Here at Cary Printing we are all winding down 2008 by celebrating the holidays. Even though we are winding down 2008, we are gearing up for 2009. We are expecting a great year with new and innovative ideas that will benefit our clients and our planet. We want to wish you and all of your family and friends happy holidays.

The Holiday Season is now upon us. The stores are all decorated and there is even a chill in the air.

This is the time of year that people traditionally show that they care, by picking a special gift for those on their lists and sending a card to those near and far.

Wouldn’t it be an even more special touch to buy a custom card printed by the nation’s first internationally certified “Green” printer on a recycled and environmentally friendly certified paper?

Cary Printing can take your special Holiday design and print your cards so that everyone on your list will know that you care about the environment as much as you care about them.

Have you ever wondered what goes on in world of Estimating? Well, I will share with you the “Science of Estimating”. I will only scratch the surface here, but hopefully you will get the idea…

Before an Estimator can begin, there are 5 key elements that must be in place for Estimator to complete his/her task.

They are:

• Quantity
• Size of the piece
• Ink
• Paper
• Finishing

Other elements would be Description, Customer, and urgency of the piece to be printed. These are just as important as the 5 main, however, one can estimate with the 5 key elements, and fill in the blanks with other pertinent information afterwards.

There are many, many different sizes, ink configurations and papers. Business Cards to Large Format Maps to Booklets, and everything in between. It all just depends.

Finishing also comes in a variety of different forms. There are flat sheets, Saddle Stitched Booklets, Hand Glued & Folded pieces. It all just depends on the application. Some pieces are for long term use, some are meant to be used over a period of time, and some are meant to be read and/or used and discarded. It all just depends.

So, as you can see, the Science of Estimating has many different avenues, a plethora of different options, and lots of head scratching. It just all depends.

Good printing begins with good design. Part of what makes good design is the mechanical aspect of building the print file.

One important element of building the mechanical is to make sure that the resolution of the file, including incorporated images, are at a high enough resolution.

Since printing involves making images from small dots of CMYK ink, the resolution of a file is measured in dots per inch, or dpi. 72 dpi is an example of low resolution. This means that there are only 72 dots per inch of space for that particular image. A good rule of thumb for appropriate print resolution is 300 dpi. In short, the more dots per inch, the better the image will appear. This measure will ensure that your images will appear sharp and without pixilation. Cary Printing utilizes preflight software to analyze your print files and to make sure that the images are high enough resolution and in the best possible shape to give you a great looking print job!

Aren’t the colors of fall so inspiring?  You have the rich reds and the deep purples and burgundy colors.  Why not use those brilliant colors in your designs?  Pictures spice up just about any graphic design project.  A lot of people are afraid to use too many pictures because they fear they won’t come out well once they receive the finished product.  However, there is no reason to fear!  Cary Printing provides and exceptional quality when it comes to prints and color.  That is the reason why we have been awarded with the GRACol7 Master Printer Status.  We have a color quality that goes above and beyond the average printer.  So, when you want to use those vibrant photos of the fall leaves, don’t worry because you will receive quality prints.

Cary Printing has officially gained a Gracol7 (G7) Master Printer Status! So, you might be asking, “What does that mean?”  With this achievement, Cary Printing has been recognized as a printer that goes above and beyond the average printer to have an exceptional print quality.  The Master Printer Status proves that Cary Printing meets a standard of excellence in the color quality of all printed products.  This is a huge benefit to the print buyer.  It ensures that the print buyer can order the same product multiple times from Cary Printing and receive the exact same coloring.  However, with other printers, one might order the same product twice and the coloring could be nothing alike when they are held side by side.  Cary Printing exceeds the standard by providing a continuous first-rate quality in color and in service.

Oh yeah! I got an email…PRINT.  It is a disease in businesses across America.  We receive an email so we click our print button.  Or maybe we are surfing the web and we come across a website with useful information, PRINT!  Clicking our print button is an epidemic.  We don’t need to print every time we receive something.  That is why we did it electronically in the first place.  At Cary Printing we strive to use recycled paper and recycle the paper we use.  We send things via email and try to reduce the consumption of normal daily office paper.  On our presses, we strive to reduce waste as well.  We do our best to reduce scrap materials.

So next time you feel like printing just because you can, just stop and think.

The craft of printing is more technologically advanced than ever before. Printing presses utilize computer driven components to achieve quality and consistency never seen before.

Along with the improvements to offset printing presses, there have also been improvements made to digital printing equipment. What process should be used then, and how does one determine the best method for their project? Before we answer that, we will summarize the two processes.

Traditional offset printing uses vegetable-based liquid ink that is transferred onto a metal plate that has the image to be printed burned onto it through a process very similar to photographic developing. Through the use of the four basic inks, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK), any full-color image can be attained and reproduced through printing. Offset printing also can utilize special mixed inks called PMS inks. These colors are traditionally used for typefaces and corporate logos. Cary Printing has the capability of printing multi-colored projects on our offset presses.

Digital printing utilizes toner-based inks similar to laser printers. Like offset CMYK inks, digital printing utilizes the same CMYK colors in toner ink rather than liquid ink. The image is transferred onto the paper through the use of an electrostatic charge and then fused with heat. Just like offset printing, any image can be achieved through the CMYK process.Cary Printing also has the capability of using enhanced toners as a fifth color which provides further ranges of colors.

While both of these printing processes are similar, the main differences surround “when” to use one or the other. Offset printing is typically used for higher quantity press runs of the same image while digital printing is best suited for short-run jobs with a faster turnaround on delivery. Whatever your need, Cary Printing can provide the highest quality printing either offset or digital.

So many people will submit files to us that are RGB and would like us to print them.  When they receive the final, printed product, they are often shocked to see that the colors don’t line up with their computer screen.  Here is why.  All of our computer displays along with TV displays are in RGB or Red, Green and Blue.  Those three colors make up the millions of colors we see everyday from the computer screen.  However, when things go to print they are printed in CMYK or Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black.  Those 4 colors are all that are needed when a product gets printed.  That is why it is called 4-color-offset printing. 

Now, if a design happens to be in RGB and gets printed in CMYK it doesn’t look right.  The colors will often look dull and the shadows and highlights will not be as bold.  When you transfer data from an RGB color profile to a CMYK color profile use lose some of the color and gain other areas of color.  So, if you design from CMYK in the first place, you get the exact colors you want.  Even better, when you print with Cary Printing, you are practically guaranteed a perfect color match because we are certified by Gracol7 giving us a Master Printer Status.  Basically, that means that we have met a level of excellence in the color and print quality of all of our products.  Feel free to order samples from us today to see for yourself the beauty of “green” printing.

You may be wondering, what can I do to be green in my community, my home or my work?  Well today’s green tip is how to get involved in your community.

Did you know that there are probably groups that go out every weekend and pick up public parks, trails and greenways?  You can get involved by volunteering to help clean-up the environment.  The paths don’t clean themselves.  You would be surprised how much trash is discarded in parks, on roads and on paths.  Do your part in helping to clean-up.  You don’t have to do it alone either!  Bring friends or family or coworkers.  It can actually be a lot of fun!  Give it a try and do your part in helping us have a greener world.