Gratitude for those that support me

Some may consider it trite but at this time of year you can’t help reflecting on those customers and acqaintances that help, in one way or another to make your business successful.

I am fortunate to be a member of an awesome BNI chapter. Many of the members are friends as well as referral partners and those referrals add significantly to my bottom line.

Equally important though are the lessons you learn from other business people that you are in relationship with. Some are vendors, some are customers and some are just folks from your extended network. People like Bob Wescott from Copilabs in Lawrence MA. Bob is a Kyocera dealer and has a long track record of great customer service and integrity. And Anne Seed, Anne has been in the industry as long as I have. She was a typesetter when we still used type instead of electonic bits and bytes. Anne has a heart of gold and is generous to a fault. She is always there when you have a rush job at the last minute. Finally there’s the folks in the local non-profit sector that I am priviledged to work with. They are kind, hard working and underpaid. They also are loyal! They appreciate good service and readily refer coleagues to me.

Thanks to all of you!

Green Printing Practices

We here a lot these days about being “green”. Basically I interpret the concept as using sustainable practices in your home or business. I like to refer to sustainability as the three R’s—Reduce, Re-use and Recycle.

Let’s talk about the first R–Reduce. Reducing as it pertains to the print industry normally refers to packaging, that is using the minimum amount of packaging to deliver the finished product to the customer but still maintaining professional standards. We achieve that by using appropriate size boxes that will protect the finished product, be convenient for the client to store and will not look lousy if they store it in a visible location.

Reducing also applies to how a printed piece is actually produced. Traditional offset printing involves a multitude of pre-press steps. In a worst case scenario once a job has been designed or laid out a printed paper proof will be mailed or hand carried to the client for approval. After approval color separated film must be produced. Film production requires heavy metal developers and fixers which end up in land fills or waste treatment facilities. Once the film is made aluminum printing plates are exposed, mounted to the press and the printing process begins.  Traditional print methods require set up and color balancing which wastes paper.

As an alternative to the traditional wasteful methods described above, I prefer to use digital printing. Proofs are usually delivered to the client as pdf files via email. Approval is usually quick and easy and the final files are printed electronically to our digital copiers and printers. There is minimum waste and maximum customer satisfaction.

What is the right file format for my project?

Have you ever been confused by the extensions to graphic files? Do you think it’s a foreign language akin to ancient sumerian when someone has asked you to send an .eps or a .tif?

Well all the different graphic file formats have very distinct purposes and it’s important to ask your printer or web developer which format they need and at what resolution.

Files with extensions like .bmp, .gif and .jpg typically are used for web pages and for low resolution flyers but are not generally suitable for high resolution printing.

As a general rule of thumb your printer will likely prefer that you provide him with an .eps file for any logos that you want to incorporate into your printed piece. EPS files provide the most reliable reproduction and are universally accepted within the industry and are compatible with all page layout software.

When you have a logo designed you should receive multiple electronic copies of it in a multitude of formats. Don’t lose them. They all have a purpose and you’ll be really proud of yourself when you can access them whenever they are needed.

Hello world!

Welcome to my Blog. This is a brand new thing for me but I’ve been given good advice by some friends to try it.

My name is Jim Munro and I own a growing little company called Munro Graphics Commercial Printers. We provide print solutions for non-profits and small businesses primarily in the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts but we have customers all over the east coast as well as eastern Canada.

I’ll be using this blog to talk about trends in the printing industry, changes and improvements at Munro Graphics Commercial Printers as well as sharing good stories about my friends and my awesome customers.