that freely distributed and costfree กcrackedก ebooks will cannibalize print books to oblivion.

The more paranoid point at the music industry. It failed to coopt the emerging peertopeer platforms (Napster) and to offer a viable digital assets management system with an equitable sharing of royalties. The results? A protracted legal battle and piracy run amok. กPublishersก goes this creed กare positioned to incorporate encryption and protection measures at the very inception of the digital publishing industry. They ought to learn the lesson.ก

But this view ignores a vital difference between sound and text. In music, what matter are the song or the musical piece. The medium (or carrier, or packing) is marginal and interchangeable. A CD, an audio cassette, or an MP3 player are all fine, as far as the consumer is concerned. The listener bases his or her purchasing decisions on sound quality and the faithfulness of reproduction of the listening experience (for instance, in a concert hall). This is a very narrow, rational, measurable and quantifiable criterion.

Not so with text.

Content is only one element of many of equal footing underlying the decision to purchase a specific textกcarrierก (medium). Various media encapsulating IDENTICAL text will still fare differently. Hence the failure of CDROMs and elearning. People tend to consume content in other formats or media, even if it is fully available to them or even owned by them in one specific medium. People prefer to pay to listen to live lectures rather than read freely available online transcripts. Libraries buy print journals even when they have subscribed to the full text online versions of the very same publications. And consumers overwhelmingly prefer to purchase books in print rather than their eversions.

This is partly a question of the slow demise of old habits. Ebooks have yet to develop the userfriendliness, platformindependence, portability, brows ability and many other attributes of this ingenious medium, the Gutenberg tome. But it also has to do with marketing psychology. Where text (or text equivalents, such as speech) is concerned, the medium is at least as important as the message. And this will hold true even when ebooks catch up with their print brethren technologically.

There is no doubting that finally ebooks will surpass print books as a medium and offer numerous options: hyperlinks within the ebook and without it to web content, reference works, etc., embedded instant shopping and ordering links, divergent, userinteractive, decision driven plotlines, interaction with other ebooks (using Bluetooth or another wireless standard), collaborative authoring, gaming and community activities, automatically or periodically updated content, ,multimedia capabilities, database, Favourites and History Maintenance (records of reading habits, shopping habits, interaction with other readers, plot related decisions and much more), automatic and embedded audio conversion and translation capabilities, full wireless piconetworking and scatternetworking capabilities and more.

The same textual content will be available in the future in various media. Ostensibly, consumers should gravitate to the featurerich and much cheaper ebook. But they won’t because the medium is as important as the text message. It is not enough to own the same content, or to gain access to the same message. Ownership of the right medium does count. Print books offer connectivity within an historical context (tradition). Ebooks are cold and impersonal, alienated and detached. The printed word offers permanence. Digital text is ephemeral (as anyone whose writings perished in the recent dot.com bloodbath or Deja takeover by Google can attest). Printed volumes are a whole sensorium, a sensual experience olfactory and tactile and visual. Ebooks are one dimensional in comparison. These are differences that cannot be overcome, not even with the advent of digital กinkก on digital กpaperก. They will keep the print book alive and publishersก revenues flowing.

People buy printed matter not merely because of its content. If this were true ebooks will have won the day. Print books are a packaged experience, the substance of life. People buy the medium as often and as much as they buy the message it encapsulates. It is impossible to compete with this mistique. Safe in this knowledge, publishers should let go and impose on ebooks กencryptionก and กprotectionก levels as rigorous as they do on the their print books. The latter are here to stay alongside the former. With the proper pricing and a modicum of trust, ebooks may even end up promoting the old and trusted print versions.

About The Author

Sam Vaknin is the author of กMalignant Self Love Narcissism Revisitedก and กAfter the Rain How the West Lost the Eastก. He is a columnist in กCentral Europe Reviewก, United Press International (UPI) and ebookweb.org and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory, Suite101 and searcheurope.com. Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.

His web site: http://samvak.tripod.com

This article was posted on February 2, 2002

by Sam Vaknin, Ph.D.

Guidelines for Printing Great Photos at Home

Guidelines for Printing Great Photos at Home

by: Kelly Paal

So you have this great digital camera and you’ve taken lots of great photos. Now what? Well you could go to a store and have them print your images for you, but isn’t that what you did with film? The point of all this great digital technology is that you can print your own photos at home without having to pay someone else to do it. Here are some tips to help you get started:

1. It’ll seem like a lot of money at first but spend the money to get a good printer. Six color at least. Ink jets are wonderful for printing snapshots. You won’t need more than that. Also look around at the computer brands that sell computer packages for digital printing, the printer that they recommend is perfect for printing photos at home.

2. Buy some photo editing software. There are lots of brands out there many of them for pros but you can easily find software under one hundred dollars that will have lots more options than you will ever use. Look for software that has automatic settings so that the computer can automatically color correct, auto focus, brighten, or darken, etc. At least until you learn number 3.

3. Learn your equipment. Take the time play with the settings. Don’t try to print perfect photos right away. Most people with a little time and practice can learn to do basic photo special effects. Give yourself the time to learn.

4. There is one place that you are going to have to spend some money and it’s on paper. You can have a great image but unfortunately you cannot skimp on paper. Get the nice thick glossy paper, it’s worth it. I’ve tried the cheaper paper, which is good for test prints, but you need the high quality stuff for good prints.

5. DPI, dots per inch. Depending on your printer and your software you may be able to print up to 1200 dpi which is probably unnecessary for what you’re doing. For up to a 4 by 6 inch print you only need about 300 dpi. Most people cannot see the difference between a 300 dpi an a 600 dpi at 4 by 6 inches. For 5 by 7 or 8 by 10 you can go up to 600 dpi.

These steps will help you on your way to printing great digital photos at home. Remember though make sure that you have fun printing all those memories.

FYI Just so that you have a frame of reference, I’m a professional photographer and I have a six color ink jet that I paid less than $300 for and photo editing software that I paid less than $100. I print my 5 by 7 images for shows at 600 dpi.

About The Author

Copyright 2004 Kelly Paal

Kelly Paal is a Freelance Nature and Landscape Photographer, exhibiting nationally and internationally. Recently she started her own business Kelly Paal Photography (www.kellypaalphotography.com). She has an educational background in photography, business, and commercial art. She enjoys applying graphic design and photography principles to her web design.

This article was posted on August 03, 2004

by Kelly Paal

Toner Cartridges How They Work

Toner Cartridges How They Work

by: Martin Smith

In the past computers and their accompanying printers were huge. Toner reservoirs and toner cartridges were used instead of ink cartridges like the ones in use today. Toner cartridges were difficult and messy to fill. The toner cartridges were an advancement. Some printers ran on print wheels and some used ribbons.

Computers are compact and printers now do more than just print on some cases. Cartridges with selfcontained reservoirs are used in printers. Refilling some cartridges is possible and it isn’t as messy as adding toner was. Two types of printers cartridges now exist. HewlettPackard and Epson printers primarily, used the first type the Peizo Electric.

An electric current is applied to a small crystal causing it to expand about every five microseconds (20,000 per second). The ink, because of the expansion, squirts through the print heads rapidly and precisely. Piezo Electric can do more precise action and tend to last longer because it has fewer print heads than do bubble jet/ thermal printers.

Bubble jet printer cartridges heat the ink into a bubble and is squirted through the ink nozzles thousands of times a second. The printer that is quieter than Piezo based printers is the bubble jet. It prints with exceptionally high resolution color printing. Ink is squirted through the nozzles as they move over media in the inkjet method not the mega pixel method.

Liquid ink, is squirted, in various colors on the paper to create an image. A motor assembly is used to enable the print heads to scan the page horizontally while the page is rolled vertically. A narrow band of an image is printed and the paper moves on ready for the next step. For speed it prints a strip across the page while it also prints vertical rows of pixels in each pass.

There are several types of inkjet technology. DODdrop on demand squirts small drops of ink on to the paper through tiny nozzles. It is akin to a hose being turned on and off 5,000 times per second. The amount of ink dropped on the paper and which nozzle fires and when is controlled by the driver software. The ink tends to smear right after printing in inkjet technology.

This is getting better as new ink compositions are developed. The Thermal Technology of printing allows the ink to shot onto the paper. This is a three stage process. The squirt begins in stage one when the ink gets heated to create a bubble. The initial pressure breaks the bubble and hits the paper. The vacuum that results pulls the ink from the reservoir to replace what was ejected.

In the past printers were highly priced because the print head that would imprint the image on paper was contained within the printer. Printers are fairly low in price, but the expense comes when you have to buy cartridges for it. It would almost be worth it to buy a new printer rather than the cartridges because the cost of cartridges is often more than the most basic inkjet printer.

Although cartridges are expensive they have some complex technology in them that would make them cheaper overall than it would be to keep replacing printer heads. Cartridges now have print heads contained within in themselves. If you use the correct cartridges in your printer, you could have the printer for a long time. Black cartridges work by squirting the ink through tiny nozzles onto the paper as they move back and for the page as do color cartridges.

Color cartridges have three reservoirs; one is filled with magenta, one with cyan, and one with yellow ink. A lot of things can have a bearing on the image quality. The quality of the paper you choose could determine the image you get. The two main influences on image quality are brightness and the absorption of ink. The vividness of an image describes its brightness while how effectively ink is put to the paper is absorption.

It is best to use paper specifically designed to be used with an ink jet printer. Using the proper type of paper will result in the best possible image. The settings of your display properties and/or printer settings can affect your printing project. The type of paper you use and the printer may suggest leaving your documents to dry for awhile. Check your printer for settings that may save ink by putting out less ink allowing documents to dry faster and provide you with a near perfect print image.

Knowing your printer and how it works is important.

About The Author

Martin Smith is a successful freelance writer providing advice for consumers on purchasing a variety of Discount ink cartridges which includes Cheap ink cartridge, if you have time drop by his site for some tips and information. http://www.bestpriceprintercartridges.com.

This article was posted on August 22

by Martin Smith