4 Book Printing Tips to Save Time & Money

                         4 Book Printing Tips to Save Time & Money

The flow of information from customer to printer – and vice versa – is critical to all aspects of the book production cycle, from estimating and scheduling to packing and shipping. To be sure the finished product meets your expectations, everyone involved in its production must know all critical aspects before ink is laid on paper. Here are some tips to keep in mind when exchanging information about your book with your printer.

 1. Getting Back to Basics

It sounds simple, but start by communicating the basics of your book project: page count, quantity and final trim size. This information is needed to begin preparing an estimate.

This is a good time to ask for the printers ideas on how to save money with standard sizes, economical papers, how recycled paper may affect the price, etc. Your printer likely has helpful ideas based on their equipment and experience in printing. Use them as a project resource.

If your project is a rerun supply a sample of the original version during the estimating process. This allows your printer to create the most accurate estimate possible. During this stage, we may be able to suggest stock or slight format changes that can enhance the value of the book.

Good book planning begins with the delivery date. Once your printer knows the date by which you need your books, they can create a production schedule that meets your deadline. This includes blocking time on appropriate presses and other equipment, and checking availability of paper. Be sure to plan in shipping time to accommodate your delivery date too! Sometimes delivery can take up to a week depending on distance.


2. Building Your Book

Book pages are printed as signatures, or multiple pages laid out on a single sheet of paper. The number of pages that can fit on each side of a sheet is determined based on the final trim size of your books. Since common trim sizes are designed to fit 8, 12, 16, or 32 pages on each sheet, the page count of your book plays an important role in how much paper is used and how efficiently the book will be produced.

The format of your book should also be considered; oblong layouts can be less economical to produce, so be sure to let your printer know if your book will be bound in portrait or landscape format.

Page Counts vs. Sheet Counts

One important note: “Page counts” differ from “sheet counts”. In the printing world, page refers to one side of a sheet. Therefore, a book with 120 pages would require 60 sheets. This can cause confusion between designers and printers, so be sure that your book’s page count refers to the number of pages that will be printed, not the number of sheets.

Paper Stock

The cost of paper is often a large percentage of the total price of a book project. There are also hundreds of types of papers, and they vary based on weight, color, brightness, finish and a host of other factors. Therefore it is important that you consult your printer when selecting papers for both the text pages and cover of your book. Most printers maintain an inventory of “house stocks”, or commonly used paper selections that are bought in volume and therefore often can be offered at a discount.

Planning Tip

Paper availability fluctuates, so give your printer plenty of time to order the exact paper you require. If you choose to purchase your own paper, supply your printer with all of its specifications. This allows us to make appropriate recommendations for inks and coatings.

Sheetfed vs. Web Presses

Ink coverage, bleeds and areas of critical registration should be communicated to your printer. This information will often help your printer determine the best equipment on which to run your books, especially if your printer has a mix of sheetfed and web presses. For example, if your book requires critical registration on many pages, it may not be a good candidate to be run on a non-heatset web press.


3. Sending Files Correctly 
 
Once your book is designed, it’s time to send your files to your printer. One of the most critical aspects to timely print production is to send all necessary files to your printer completely and correctly. This includes all layout files, all screen and printer versions of fonts, and all image files. Most book printers have the latest versions of all layout software in both PC and Mac format, but a quick call can save some headaches.

Adobe PDF files are gaining in popularity because of their ability to embed all graphics and fonts, allowing you to create a single “print-ready” file that includes all the elements of your book. When submitting PDF files, however, your printer may request that you send native files as well. That allows your printer to make changes easily during the prepress stage, which can save time and money.

Proofing

There are a variety of proofs available from printers, including “hard” (physical printed proofs) and “soft” (digital files) proofs. Turnaround time, cost, and your comfort with a particular type of proof will help determine the appropriate proofing method. Clear and timely communication with your printer during proofing is essential to keeping your project on schedule.


4. Binding Your Book
 
Of course, no book product is complete until it is bound. A full-service book printer can provide several in-house binding services, and will help you choose the right binding method for your project. Your binding selection will trigger the need for ancillary services such as folding, gluing, drilling, laminating and shrink-wrapping.

Even packing and shipping details must be communicated prior to the start of production. Maximum carton weight, label information and other special instructions need to be funneled through the printer to maximize production efficiency end-to-end.


Better Planning Means Happier Customers

No book product becomes a work of art by itself. Many hands play pivotal roles in bringing your books to life. The printer, often at the center of the production activities, needs to be armed with as much information as possible to deliver the book as the you envisioned. By including all of this information early in the estimating and production planning processes, you can greatly impact production efficiency and take a giant leap forward in having a finished book you the meets your expectations.
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Leaving a Legacy with Your Small Business

                       Leaving a Legacy with Your Small Business

In the 1950s, a young boy named John was enthralled by every chance to visit his best friend.

This family owned a soda pop bottling plant, which sparked a lifelong love for exotic flavors in John Nese. Years later, Nese brought soda to his family’s Italian grocery store in Los Angeles, known today for its 600 soda and beer flavors from around the world.

The variety wasn’t always this broad. Nese said the change came 20 years ago when independent grocers were being squeezed out by chains. One soda dealer offered a profit of $30 a pallet if Nese would streamline shelves and eliminate variety. Nese wouldn’t bite:

“Nuts to that,” he said. “A light bulb went off (and I said), ‘You know, John, you should be happy you own your shelf space, and Pepsi doesn’t, and you can sell anything you want.’ So I went out and found 25 brands of little sodas.”

Nese says this “freedom of choice” philosophy defines his family and his business, and customers can even make flavors of their own at the store. Rows of cane sugar syrups line the wall, along with bottles, caps, and carbonated water dispensers. “Whatever you think of, you can make!” Nese exclaimed.

This passion has fueled the Galcos’ grocery for over a century, and the Galcos plan to continue this legacy.

Successfully Passing Down Your Business


Small businesses make up around 99 percent of U.S. companies and 20 percent of these are family owned.

These businesses play a crucial role in creating jobs, exporting products, and generating wealth. As Baby Boomers reach retirement, 4 million of them will be handing off their privately-owned small businesses; in the next 15 years, we will see the largest transfer ever of private business to the next generation!

What are the keys to successfully navigating these transitions?

Preparation and communication are essential. Here are a few steps businesses are taking to pave the way for a smooth handoff:

Think decades in advance.


Small business owners often wait too long to start planning a transition, and typically only half of those planning to retire have identified a successor.

Justin Goodbread, a certified financial planner and exit planning advisor says the process is especially weighty for families:

“Families will most likely also have to cope with emotional and psychological issues that surface during a generational transaction. I believe a 10-year period is needed to successfully navigate a family business transaction.”

Sketch out clear successors and exit strategies.


A strong mission statement and business plan, a clear exit strategy for senior leaders, and an early commitment from successors are important hallmarks to longevity.

Build the right team.

Many businesses believe they can manage their transition independently, but this assumption is costly.

Healthy handoffs will require input from lawyers, accountants, financial advisors, business valuation experts, and a family business planner to shepherd the process. Though senior leaders may wish to gift the business ownership, experts believe financial buy-ins allow successors to get some “skin in the game,” as they emotionally double-down in commitment, maturity, and vision.

Be flexible as you exchange roles and responsibilities over time.

The gap between generations requires effective communication and an organized structure for each person involved.

This should be reviewed regularly to adjust the roles or time commitment of each team member. Goodbread recommends younger successors earn more responsibility on a day-to-day basis:

 “It has to be earned or merited,” he says. “The problems start when a junior takes over a senior’s position in the company without earning it or wanting the position.” For more of our informative blogs go to: https://store.printcafeli.com/blog/Print_Cafe_Blog.html

The Story Behind Pantone 448 C, 'the World’s Ugliest Color'

           The Story Behind Pantone 448 C, 'the World’s Ugliest Color'

               By Joseph Myers

                                         

                                   

Back in 2012, the Australian federal government lobbied hard to change the description of Pantone 448 C from “olive green” to “drab dark brown” after the country’s olive association expressed concern that being tied to the color would damage olives’ reputation. That's when it became obvious we had a forerunner for the title of “the world’s ugliest color." Findings from a marketing research firm made it more or less official, when a survey of 1,000 smokers selected it as the least appealing color.

Fast forward six years, and we have additional proof that Pantone 448 C continues to offend the masses, as multiple countries—including Australia, following that marketing study—have enlisted the shade on cigarette packaging as a symbolic condemnation of indulging in nicotine.

The Pantone Color Institute has been choosing a Color of the Year since 2000, and unlike Time Magazine, which has picked controversial figures such as Adolf Hiter and Joseph Stalin as its Person of the Year, the entity is not ever likely to have someone question its sanity by giving Pantone 448 C any serious consideration. We must say we would love to trot out the headline “Hue Have to be Kidding Us” if that were ever to occur, but, we are pretty sure the public will end up spared. Why is that? Well, simply put, there are only so many times that a shade could draw comparisons to fecal matter before one has to say, “Wow, it does look like that!” If that excretion is not your preferred one to compare it to, you are certainly not alone, as the disdain for Pantone 448 C has been growing since Australia’s aforementioned critiques of it.

It's become something of a phenomenon in the color world. Google "Pantone 448 C," and mixed in among the news stories about its use in packaging are plenty of impassioned defenses, like this one, and this one. and this one, etc. Someone even created a Twitter account for the color (though it hasn't been active since 2012):

We have taken delight in relaying the institute’s color-of-the-year verdicts, as the chosen ones, not to mention other Pantone family constituents, have gone on to have significance for brands in terms of logo determination, marketing strategies and more. However, it benefits us and you, too, we feel to look at a less-than-stellar perception of another color in the institute’s crayon box.

Israel has positioned itself as the latest country to seek to associate the drab tone with the deleterious effects of smoking, with its plan calling for the banning of logos on packs and the uniform use of Pantone 448 C—also dubbed opaque couché—on packaging. Further limiting brand awareness, the powers that be aim to shrink the size of the product names and will have health warnings dominate the front and back sides of the packs.

Regarding the warnings, we know that people will continue to smoke no matter how many admonitions or images of diseased lungs appear on cartons of packs, but we find ourselves curious to see what engaging in a bit of color psychology will do for end-users’ reliance on cigarettes. No color has won universal acceptance as a positive hue, but since Pantone 448 C has gained unwanted traction as the world’s ugliest choice, could Israel—which has company in such lands as Australia, Great Britain, France and Northern Ireland in calling on bland packaging to curtail smoking—see a drastic reduction in cigarette sales? Is the widespread repudiation of Pantone 448C an indicator that it will go on to become an even greater resource in helping other countries to limit smoking?

We certainly like the irony that color, a tool commonly used to compel consumers to purchase a product, could come to have far-reaching use as an agent against the buying of a commodity. The overall matter, however, makes us wonder about your take on Pantone 448 C. Have you used it in your product lines, or have you likewise sided with the camp that declares it “the world’s ugliest color”?For more of our informative blogs go to: https://store.printcafeli.com/blog/Print_Cafe_Blog.html