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Writing to be Believed
If your advertising’s readers do not believe what you say, you have wasted your marketing dollars — plus reinforcing your audience’s...


Study Shows that Complex Copy & Graphics Often Backfire
K*I*S*S — “Keep It Simple, Stupid” — long have been watchwords in direct mail. Now, research by Daniel M. Oppenheimer, a Princeton...


Effective Design
Make your material reader-friendly. Every element in your advertising should encourage readership, because if your prospects do not read...


8 Pointers on Writing Effective Copy
“Each product or service has natural strengths and weaknesses” to stress or downplay in your advertising, New Jersey consultant Robert W....


What should be included in a Creative Brief?
A Creative Brief establishes goals and objectives for your marketing efforts. It helps bring clarity to all participates and ends...


Variable Data Case Studies
Furniture Store Reminder Campaign When a shopper visits an American Signature home furnishings store and does not make a purchase, they...


Personalization Layout Change Case Study
Meher Montessori School case study Client information Founded in 1972 by Executive Director John Page, Meher Montessori School is an AMI...


Preparing your Variable Printing Project
Marketing Basics With modern variable printing, the text and graphics on each sheet of a press run can change to reflect the...


Drilling & Die Cutting
Standard drilling is 3-hole, but size and position of holes can be customized Standing dies can save you money During the design process, show the print representative the possible design to determine if there is an existing die. If it is decided to use the standing die, $75 to $450 can be saved. Presentation folders have a standard die with one 4-inch pocket A standard presentation folder has 4-pages and a 4-inch flat pocket. Adding an additional pocket will increase costs b


Tab Dividers
Die cut tab dividers can assist readers through sections of a binder Tab dividers have an approximate half inch section that extends past the face of a book or multi-page document. The purpose of the divider is to assist the reader to easily find a particular section of the book. The type of binding that allows the greatest flexibility and lowest relative cost of tab dividers would be loose leaf binding such as ring, Wire-O, or spiral binding. The tabs are inserted by hand at


Photoshop Tools – Let the Healing Begin
Anyone who has used Photoshop long enough is familiar with the Clone Stamp tool. This little gem has been a favorite for many a photographer or artist. But, how do you improve on something that is so great to begin with? Well, you may have noticed that using the Clone Stamp with a hard edge brush can result in obvious dot shapes. You can soften the edge, but you may see differences between the source and destination backgrounds. Also, making precise point source selections ca


Photoshop & Rich Black
Using 100% black on small objects such as body copy text and fine keyline borders is recommended. But if you have a large background of solid black or very large black type, then the solid black may look washed out when printed. Process inks are translucent. They allow light to pass through them, much like a color filter. The light is then reflected back to our eyes and the result is a washed out looking black. To increase the “richness” of the black it is necessary to add ad


Digital PrePress
Getting your file imaged onto the printing plate at the lowest cost Desktop Publishing Desktop publishing is the process of using the computer and specific types of software to combine text and graphics to produce documents such as newsletters, brochures, books, etc. Which Platform? Both Macintosh and PC platforms are is acceptable. Industry standard software is available for both the Macintosh and PC. Industry Standard Software Applications Page layout: Adobe InDesign Illust


Setting up a Folded Brochure
One of the first things to think about when creating a brochure is how it will fold. Making a plain paper folding dummy can help you determine accurate sizes for the panels. A few of the more common folds are roll fold, accordion fold and gate fold. The panel sizes are determined by the fold you want to use. An accordion fold is one of the easiest because all of the panels are the same size because of the zig-zag. The roll and gate folds fold in on each other. To make the bro


Preparing Digital Files
Use the latest version of a page layout software — some programs require additional prepress steps Using the latest version of standard page layout software will cause the fewest problems for your printer. The reason for this is that the digital technician who prepares your digital files for printing has a high level of expertise. The standard page layout program is InDesign. Photoshop and Illustrator are not page layout programs. You can build pages using these programs, but


6 Ways to Build Strong Files using InDesign
In InDesign, crafting well-formed documents will not only look better, but save you money in unexpected production costs. l. Images. Before you place images in your file, make sure to first save them as CMYK TIFF files. The final resolution after sizing in InDesign should be 300 dpi. Select the linked file in the InDesign Links Panel, and in the link info, check the "Effective PPI" to see the resolution after sizing. 2. Bleed . If anything creeps over the edge on your page,


6 Pointers on Producing Effective Digital Printing
Digital printing — which affords mail advertisers almost infinite opportunities for highly persuasive personalization — demands careful preparation. Sylvia Konkel of EU Services of Rockville, Maryland, offers these six tips on digital production: TIFF, EPS, and similar image files work best in digital reproduction. TIFF files take up a lot of computer capacity, but produce higher resolution, with more precise detail and color than JPG and GIF files, which may save capacity bu


RGB vs. CMYK
Red, green, and blue (RGB) are the primary colors of light. Cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK) are the primary colors of printing. RGB color is used to display on your computer screen. RGB is called additive color. The more light you add the lighter your color becomes. When equal amounts of the RGB primary colors are at their highest level, the resulting color is white. CMYK color is used for printing. Dots of ink are printed on paper for each color: cyan, magenta, yellow


Communicating with Color
Color pointers from Leatrice Eiseman's Guide to Communicating with Color : When two variations of the same color, one light and one dark, are printed next to each other, the lighter shade will seem lighter, and the darker shade will appear to be darker. Large color areas influence smaller color masses. If a small square of medium gray is surrounded by a larger area in black, the gray square will appear brighter than the same square surrounded by white. The human mind connects
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