Are you a PSP worried about client color expectations?

The advent of digital printing technologies changed the game for print service providers (PSPs). It raised the bar extremely high for what clients expect in color and quality.

This has ushered in a host of complications that you now need to address head-on before commencing any printing. And as anyone in the world of printing will tell you, managing client color expectations is no walk in the park.

So, what can you do about it? What best practices can you adopt to ensure you keep your clients happy and retain their business?

Here are a few of our top tips. Let’s get started.Continue Reading..

Running a custom test print is one of the best printing practices any creative director or printer can adopt.

It’s one of the premier ways to confirm your color choice and color accuracy so you can avoid color shifts when printing. That’s not all, but test printing is also used as a form of troubleshooting your press and making sure your printer(s) are working as they should.

A test print enables you to have a direct image that you can use to gauge the color quality of subsequent printing work. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s break down what a test print is.Continue Reading..

How important is color management in banners and signs for live events?

Color has an innate ability to influence decisions, communicate nonverbal messages and create atmospheres. Color has a psychological effect on us. It can elicit the type of response live event organizers are after.

Creative directors, designers, and marketers spend countless hours working on banners and signs to project the right brand image during live events. As experts of color psychology, their work often involves carefully selecting colors.

Therefore, it is imperative to know the importance of color and color management.Continue Reading..

Does your facility have G7 certification?

The printing industry, much like every other sector, is experiencing growth and change over the last few decades.

One of the most prolific has been the introduction of the G7 method, a system of print specifications that allows printers to print with color precision every time.

So integral is this G7 certification that most marketers and clients request from companies they outsource print work to.Continue Reading..

No printer can excel in today’s cut-throat printing space without G7 Master Qualification. This is because G7 Master Printer Certification has now become a print benchmark.

More than ever, creative directors now understand the value and the need for high-quality print standards. 

You see, G7 print certification is the new gold standard for printing. Without it, creative directors are courting printing quality headaches and frustration.Continue Reading..

Color choice and management are a primary part of branding. No matter what product you are selling, you need to consider the color of the product itself and its packaging. You must carefully think about the color of your logo before you publish and publicize it. Picking the right color combinations for a regional or national brand is tough enough. What happens when you are targeting a global market? What color management challenges will you face?

The interpretation of color in different areas of the world has a lot to do with indigenous culture, religion, and pop culture. International brands must be aware of such nuances? So how do the most popular brands in the world do it?Continue Reading..

Did you know that color influences more than 60% of a person’s assessment of a product? This can go up to 90% of their evaluation about a product or a store in some people. Color is universal, and its impact on purchase decisions is undeniable. But how does color quality affect in-store advertising?

In-store advertising is effective because it is targeted at people who are highly engaged. They are likely to be already familiar with the brand. This marketing channel has evolved through the years. In the past, it used to be static signs spread throughout the store. There are digital wait-boards, digital menu boards, video walls, kiosks, and way-finding screens. Brands now can send more interactive messaging than ever before. But what role does color play in all of this?Continue Reading..

Color management could be best described as determining the color characteristics for devices in the imaging chain. It is a critical issue when it comes to maintaining a brand identity. Color evokes initial opinions and associations in the eyes of consumers and stakeholders at large. It always happens behind the scenes, but once companies run into problems and inconsistencies in print, the importance only becomes more highlighted. As a result, companies discover color management as a solution for many challenges.

Color management does not always guarantee identical reproduction in the imaging chain. However, it gives brands a tremendous amount of control over changes that might occur in the chain. An example of a chain would be from the camera to the editing suite, and finally, print. When done correctly, tuning printers as part of color management can optimize ink consumption significantly.Continue Reading..

While all things change with time, there is always room for improvement. Certain types of change can have a negative impact. Sometimes, that’s because it isn’t a universal change. In other words, when there becomes too much variation across a product line that should have very little-to-no volatility; it can detract from the overall quality of that product line. That is one of the many reasons that it’s vital to maintain color consistency through an expansion.

There are many reasons to expand. For instance, if a company’s sales have reached a point where you can’t keep up with customer demands without additional locations. Another reason a company might want to expand is that they’ve established a high enough reputation to the point that a second location is bound to carry over and bring in new business.Continue Reading..

Consistency is key, they say. That saying applies to everything under the sun, from learning the piano through consistent practice to learning how to ride a bike and even mastering the strategic game of chess. And in print marketing, consistency is entirely vital. So, that’s where GMI certification comes into play.

And GMI certification is one of the ways the printing industry standardizes and qualifies the various printing companies. Quality control in printing is a crucial element, as many print jobs are so large in volume that a single error or misprint can cost companies significant money.Continue Reading..