Thursday, April 15, 2010

Why is graphic design so important?, graphic designing,

Why is graphic design so important? You can't do everything on your own। Who has the time?

You need ideas, someone to help you with color selection, photo selection or graphics, even what paper or printer to choose। You need professional help। Good Graphic Design is clean, legible, appealing and attractive; it conveys a message that will encourage a रेस्पोंसे।Why are graphic design and attractive visual appearance so important? In the domain of entertainment, especially in the world of computer and mobile gaming, stunning graphics have always been an essential part of the package.

Why should businesses pay attention to their graphic design? In a market crowded with dozens of competitors all selling the same product or service, the only way to stand out from the rest is by strong branding and image.

A graphic designer works as a facilitator, creating designs that help the user accomplish a task. This could be anything from finding information to recognizing a brand.

The best graphic design is one that no one realizes is there. Many major brands and companies have carefully designed branding, logos and websites, but most of us never notice it at all. This can make business owners forget how important a graphic designer is, but they shouldn't. Good graphic design can make or break a business.

“For most designers, design is a way of life and a way of thinking about things, not just a job.”
- Meredith Davis, Professor of Graphic Design, North Carolina State University College of Design



Thursday, March 5, 2009

How Does Digital Printing Work?

Technology has opened up a lot of opportunities for people. Things that were once very hard and complicated to deal with have now become so easy and convenient. It paved the way for us to be able to use the internet to send mail to anyone around the world, imagine the ease it brought us compared to the very slow snail mail process we used before.

Digital technology has also invaded the printing industry and it has made things easier to handle. The best thing about this is that printing costs have gone so much cheaper because of the presence of digital printing. The process is now more affordable for you and whatever type of business you are part of. 

Digital Printing

Digital printing is the process of printing wherein your digital prints could be printed in a faster time without having to sacrifice its high quality. It has made the long and typical way of printing a shorter and a more convenient experience for you.

The Printing Flow

Digital printing has eliminated some of the long and arduous steps that a typical printing machine gives you. It lessens the printing time and at the same time it provides a more affordable printing price. If you are for faster turn around times, then you should opt for digital printing because its flow is much shorter than the one of offset printing. 

Digital printing only goes through a short process. Let us say you want your pictures printed then, what will happen is this. Once the pictures are already taken, all you have to do is transfer your pictures to the computer that is attached to the digital printer. While it is on the computer, you would already be able to make all the necessary adjustments that you would desire for your image. 

Right after this, you could now pass the image to the printer and have it printed. This may not be your long and ideal process of printing images but I tell you, digital printers are highly capable of coming up with print jobs that could easily match the quality that your conventional printers come up with.

Pros and Cons

Just like in any printing process, there are certain advantages and disadvantages that you may encounter. One advantage of digital printing is that you could explore more and maximize the colors that are available for you to use. Because offset printing only mixes and matches four colors to come up with the other colors, some of the colors may not be accurate already but with digital printing, you could always expect a precise print most especially when it comes to the colors and details. 

The disadvantage of digital printing on the other hand is that it fades faster compared to offset printing if you do not handle it well. Digital prints do not have protective coatings while the other type of printing has it. This means that the prints you do digitally are nit fully protected from the harsh elements of nature. It has no UV protection coating. 

There would seem to be no problem just as long as you maximize the use of your digital prints well. Keep in mind that if you manage it well, then it could give you good results.

How Offset Printing Works

Offset printing is a technique during which an inked image is transferred, or “offset” from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to a printing surface. Offset printing is often combined with lithographic printing, which uses the repulsion of oil and water to produce a flat image carrier. This is often referred to as offset lithography.

Offset lithography is the most common type of color printing for high-volume jobs. Now we’ll discuss in more detail how offset printing works and the advantages to using it.

Photo offset printing
This is the most common type of offset printing. Photo offset printing involves using light-sensitive chemicals and photographic procedures to offset images and text from original materials to printing plates. Original materials can be an actual print photo or a digital file. Nowadays, almost everything is printed from a digital file. It’s easier, faster and more accurate to use digital.

Each of the primary colors used in printing – cyan, magenta, yellow and black – have a separate plate.

Web offset lithography
The “web” part of web offset lithography is a paper feeding process whereby the paper is pulled from rolls into the printing press as one continuous stream, or web of paper. Each roll can weigh up to 1 ton (2,000 pounds). The paper isn’t cut until printing is done. Offset lithography can also be used with individual sheets of paper in sheet-fed presses, but web offset lithography is much quicker.

Web presses can print up to 50,000 impressions per hour. An impression is one full press sheet (38” x 22-3/4”).

How the ink gets to the paper
Remember that oil and water do not mix. The oil is the ink in this case. The ink is dispersed to the plates by a series of rollers. Then, on the press, the plates are dampened by water rollers, and then ink rollers. The rollers disperse the ink onto the plates.

The plate’s image area picks up the ink from the ink rollers and the water rollers keep the ink from transferring to the non-image areas of the plate. Each plate transfers its image to a rubber blanket that in turn transfers the image to the paper. This whole process happens with lightning speed.

With all the water and ink sloshing around, you would think there’d be a lot of smudges to clean up. Well, that’s been taken care of – by putting the paper through a gas-fired oven that reaches 350-400 degrees F, and immediately after the oven, the paper goes through large rollers that have refrigerated water in them. These chill rollers cool the paper instantly, which sets the ink on the paper.


Advantages of offset printing include:

Consistently high quality images. Offset printing makes images and lines sharper more easily than other printing methods because the rubber blanket is flexible and therefore can conform to the texture of the printing service.

Production plates can be made quickly and easily.

Longer printing plate life. The plates last longer because there is no direct contact between the plate and printing surface.

High speed and high volume printing.

Costs less the more you print. Most of the price of printing is wrapped up in the preparation of the production plates and anything else that happens before the first page is printed. Once everything is prepared, the more you print will only cost you the price of paper and ink, which is minimal compared to setup costs.


Kaye Z. Marks is an avid writer and follower of developments in color printing industry and how these improvements can benefit small to medium-scale business.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Screen Printing Frames, Aluminum vs. Wood Screen Printing Frames how to select.

The advantage of an aluminum screen 
printing frame is the durability and longevity it retains. Unlike wood
silk screen printing frames when exposing frames to water in a dip tank 
or washout sink aluminum frames will not warp. This will insure a flat frame 
through thousands of prints to come. Aluminum frames can also be stretched and 
re-stretched many times. The mesh and glue are simply removed from the frame 
using a professional tool that doesn't damage the aluminum. Once cleaned, the 
frames can then be re-stretched which will give you the ability to use that 
frame for years of hard work in your shop.


Aluminum frames are also light weight which makes shipping 
less expensive and saves you money in the long run. If you're looking to 
maximize performance in your shop, aluminum frames are a great item to add to 
your screen printing equipment.


More about screen printing mesh size: Different mesh sizes are used for different 
applications in the screen printing process. Mesh size is measured by how many 
threads of mesh there are crossing per square inch. For instance, a 110 mesh 
screen has 110 threads crossing per square inch. The higher the mesh count, the 
finer the threads and holes are in the screen. The size of the mesh has a lot to 
do with how detailed your image is and how thick the ink you are using is. If 
you have an image with extremely high detail, a lower mesh screen won't hold the 
high detail. The fine lines or dots in the image will simply fall through the 
holes in the mesh not giving you a correct representation of what your image 
should be. Also if you are using a thinner ink, the ink will also flood through 
the larger holes and soak onto your shirt or substrate making your image blurry 
as the ink bleeds. On the other hand, if you are trying to print a thicker ink 
(such as white) through to high of a mesh screen, barely any ink will print 
through the mesh. You will notice that different companies have different sizes 
available. If the mesh count is fairly close, such as the difference between 
155 vs. 156, 196 vs. 200, or 81 vs. 86, the difference is so negligible and 
small that it will not matter in your final results.


Since there are many variables involved in
silk screen printing we 
can't tell you exactly what mesh sizes are used for what applications. However 
we can give you a general outline of what sizes to use for certain types of 
printing. Your basic and most standard mesh sizes are 110 and 156. 110 mesh 
lays a fairly thick layer of ink down. It's great for block text letters and 
larger spot color designs. It's also a recommended mesh for white flash plates 
because many times you will only have to make one print impression which speeds up production time. 156 mesh also lays down a little thicker layer of screen 
printing ink but offers you some higher detail ability in your image due to 
the finer mesh. Also if you are printing with a little thinner viscosity colors 
of inks, you may want to use the 156 mesh so not too much ink is passed through 
your screen. Lower mesh counts like 40-86 are used for shimmer and glitter 
inks. These inks have particles in them that will not pass through the typical 
mesh sizes. Therefore you need a lower mesh count with large holes in order for
all the particles to pass through properly. Shimmer plastisol inks have finer particles in them so you could probably use an 86 mesh while glitter inks have much larger particles so it would be recommended to use a 40 or 60 mesh screen. 200 and 230 mesh are used for finer detailed images and thinner inks. These mesh sizes can hold larger half tone dots but are not 
recommended for four color process prints or fine detail half tone printing. 
Also graphic and solvent based 
silk screening inks that are much thinner should be used with these mesh 
sizes. Also if you would like a softer feel to the ink on your shirts you can 
print through these higher mesh counts which will let less ink through the 
screen giving you a much softer feel on the shirt. This can get tricky however, 
many times a duller distressed look is wanted for the artwork but if bright 
vibrant colors are desired (especially white) you will have a hard time getting 
the opacity thick enough using these higher meshes. 305 mesh is used for 
extremely high detail textile printing and fine halftone four color process and 
simulated process prints. (Learn more about process printing here.) Fine half 
tone dots need high fine detail mesh in order to hold and expose on. Higher 
meshes such as 355, 380, and 400 are used mainly for graphic printing with UV 
inks. UV inks are extremely thin and many times are used for high detail 
printing on signs, banners, or CD's. Using a higher mesh allows the automatic 
printers used in UV printing to regulate the amount of ink passed through the 
screen.

Exposure Notes: Different mesh sizes hold different 
amounts of emulsion, due to how big the holes in the mesh are. For instance a 
110 mesh screen will hold much more emulsion then a 305 mesh screen. While the 
difference isn't extreme, you will have to vary your exposure times slightly for 
different mesh sizes. A finer mesh screen that holds less emulsion will expose 
faster then a lower mesh screen that holds more emulsion. However, the 
difference is small so you may have to only vary as slightly as 5-10% in either 
direction and depending on mesh size in order to get maximum exposure 
performance.

Know about the Digital Color Printing Services

Digital technology has become a necessity, especially in printing industry. Digital color printing satisfies the printing need for many. It has become essential to have updated knowledge to know the latest trends in digital color printing. A wide selection of articles and web sites on digital color printing technology is available to keep you well-informed on the past, present and latest things in digital color printing. To utilize the appropriate service, it is essential to know about the available digital color printing services.

Digital color printing services are used to print Business cards, Postcards, Newsletters, Sales sheets, Brochures, Pamphlets, Flyers, Proposals, Announcements, Invitations, Programs, Name tags, Coupons, Store signage, Bumper stickers, CD Trays & Inserts, Product labels, Video cassette labels, Real estate promotions, Variable data jobs or anything you need to print. Digital Printing services offer prompt delivery of strategic and direct approaches to every printing project. There are different colors printing options available such as Digital Offset Printing, Digital Image Printing, Digital Graphic Printing, Online Digital Printing, Professional Digital Printing, Digital 4-color printing, etc.

Imagers digital color printing service provides 4-color digital offset color printing solutions. Digital Poster Printing Company utilizes 4 color process and also offers many traditional custom printing services. Full Color Digital Printing service offers highly professional digital color printing service. My Postcard Printing is your premier online provider of full color printing services that caters specifically to postcard printing.

PBD is a state-of-the-art commercial digital color printing company providing reliable full color printing services. PBD provides impeccable track record for reliable full color printing services. If you opt for optimum digital color printing impact, and absolute best discount pricing, you can rely on PBD. PBD is the commercial printing company you can trust to make your job easier and more economical.

Whether you are looking for brochures, business cards, postcards, flyers, folders, booklets, posters, letterheads, stickers, or door hangers, Digital Printing Company is online printing provider for four-color digital printing solutions. The primary focus of Digital Printing Company is on digital color printing. Digital Printing Company delivers the highest quality color printing service combination of advanced digital printing technologies. Digital Printing Company provides quick and effective digital color printing service and delivers it to you within the scheduled time.

Concorde Printing and Copying Inc. is the company of choice for high-quality printing services. Concorde Printing & Copying Inc.’s printing capabilities range from simple black and white prints to color prints, including single, spot and full-color printing. Concorde offers high-quality and high-speed photocopying. They offer both black and white and color copy services. If you are looking for a Chicago full color printing company, get in contact with Concorde Printing and Copying Inc. online. They are sure to offer high quality, yet cheap and discount priced, online color digital printing worldwide.

Digital printing press, Australia's Full Color Online Printing Company, provides digital color printing into your current workflow to enable applications such as print on demand and one-to-one marketing.

Save time and money when your files are printed directly to digital presses through online printing services. You also have the benefit of instant, online print quotes and online proofing and approval process with online color printing services. These online printing service providers offer friendly customer service and provide fast, affordable and high quality.

Special Effects Guide To Print Posters

Special Effects Guide To Print Posters

Common print posters nowadays are taking advantage of the digital image phenomena. With digital images easily manipulated, a poster print can sport a variety of special effects that make them eye-catching, provocative and well “cool.” If you are still unaware of these special effects strategies in poster print or you're a professional just trying to scope out the trends then you are in the right place. Listed below are a few of the popular “special effects” people use in their poster printing designs. Who knows you might get some inspiration in making them.

Vectors and “Posterize”
“Vectored” posters or the ones using the “posterize” feature in image editing applications are one such popular special effect. This involves filtering a photographic image and turning it into straight block colors with hard lines. The effect of course is that the digital photograph becomes a drawing in some sense, but it maintains the reality of it shapes and lines. So basically it seems like an artistic and realistic drawing, but a drawing nonetheless and not a photograph. Most post-modern poster artists use this technique to provide the feeling of a chaotic or an alternative view of the photograph.

Blur Effects
Blur effects are a subtle but effective special effect for color posters. This is popular because it provides a softness to posters. For example, if your subject is a baby, or a puppy, or clouds, adding a subtle blur lends an effect of softness that compliments the features of your subject. Also, blur effects are used to represent a memory or things that happened in the past. If your color poster is about something like that, a blur special effect can convey a “blurry” memory or experience.

Sketch/Paint Effects
Next, we have sketch effects. These are the special effects filters in image editing software that turns images into hand drawn graphics. There can be many variations in this. There are the charcoal effects, paintbrush filters, pencil sketch effects and other “hand drawn” filters. Poster designers use these filters to convey a hands on quality to the poster, disguising it from being a digital image. For example, your poster might be a picture of your mother or friend. Add a paintbrush effect and your color poster becomes a color painting of them.

Textures
You can also add textures to your poster designs of a special effect. This popular special effect involves simulating a certain kind of material where your poster design will be “painted” on. For example your design can be “painted” on soft canvass, concrete, bricks and other kinds of surfaces. Artist use textures to add a certain kind of grittiness to their design make them “come out” of the poster in some may. Also, it is used in specific areas of a poster design to make a design element look like it was painted in something.

Those are just a few of the popular special effects people use for their color poster printing designs. Usually the best color posters use a combination of these factors to get the full effect of them. Try to mix and match these effects and see what you get!