Bassette Printers in Springfield, MA have greatly expanded their services beyond ink on paper into the latest generation of digital printing and complete inventory-fulfillment programs. It is a mailing service that gives the company an edge over their competitors. Understanding postage is a difficult process but the upside is the ability to save clients significant dollars on postage, which can be a large percentage of a project’s cost.

The postage can often exceed the cost of the printing itself. Some requirements for low-cost, pre-sort bulk mail, such as the location of the address and how much room to leave for bar coding, can be integrated into the graphic design of a marketing piece. Customers can avoid paying huge postage penalties and save much more than working with someone who charges 5% less for printing. Area printers need to provide something extra in a market that has gradually tightened over the past decade but has not yet been dramatically affected by the general economic downturn.

Marcus Printing has not seen a slowdown yet and is optimistic that they won’t see one. There is a real concern, however, that the market is so volatile and so fast-moving that a slowdown might happen before they can anticipate it. Customer demands regarding turnaround time has made it more difficult for printers to spread work out and plan for the long term.

Paramount Printing is one of Jacksonville, Florida’s largest commercial printers since 1912. It has restructured and expanded its technologies and services. The company is now known as Paramount Performance Marketing and offers fully-integrated marketing solutions that go beyond the traditional printed piece.

The company’s CEO and President acknowledges that the printing industry across the country is changing and his company has spent the last five years adapting and evolving. Recently, Paramount invested in technologies that take direct mail to the next level, leveraging the use of personalized direct mail printed pieces targeted to the individual with the power of the Internet. Paramount also offer specialized services in building online storefronts.

These online catalogs allow companies to automate and centralize everything from their own print products from Paramount, distribution of products and supplies through the company or the sale of their products to customers. The company now offers digital printing in addition to traditional offset printing; expanded services including direct mail and fulfillment; and services that leverage the Internet as a way to interact with their customers and prospects.

It is widely regarded that Helvetica is the signage typeface of the New York City subway system and this is reinforced by the popular 2007 documentary, Helvetica. This is only somewhat true as it is the official typeface of the MTA today. However, it was not the typeface specified by Unimark International when it created a new signage system at the end of the 1960s.

The first “signs” in the New York City subway system were created by Heins & LaFarge, architects of the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT). In 1904, they established the now-familiar tradition of mosaic station names on platform walls. The name tablets were composed of small tiles in both serif and sans serif roman capitals. The Brooklyn Rapid Transit (BRT)/Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit (BMT) followed suit in 1908. Neither line had a uniform lettering style.

There is a surprising amount of variety within the mosaic station names. When the Independent (IND) lines were established in 1925, a new style of sans serif capitals was created to accompany the stripped-down decoration of the stations. These letters were inspired by Art Deco and were heavier and more geometric. In the early 1950s, station names were silkscreened on the tiles in black geometrically constructed condensed sans serif letters.

Print art is a technology used to reproduce works of art on canvas. There are all kinds of ways to turn the original paintings into canvas copies. In the past, reproductions were done only on paper because it was easier.

With new advances in technology, print art is becoming more and more popular among artists and amateurs. It has a definite advantage over paper reproduction in that it can be displayed without glass or matting, and looks the same as the original. Print reproductions differ from the original in that canvas art prints are completely flat and don’t have textures that you can see on the originals. There are two techniques for making print art reproductions: transferring is the more popular one and includes the making of a standard paper print copy.

The second print art technique is more sophisticated as it includes modern techniques – a digital printing technique known as PiezoGraphy. The original pieces are drawn using a variety of materials that can be digitally processed. By using PiezoGraphy, the reproduction can differ in size from the original: print outs can either be reduced or enlarged.

Digital press owners can now quickly expand into fast-growing consumer and business-to-business photo printing markets with new Kromekote True-Photo papers from SMART Papers. The ultra-glossy, recycled-content digital papers have a distinctive position in the global marketplace by combining the quality and feel of traditional photo paper with the printability of triple cast-coated Kromekote.

Kromekote True-Photo delivers outstanding photo and image reproduction, creating visuals that leap off the page. The 92-bright white shade produces intense colors and maximum image resolution. Businesses and consumers increasingly want the quality and feel of traditional photo paper when it comes to digital photography. The new archival and acid-free papers enable digital press owners to profitability meet the growing demand for custom shot-run photos and photo applications like greeting cards, direct mail, and personalized calendars.

The InfoTrends research group recently estimated that 19.7 billion photos will be digitally printed in 2008. SMART Papers is the only North American premium papermaker in the process of becoming 100% fossil-fuel, converting all of its energy production to 100% carbon-neutral waste wood biomass. Kromekote True-Photo has a mirror-smooth, triple cast-coated surface on one side for sharp photo reproduction on digital presses.