My company needs to advertise in a publication whose advertising rates are straining our budget. Can you provide some ideas for fitting a lot of text into a small space?
Over the years, weat Express Printing & Graphics have developed some tricks for organizing text to improve readability. Try these techniques:
•Add contrast to large blocks of text by using headlines, subheads, headers, footers, pull
quotes, sidebars and bulleted lists.
•Make headlines larger and use a different font than the body copy.
•Add a one-point rule above and below a subhead and make it span two columns of text.
•Use white space to balance black space by basing the design on a grid.
•Create a drop-cap from three to six times larger than the body copy.
Templates are pre-designed documents that contain placeholders (such as boxes, dummy text and headlines) that can be overwritten with actual copy and photographs or graphics. Templates may be purchased or you can create your own.
A template can be a great time-saver, can provide design inspiration and can augment the design capabilities of an amateur designer. Using a template as a basis for your ad will also provide consistency among your ads.
If you choose to use an ad template, select one that is appropriate for the job at hand. Begin by selecting a template whose ad is the correct size and does not require extensive alterations. Other tips for customization include:
•Use your own graphics. Substitute your own graphics or clip art for what was included in the template. Since graphics also include rules and boxes, you can change the size or location to better fit your needs.
•Alter the type. Change the template’s typeface, change the leading (the space between lines), or type justification. When selecting a new typeface, be sure not to stray too far away from the original design. For example, substituting a casual typeface for a formal one will likely compromise the design.
•Change the color. Sometimes a dramatic change can occur when color is changed, even if the design is unaltered.
•Change the background. Create a reverse (white or light text on a dark background) to draw the reader’s eye. The reverse can be an entire headline or just the single capital letter that begins the headline. Do remember that not all typefaces and sizes are suitable for reverses. Fine serifs can disappear in a reverse.
Q. I am putting together a brochure and want to include pictures of products from several manufacturers. Why can’t I copy pictures from their web site to use in my brochure – the photos look great on my computer screen.
You are certainly right about photographs looking great on a web page. The phosphors on the computer screen lend a brightness to the color that is visually appealing.
But color created by light shining through red, green and blue phosphors cannot be exactly reproduced with the cyan, magenta and yellow colors of printing ink. Even more importantly, the digital photo files have been optimized for fast loading on the web page by reducing the file size through file compression. And for photographs in JPG format, a lossy compression technique was used.
This means that the original high resolution photograph had pixels permanently removed to make the file smaller. If enough are removed, the remaining pixels will be visible to the naked eye instead of smoothly blending in to one another. In specific circumstances (such as taking a very large photograph and using it in a much smaller size) the pixelation may be less apparent though still visible.
IDEA CORNER (November 2008) - One popular use of a web site is to make a version of a company’s printed documents available there, either printable from a PDF or as online text. The term for this transition from print to web is repurposing. Repurposing can require some planning as well as text editing and some redesign because web readers read in different ways and for different purposes than print readers.
If the printed piece is rich in photographs and graphics, or if it is text-heavy (such as an instruction manual), it may be better to offer it as a print download rather than repurpose the printed piece into online content. In this case, we can provide you with a PDF version of your printed piece. We can deliver the PDF as part of the job on the first printing, or we can retrieve the native application file from our archives and create a PDF of something previously printed. Contact Nathan Fette at (408) 400-0223 for assistance.
If while working on a web page or a document for print you need to compress a digital photo or image file to make it smaller, it is a good practice to save the photographs or graphics in their original uncompressed file format. Likewise, it is a good practice to create new compressed files every time a photograph or image is changed significantly (such as resizing or changing the file format).
This recommendation is the result of the compression technique used for JPG files (the most common file format for photographs and images). There are two data compression techniques: lossy and lossless. The lossless technique makes the file smaller by squeezingout inefficiencies in data storage so does not permanently delete any information from the file when the file is compressed.
Accordingly, all original information can be completely restored when a lossless file is decompressed. Lossless compression works best when compressing images with large fields of homogeneous color.
In contrast, the lossy compression technique permanently eliminates what it determines to be redundant or unnecessary information in the file during compression. While this can significantly reduce file size, it does mean that upon decompression, the file will contain much less information than prior to compression. With the lossy technique, every time a file is decompressed then recompressed, greater and greater amounts of information is lost and eventually there are too few pixels to properly render the image.
It has probably never been more important to advertise a business than during an economic downturn. Studies have shown over and over again that businesses that continue to advertise and engage in proactive marketing do better during the economic downturn and position themselves to prosper when the economy recovers.
One cost-effective way to reach out to your customers and prospects regularly is to mail a postcard. Unlike letters and self-mailers, the recipient doesn’t have to open anything to see the message, and a postcard is easy to store or file.
Full Color postcards with a strong offer will normally get read, however you can increase the success rate by being creative with the size and the presentation of the postcard.
A popular size for postcards is 5½ x 8½ – half of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. However, there are some other sizes that we like because they are unusual but still can be processed by postal service equipment rather than by hand: 6 x 9 and 6 x 11. A 6 x 9 postcard will extend one-half inch above and to the side of a stack of mail, making it more visible. A 6 x 11 postcard looks like a giant and attracts attention by its size.
When designing a postcard, keep in mind how the mail is presented when delivered. Most likely, it will be sorted with the address facing the recipient. Be sure you include enough tantalizing information and good design on this side of the postcard to ensure that the recipient will turn it over.
Contrary to common usage, the mail panel on a postcard does not need to take up the entire right half of one side. An addressing area of 4 ¼ inches wide by 2½ inches high is sufficient for most 3- or 4-lines addresses.
Remember that a poorly designed or positioned mail panel may prevent you from qualifying for the best postage rate. For that reason, we suggest that you have us look at the mail panel before you commit to press.
Our website, www.expressprintingusa.com, is loaded with information about how to build a direct marketing campaign to grow your business and tips to do it more effectively. If you need help or just want to discuss printing options, give us a call 408-400-0223 or come by our Sunnyvale location.Can’t get out of the office?We’ll even come to you. Of course you can always place your order online. Express Printing & Graphics wants to be your printing company.
Whether you call them Flyers, Data Sheets, Handouts or Sell sheets, they are a proven and effective way to market products and services. Sell sheets give the reader an overview of the product or service and also serves as a quick reference guide. One of the most important marketing tools used by the sales force, the success of a sell sheet depends on not only its content but also on the design and presentation.
There are endless ways that your company can use full-color sell sheets. Have you equipped your sales team with all of the information handouts and flyers they need to make a sale?
Sell Sheets or Flyers can come in lots of different sizes; however the most common sizes are 5.5 x 8.5, 8.5 x 11, and 11 x 17. The printing can be either single or double sided, color printing or black and white printing, folded or flat. Lots of choices for the paper: cover or text weight, glossy or matte, coated or non-coated, recycled or not.
So whatever you call them, Flyers, Handouts, or Sell Sheets, they are an inexpensive ways to tell your story and provide sales building information to help you communicate better and grow you business.
Our website, www.expressprintingusa.com, is loaded with information about how to use printed material to grow your business and tips to do it more effectively. If you need help or just want to discuss printing options, give us a call 408-400-0223 or come by our Sunnyvale location. Can’t get out of the office? We’ll even come to you. Of course you can always place your order online. Express Printing & Graphics wants to be your printing company.
Direct mail is one of the most common forms of direct marketing in use today. Marketers have used direct mail marketing for decades to get their message across. It's a proven, versatile and measurable marketing channel.
Direct Marketing experts know that postcards are one of the secret weapons of successful campaigns. Surveys have shown time and time again, that direct mail advertising is in one of the top three spots, when it comes to marketing that works. Yet, postcards are often overlooked—even though they are a low-cost, easy, and effective way to tell your story. Postcards can be quickly produced, are easy to mail and with the right message or offer, are highly effective. It’s almost impossible not to read a compelling message on a postcard you receive in the mail.
Compared to a brochure or a flyer or a sell sheet or newsletter, a postcard takes less time and less effort to produce and is more affordable.This makes postcards an important marketing tool for any business or organization.
Whether your objective is business promotion, product or service advertising, brand identity, donation solicitation, invitation, or service or event reminder, a postcard gets the job done efficiently and effectively.Postcards can be printed in almost any size, in attention grabbing full color or as simple as black and white.
Although most postcards are used for direct mail marketing, they also have other uses.A postcard can be used as a notice on a bulletin board, as a handout at a trade show or meeting, and for inserting into publications or other distributed materials.
Postcards are a valuable part of the marketing toolkit for businesses and organizations.Postcards are so versatile that they can be applied to many different selling and customer relations purposes.They can be used by themselves or as part of a comprehensive sales process.
Of course the effectiveness of a postcard is greatly influenced by the design and layout.We are experts in using headlines, text, photographs, illustrations and white space to effectively execute your design.
Express Printing & Graphics print postcards in a variety of USPS approved sizes to help you use this terrific sales and marketing weapon to your best advantage. Please contact us at 408-400-0223 for an appointment to discuss your next postcard project.
