Do you need a Mobile Site Now - Well almost but worth taking a look!

I just came across this interesting information online.  Google has a method to automatically display web content formatted for a mobile device. This is done by adding:

http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=

in front of the url you wish to visit.

This system works well for simple web pages that are basic information sources. For instance, here is a screen grab of the Golf.com page if I type the following url in my phones browser.

http://www.golf.com/golf/

Kind of hard to navigate and view a page like this on a mobile device. Now lets type:

http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.golf.com/golf/

The site reformats on the fly for mobile viewing.

In some limited testing I found that the results were "pleasing" although far from perfect. What I find exciting about this is that it makes a simple way for organizations to share their content via mobile phones in a better format without having to wait for mobile site development. Yes, the ultimate goal should be to properly create web content that is specifically designed for proper viewing but in the meantime this may help you especially if you wish to utilize QR codes in print materials.

If you decide to give it a try, here is an easy way to create your own QR code.

1) Go to goo.gl in your web browser.

2) Paste the complete url into the field. In this case "http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.golf.com/golf/"

3) Click shorten

4) Copy and paste the shortened url into your browser but add .qr to the end  http://goo.gl/oltZn.qr

5) The window will display a qr code that you can save as a .png file.

here is the result of the above instructions:

Go ahead and scan the code!  It's that simple.

Give this a shot with your content if you can't wait for proper development! Test completely as there are no guarentees but it is worth a try.

Hope this helps!

QR Codes, What is all the hype about?

Everywhere you turn you see an article about QR Codes. QR is short for quick response and they are anything but new. This variety of 2-dimensional bar codes was created in Japan, by Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave in 1994, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes.

What is new is the use of QR Codes in Marketing here in the US. Neilsen recently predicted smart phone penetration in the US will be at 50% by mid 2011. This means that one out of every two people in a store will have on their person a device capable of receiving relevant information about a product or service with the simple scan of a QR. I predict that you will begin to see store kiosks that do nothing more than scan QRs and display additional product information, print coupons, provide product comparisons and countless other marketing related services that can enhance the consumer buying experience. These kiosks may also be enhanced through the use of Augmented Reality. The key here is the streaming of RELEVANT content to a device.

By nature the QR addresses the issue of code orientation by utilizing three corners to define it's proper position. This makes it a good choice for mobile devices because the user can shoot the code at any angle and have success.

Another important attribute of QRs is by nature they have a large amount of error correction built in. This means that if the code is damaged it still will in most cases read correctly. While the correction was built in to assure readability the art community has taken it to the extreme by developing custom codes that still do the job. Among the more widely circulated highly customized QR Codes out there, is this code for Louis Vuitton created by Takashi Murakami. When decoded it directs the user to a mobile web site for Louis Vuitton. I think it is in Japanese!

Creating custom codes is pretty simple and only require a little bit of trial and error. Here are some codes I created for the Lake County Press 2011 Calendar. Although significantly different in appearance they all contain the exact same link information. A good rule of thumb to use if you want to make custom codes is to use a url shortener to redirect you to the desired site. This will minimize the data in the code and make customizing a bit easier.

One of my biggest pet peeves about QR codes I come across is the lack of thought put into the data presentation. Please don't waste my time and or your valued customers time by directing them to information that is not presented in a mobile device friendly format. Nothing is more annoying than trying to navigate a web page on a mobile device that was designed for a full screen experience.

Pan and zoom although possible make the experience more frustrating than informative and will more than likely force the user to leave before obtaining the information you were trying to present. Sounds like a logical rule of thumb but still to this day I will venture to bet that over 50% of the codes I scan are not retrieving mobile device formatted pages. I find this quite disturbing as we all know how easy it is to loose the attention of a customer yet we take short cuts that pretty much guarantee the loss.

If I scan more than one code for a particular brand and the experience is lack luster I cannot imagine I will waste the time again. You only have one chance to make a first impression! Don't blow it by using technology before you are ready too.

In closing I would like to share one of the best quotes about QRs and some food for thought from a recent article I read about QR Codes by Jeff Weidauer vice president of marketing and strategy for Vestcom International Inc:

Marketers are mostly interested in engaging with a higher-income, better-educated consumer. And the fact is, smartphones are already the preferred device with this demographic, whether business people or full-time parents. These valuable consumers are using a mobile device for far more than calls and texting. They are searching the mobile web for product information and pricing comparisons, and it's starting to happen more frequently right at the shelf edge in retail stores.

Another important point here is that consumers -- more accurately, shoppers -- are driving the mobile web and connectivity. To date, there is no strong influence from retail putting any wind in these sails. There is a vacuum in this space that will soon be filled; the question that remains is who will get there first?

Getting a C is the new A+

What? A “C” is the new "A+ ?" You bet your life it is. Not in school but in the world of selling marketing communications I’ll take a "C" any day. I’m referring to the C-Level, where the marketing decisions are made.

For years, printers have provided the vital service of putting ink on paper and it was the only way to get a message, in a creative and professional way, to a customer or prospect. It’s been a great run! After all, it all started in 1436 when Joahannes Gutenberg began work on the movable type press, which he completed in 1440. Lets see 2010 –1440 = 570 years of ink on paper bliss. GUESS WHAT, “it’s far from over!”

Our industry is just going through one of the many changes it has seen over the years and probably one of the biggest challenges ever. The consolidation of the workforce across all vertical markets has complicated things even further. Just try to cold-call your way into a new client and let me know how that works for you. Endless voicemails, emails, sample drop offs, all things that in the past two decades made print salespeople very good livings are history. For some, existing “relationships” are still going strong but I ask the question for how long?

What has changed? In my opinion the biggest thing is that the role of top-level print providers has changed to “Marketing Service Providers”(MSP).  When successful you create an environment that no longer is based on price per page. This is only possible when the relationship is “At the C-Level”.  Problem solved?  Nope, big problem created. Getting to the C-Level is tricky. Agencies have an advantage here because they earned it with their expertise at "branding". The “New” MSP’s need to position themselves as close to the “brand” as possible. This starts with practicing what you preach. Does your organization even have a “brand”. How can you possibly align yourself with C-Level marketers and speak to their “brand” if you don’t effectively speak to yours. Are you utilizing in your own marketing efforts the technologies you are trying to sell? QR codes, PURLs, Social Media, Augmented Reality, VDP, POD, W2P, database management, e-mail, high end ink-on-paper, and any other new wiz-bang technology that truly becomes part of the message? If not, your credibility at the C-Level is non-existent. The C-Level is a fast paced and busy place. There is zero time for questions. You must have the solution!

In short, to be successful in this new and evolving world of MSP’s, you need to build a brand and practice what you preach.  This is NOT sales, this is marketing! This is creating awareness that you are not just ink on paper, effectively evaporating the blue-collar image that has plagued the industry for years. At the C-Level you will LISTEN to the issues and then help to solve those issues. Sometimes that will be e-mail, other times ink, it may include Augmented Reality, or QR codes. Maybe it will be a POD program or VDP/W2P storefront. Who knows, but being versed and capable in all and helping to identify the best choice is your role. The C-Level is where this happens. I’ve never in my life studied as hard as I have over the last year to obtain a C but I wouldn’t want anything else!

Are You Hanging By a Thread?

Technology for the sake of technology can lead to FAILURE TO THRIVE. What should Marketers be looking for from their service providers?

The survival of service providers, especially in the commercial printing market, depends on how well they have integrated other services into their portfolio of offerings. Some of the services I’m talking about are Fulfillment/Warehousing, POD Initiatives, Web to Print Programs, Variable Data Marketing, Mailing Services, List Management and Cross-Media Campaign Management. There are many others but these are some of the most common. With the continued shrinking of workforces across all vertical markets, marketers (today more than ever) need to align themselves not only with organizations that have invested in technology but those who know how the technology truly enhances the marketing objectives and goals. Far too often technology is used for the sake of technology alone. When this happens the technology being used is often haphazardly implemented and as a result the impact or program results are substantially less than what should have been achieved. This is ineffective and quite frankly a waste of resources both for the provider and the marketer. Chances are the provider was not adequately compensated for their investment and the marketer did not receive the benefits of a properly implemented program.

It’s easy for marketers to fall into the provider’s trap of “we are a one-stop shop.” So what is a marketer to do? You probably have way too much on your plates to manage trying to communicate across multiple vendors and organize a campaign that encompasses multiple technologies. Not paying close attention to all the details is a recipe for disaster. My suggestion is to ask your self one simple question. Does the representative at my current favorite provider continually bring me valuable information or do they follow my lead and wait for me to ask for something? This is a simple litmus test. If your provider is engaging you on a regular basis with informative information and creative ideas that are important and relevant to you, you probably have a good source. If they are not, it is time to have a frank conversation with that supplier. Tell them what you expect and give them a chance to sink or swim. Most will probably turn green when you hit them with this type of mandate. That does not mean you should dismiss them. They often have the support behind them but fail to use it because of the old school mentality of relationship selling. The “no one talks to my client but me” belief. Give them the opportunity to meet your needs, then if they still sink, bon voyage!

The reality is that there is so much change happening in marketing technology today that a good provider should be constantly sharing relevant information with you. Information that targets your challenges and helps you to utilize technology not for technologies sake but for good reason.  Moving forward it becomes critical to establish relationships based on how well a provider improves your results. The more your provider engages with your challenges the better your results will be and the easier the justification will be for what you do and what you spend.  

Those who adopt this philosophy now will be ahead of the curve. In our current economic reality it is not easy. It requires commitment by all parties and building relationships that allow for experimentation. Technology is moving at a fast rate and can very well leave you in the dust. Nielsen estimates that, in 2011, US smartphone penetration will be over 50 percent. This growth alone, in one facet of technology, is reason enough to start thinking about just how you are taking advantage of technological advancements. Failing to adopt these new technologies will leave you behind your competition and result in you fighting for the scraps in the world of bottom feeders. Our economy, if in recovery, is not going to change overnight.  Because of this doing the same things the same way and expecting different results truly is the definition of insanity. The use of technology to increase your ROI is vital to making sure your organization continues to be a viable one. Technology will allow your organization to remain lean and experience the growth that is ultimately essential for mere survival in a down economy. Finding the right source to help you implement technology completely, efficiently and with purpose is the first step.

So you want more bang for the buck!

Never before has it been more important to live the mantra "In order to make money you need to spend money". The key is to spend with purpose. Marketing executives are under the microscope within every organization. When margins, sales and conversion rates shrink the first step is to ask what are we doing to market our products and services. The second question better be how do we know what is working and what is not.

The good news is that there are more ways than ever to market and reach your potential audience. Some are basically FREE. Others will cost you more than in the past but can produce higher returns than ever.

FREE - Social media works. If you don't think so let me share this little personal story. As a salesperson I use social media to keep tabs on my prospects and learn what makes them tick. The other day after enjoying a lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings and being impressed with their menus and other printed materials I "Liked" them on Facebook. Now, everyday I see some tidbit about B-Dubs on my Facebook wall. On June 4th one of my friends invited me to join him and a few others to watch our beloved Blackhawks crush the Flyers in game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals. I asked what to bring and he said some chips. Later in the day, on Facebook, B-Dubs posted on their wall "Who will win tonight Blackhawks or Flyers". Well that got me thinking. A bunch of guys, hockey, beer what's missing? I know 50 Mango Habenero Boneless Wings. A simple contact at the right time sold 50 Wings. If it spoke to me how many others did it speak to?

Traditional direct mail is on the way out. Although a good way to reach large numbers, the return is basically unknown. When was the last time you actually returned a business reply card? This was the primary way marketers had to track results of a campaign. Today direct mail can be targeted with relevant information. This alone will increase your response but still leaves a big hole when it comes to tracking. In order to truly measure the results of a campaign marketers today need to turn to PURLs and customized landing pages. The use of this technology produces a campaign that is capable of feeding REAL-TIME, TRACK-ABLE, and QUALIFIED results.

A well crafted "integrated cross-media campaign" is capable of returning 2-5 times more deals than a traditional campaign. Deployment will cost you more but the return will far surpass the increased cost. If you have not taken advantage of these technologies I encourage you to test market a campaign. Split your next direct mail campaign between traditional and integrated and see for yourself!

Technology and the Press OK

Today, printers can measure and control color better than ever before. Employing best practices should be a prerequisite for choosing your provider. Minimally your provider should be able to share with you data about the proof, plate and press sheet. Below is a visual look at what we can provide to our customers should they ask. These procedures take place on every job when possible. There are times that there may not be room on the sheet for the necessary target but these are few. Even so the fact that every job is measured has helped our shop to become better right out of the box. The end result is a shorter ok and an exceptionally satisfying experience.

The first thing you need to know is what standard does the provider measure against. At LCP we print to the GRACoL 2006 color space utilizing G7 methodology. By the way G7 is not a color standard, if that is what you have been told you have been led down a path that never ends. G7 broken down is simply using Gray, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, Red(MY Trap), Green(CY Trap) and Blue(CM Trap) to measure against the targeted color space. G is the Gray and 7 is the 7 colors CMYKRGB.

The governing body for G7 certification is the IDEAlliance. Printers need to be certified by an approved color specialist. Once this is done, recertification is a once a year process. There is a problem here, it takes work to get certified and once that is done you can say you are G7 certified. Here is the catch, it takes more work to maintain accuracy and live G7 day to day. Pressrooms are not like prairie dogs, standing still for hours on end. Pressrooms move, stocks change, roller conditions vary, environmental factors such as temperature and humidity change print conditions, and presses print differently on Mondays than they do on Wednesdays. These are simple fact of life and something that requires ruthless process control to combat. These factors are why monitoring and measuring are critical to providing a consistent product.

I hope you enjoy the stunning photography below and please if you have any questions let me know and I will be happy to explain in more detail.

Step 1 - Proof should contain a control strip.

Step 2 - Read every proof into a certifying software and show proof of certification on the proof.

Step 3 - Read, Confirm and Record every plate for accuracy.

Step 4 - Add appropriate color target to press sheet.

Step 5 - Bring sheet to established house densities and read into verification software.

Step 6 - Verify readings for both Color and Gray.

Step 7 - Use information to scientifically adjust color to the best possible proof match based on current press conditions and the current stock being used.

Looks simple doesn't it? Well not really, the key is knowing what to do when any of these steps fail. It does happen but the simple fact that your provider is watching these things should give you a good feeling. At least you will know what you are OK'ing or rejecting and have a basis to make any adjustments that might be necessary.

MegaPixels to Offset Print Explained

The other day I was asked if using a 2 megapixel camera is sufficient for images in an offset printed piece. This is a loaded question and takes an understanding of the science/math behind megapixels. I’m going to attempt to illustrate this for you. Please understand that resolution is only one small part of the factors that make a photograph good. Other factors such as color, contrast, sharpness and focus play an equal if not more important role.

The viewing distance of the final piece also plays a role. The information provided here is specifically for print collateral that one would hold in their hand and read. Typically an image resolution of 300 dpi is desired for high quality image reproduction.

Here are some typical camera resolutions:

2 megapixels: 1600 x 1200 Multiplied = 1,920,000 pix or about 2 megapixels
3 megapixels: 2048 x 1536 Multiplied = 3,145,728 pix or about 3 megapixels
4 megapixels: 2274 x 1704 Multiplied = 4,362,240 pix or about 4 megapixels
5 megapixels: 2560 x 1920 Multiplied = 4,915,200 pix or about 5 megapixels
6 megapixels: 2816 x 2112 Multiplied = 5,947,392 pix or about 6 megapixels
7 megapixels: 3072 x 2304 Multiplied = 7,077,888 pix or about 7 megapixels
8 megapixels: 3264 x 2468 Multiplied = 8,055,552 pix or about 8 megapixels

Notice the 2MP camera and the 8MP camera. The first thing that should be noticed is that the 8MP camera has only twice the resolution in the Height X Width as the 2MP camera. Hmm, Did you realize that? MP’s are like the square footage of pixels. Most people think that 4MP is twice 2MP. etc. Sure it is but not when it comes to image dimensions.

So now how do these numbers relate to a 300 DPI image used in your printed piece?

To figure this out we will use a simple calculation of DPI time Inches.

Example:

5” X 300dpi = 1500pix   7” X 300dpi = 2100pix

This means that in order to produce a picture at 300 dpi, you need a camera capable of a 2100 X 1500 resolution. If we look at the information above we see that a 3MP camera gives enough pixel resolution to produce a 300dpi 5X7 image in a landscape fashion but not portrait. Turning the camera on its side when taking the shot would allow enough resolution for a portrait orientation.

These examples are based on using the whole image. This is where being a photographer is important. The framing of the shot is critical. Cropping an image will have a major effect on the size you can use it. See this example:

If you are using a 2MP camera and wanted a 4X5 crop, close to the example above, you would need to have turned the camera on its side and cropped the shot in the viewfinder. The 8MP image is sufficient with a bit of scaling.

The math is pretty simple. Basically take the size you desire and multiply it by 300 this will give you the amount of pixels needed.

Dimension X 300DPI = Amount of pixels.    For 5” you need 1500pix, For 3”, 900pix etc.

Full frame images are capable of the following output size at 300DPI

2MP = about 5.33” X 4” at 300DPI

3MP = about 6.82” X 5.12” at 300DPI

4MP = about 7.58” X 5.68 at 300DPI

5MP = about 8.58 X 6.4” at 300DPI

6MP = about 9.38 X 7.40” at 300DPI

7MP = about 10.24 X 7.68” at 300DPI

8MP = about 10.88 X 8.23” at 300DPI

I'm not a math teacher, just ask my kids, but if you have this information, you can relate it to pixels and determine if your image has sufficient resolution at the desired crop.

Hope this helps.

4 Color Process that WOWS!!!!!!

I wanted to share this article with you about producing an exceptionally vibrant job with the use of 4 high octane inks. TOYO manufactures an ink set called Kaleido. These 4 colors produce color significantly outside the gamut of conventional 4 color process. The rest of this article was writen by our Chief Color Technician, Gary Hampson, and should be used as a guide if you want to utilize this technology to its fullest potential. I highly recommend giving it a try and I would be happy to assist you if you decide to give it a go.

~

Are you having trouble hitting your corporate colors in CMYK? Maybe the extended color gamut of Kaleido Inks will solve this problem and save you one or two ink units on press. The yearly savings could be quite substantial and well worth finding out. Below is a comparison of conventional CMYK (green) to Kaleido (red). You can see that overall there is a substantial increase in color gamut especially in the blue hues. The greens of forests and blues of big-sky landscapes can be enhanced quite dramatically with Kaleido.

Creating the Kaleido Ink Project    |    By: Gary Hampson

For years now the printing industry has been telling designers and content providers to send only separated CMYK images. Since color management through the use of ICC Profiles has been incorporated into most workflows, this rule may no longer apply. When it comes to preparing a project to be printed with TOYO Kaleido Inks, it most certainly does not apply.

Because the pigmentation of Kaleido Inks is sufficiently different than conventional process inks, a simple substitution of inks will not give the desired results. Substituting Kaleido Inks will increase the color range or gamut, but maintaining color balance will significantly decrease any benefits. All images should be separated from RGB to CMYK using the “TOYO Kaleido coated 1.0.icc” profile.
If some images are separated to SWOP, some to GRACoL, and yet some to KALEIDO, it will be very difficult for the press operator to figure out any color balance. The chart on the last page will illustrate this. While some colors are very similar, some are quite different because of the different processes and inks used.

Images should be kept in the RGB color space right up until the time the file is processed for proofing or plating. Color managed conversions can take place seamlessly during the refining/ripping process. This is perhaps the best way to insure that all images are being separated correctly.

From a design perspective, the most troubling aspect of using Kaleido Inks may be the fact that there are no published (printed) color charts or chip books to let you know exactly what the color palette of your project will look like on press. Lake County Press does provide a proofing solution calibrated to the Kaleido color space. We can output your color palette in the early stages of design so you will know what to expect later.

When choosing your colors, avoid using separated CMYK values. While these may be the most familiar to you, they may be the least likely to reproduce as expected. It is preferable to choose your colors in either the RGB or Lab color spaces with Lab being the best.



One method of choosing colors is to use the Pantone solid coated library for your initial choices.  See Below:

Then, convert to Lab.

And finally, to process. 

Even though it is a process color now, the color mode is Lab and it will not be converted to CMYK until it is ripped.

There are, however, two notable exceptions to this preference of leaving colors in the Lab color space. These would be the color Black and any Rich Black where you want to retain 100% black with specified CMY undercolor. Also, it is best not to leave colors as Spot unless they are actually printing as a spot color. One good reason for this is the fact that many or most RIPs will not properly render spot color transparency, especially if mixed with a process color.



NEED HELP UNDERSTANDING LAB

The following illustration may help in understanding the Lab color space. Where the a and b are 0,0 respectively, the color is a neutral grey. As the b value increases, the color becomes less blue or more yellow. As the a value increases, the color becomes less green or more red. L= lightness.  The chart below is a good visual of this explanation.

Here is one more illustration to help you understand how RGB color is separated differently for different color spaces. It shows RGB colors Separated SWOP (Web Offset), GRACol (Sheetfed Offset) and Finally KALEIDO (Sheetfed Offset) .

Back to my thoughts, what Gary has put together and I have shared here is fairly complex and should be understood prior to attempting. There has been a great deal of research and development put into perfecting this process and it can not be done effectively simply by substituting ink on press. If you try, you will be very disappointed and your results will not come close to your expectations. For further information please contact me at Lake County Press, Inc. - 847-561-5639. I will be happy to assist you in your project and help you get the most out of the process!

Being an Environmental Steward!

 

On Thursday, April 22nd we celebrate Earth Day. The city of San Francisco was the first to recognize Earth Day in 1970. The following year, the United Nations adopted this holiday and celebrated Earth Day for the first time on the spring equinox in 1971.

Today, many companies make being “Green” a large part of their initiatives. Lake County Press, Inc. in Waukegan, IL is no exception. LCP is committed to environmental sustainability and the “Green” printing initiative thus we sought out and received Chain of Custody certification from 3 separate organizations; FSC, SFI and PEFC. Beyond that, we support the generation of clean energy in the U.S. by offsetting our annual electricity use.  We have chosen renewable wind energy. That’s the equivalent of not driving your car 545,000 Miles!

We also aspire to be a zero landfill manufacturing facility. The chart below shows our 2009 contribution by keeping waste materials out of landfills.

These are the things that LCP does to be a responsible steward to the environment. However, beyond what we do we believe it is important to recognize our clients for their contributions to the environment as well. 

For many years, LCP has provided print for Siemens Building Technologies (Headquartered in Buffalo Grove, IL.). About 2 years ago, Siemens began their own Green Initiatives for print collateral. Working together with LCP, Siemens transitioned 100% of their collateral that could be produced digitally to “Print-On-Demand”. The team of Marketing Professionals at Siemens in collaboration with LCP built a custom web ordering system for collateral users. Today more than 1000 site users can shop for marketing materials on an as needed basis. Materials are produced On-Demand and delivered to the users when they are needed. Siemens also chose to print this material on an FSC Certified, 100% post consumer waste, uncoated sheet.

Working together for a common goal, Siemens and LCP have been stewards of the environment and have brightened the future for the planet.

The Cross-Media Conversation

Ok, you have an idea; lets add a pURL (personalized Uniform Resource Locator) to our direct mail piece. Everyone is excited and you start by asking your printer if they can print pURL’s. The answer comes back YES! Wow, you are really going to hit a homerun on this one.  The job is printed and mailed. You wait, and wait, and wait. Eventually the reality sinks in and you’ve struck out.

pURL’s are similar to a phone number to call for more information. Too often people utilize technology for the sake of technology. Instead of calling a phone number the recipient invokes their pURL to find out more. When the recipient hits the landing page there better be a good reason to do so. This is where it is easy to fall short of that game winning smash.

The technology of pURL’s is only but one small part of a successful campaign. Stop thinking about pURL's and start thinking Integrated Cross-Media! Here is an example of what should happen.

You design and print a beautifully produced direct mail piece. Included on the piece is an offer driving a potential lead to a personalized website. Stop, do you know the email address or mobile phone number of the recipient and have they given you permission from past dealings to email or text them offer information? If so, why not send an email or SMS notification at the time of the print production informing them to watch their mail for an important offer being delivered in the next couple of days. You now have added another touch point to the offer. Notifications can be timed as well. Maybe before the direct mail piece arrived, or maybe after, as a follow up message. A follow up could be something as simple as: Did you see our direct mail offer yet? If not, please go to johnsmith.myAwesomeCompanyName.com to see what we have created just for you!

The landing page is the most important part of the campaign. This is where you have the opportunity to obtain important information about your recipients and understand a bit more about them. ALL landing pages should include some kind of inquiry or simple questions to help qualify the lead. Questions like: Why did you visit your personalized page?, When do you plan on buying? Are you coming to the event? Also, here is an opportunity to obtain important information about your recipient for future use. Information like email addresses, mobile contact information, hobbies, future plans etc. Additionally a link for your recipient to dynamically share the offer with a friend is a good idea? Referrals are one of the best ways to obtain leads and your satisfied customers are your best salespeople. Landing pages afford you a simple way grow and qualify your lead generation.

Now that you have developed an effective landing page, you need to act on the information you obtained. Simple thank you emails are a must. If you collected personal information like hobbies, that data can be used in the target message for future campaigns. Lets say you are selling fertilizer and your recipient is interested in gardening. They would be a great target for food safe fertilizer products. If they were interested in a deep green lawn, then maybe a high nitrogen content fertilizer would be more appropriate. Building relevant data for the future is one of the most compelling reasons for these types of campaigns.

Information that is gathered can also be sent real-time to your sales group. What could possibly be better than contacting a potential customer right when they were inquiring about your product or services. They obviously had some sort of interest because they followed through on the offer. Prompt follow-up to an interest increases your success. The odds of contacting a lead if called in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes increase 100 times.  Most integrated systems can be linked real-time to your existing CRM systems. This integration is another key to your success.

The cycle goes round and round. The keys are to collect relevant data about your leads and utilize it to tailor your message to them. Each time you connect the message should get more and more relevant! This information will increase your ability to convert leads to customers. Eventually hitting that elusive game winner!

Lake County Press, Inc. Scores Win with GMI Packaging Printing Process Control Certification

On Thursday April 8^th, Lake County Press, Inc. Waukegan, IL., participated in a print certification trial conducted by Graphic Measures International, LTD. (GMI) (Wayzata, MN).

GMI has been contracted to qualify print suppliers for the in store packaging arm of a Minneapolis bases retail organization. The objectives of the program are to provide the organization with a listing of qualified vendors while:

• Improving Consistency of Brand Packaging
• Improving Timing and Shipping 
• Management of Process
• Continuous Quality Improvement 
• Actively Involve Vendors and Suppliers

GMI evaluated all phases of the production process including Prepress, Plating, Commercial Print and Bindery. These four categories were then measured against five criteria: Documentation, Maintenance, Operator Capability, Performance, and Training.  In a conversation with LCP plant manager, Dan Murphy, it was stated, "It's not just the equipment that makes a great company, It's the people behind the scenes that make it an excellent organization". Furthermore, the auditor stated he has never had a company do as well as LCP did on the print test.

The day culminated with LCP receiving FULL CERTIFICATION. For more information please contact your LCP Sales Representative.

Adobe CS5 Introduction on April 12th!!!!!!

I want it now. CS5 Content Aware features will be awesome!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH0aEp1oDOI

Below is taken from the CS5.org website.

In about 19 days we will learn all about Adobe’s Creative Suite 5. You can sign up for the unveiling and watch a timer at Adobe’s launch site, Announcing Adobe CS5! Join for the exclusive Global Online Launch Event, Monday, April 12, 2010.
Before you get too excited, let’s get one thing straight: This is the unveiling, or basically an introduction to the public. Adobe is going so far as to call it a “launch” day but you will not be able to buy the software that day. Adobe has not announced a release day yet, but October 2010 makes sense to me (just a guess). This would position Adobe for a strong end to the calendar year, it would give them sufficient time to work on it after the April introduction, and it lines up exactly two years after the release of CS4. That said September/November would make just as much sense, and some rumors are putting the date earlier, noting an 18 month release cycle.

Why Printing Process Control is Vital – Measure, Record and Track

What is printing? There are those that would say it is an art. An art produced by craftsman with years of experience and an eye for detail. For these artists, there was a delicate balance between ink and water, combined with pressure and the physical press conditions. Manipulating keys on a console much like playing an organ controlled the process. Color was visually adjusted and tweaked until the artist and customer were happy with the result. Some artists read density of color to help guide them to desired results. The tandem of pressman and customer pulled, tweaked, and outdid themselves to the point of creating unique masterpieces. Remember art is something that is in the eye of the beholder. Enter the world of today. Print is now a manufacturing process. I’m not saying that the skills of experienced pressman are not needed. This is quite to the contrary. The skills of an experience pressman are now needed more than ever.

Process Control is the key to successfully manufacturing anything. I hate to say it but print is a commodity, not one that is traded but a manufactured product that we buy. The days of art direction at press are almost completely gone and the trend is to produce as quickly as possible. This intrinsically creates an environment of buying on price and sacrificing quality. The key to get both is to work with someone who has implemented ruthless process control in every phase of their manufacturing process.

Here are some reasons why process control is more important today than ever.

Operating windows: In years past, raw materials, used to produce print, were manufactured for ease of use. Plates, blankets, inks, developers, and fountain solutions, all key ingredients to putting ink on paper, have gone through many changes. Some have been necessary for the health of those who worked with them daily, others for environmental concerns and yet others to help lower cost and make print more affordable. In making these changes, the latitude or operating windows for successful use of these products have shrunk. We are now peering through a small basement window. The double wide French doors have long been closed. It is very easy to produce inconsistent product when your processes are not refined and monitored. Processes from ripping to proofing to plating and finally to printing need to be measured, recorded and tracked/trended. Change in the printing process usually does not happen overnight and we all know how we don’t see small changes. After all, do you remember when you actually stopped looking like a teenager? Trust me, look in the mirror you don’t anymore. In a pressroom, change is much like the aging process. All of a sudden you look in the mirror and the hair on your head is gone and growing everywhere else. The pressroom all of a sudden can’t match the proofs. Well not really, the change was slow, it just is so bad now you see it and can’t adjust for it anymore. Trending will show what is happening over time and allow you to control the process. I like to think of trending as providing a “fountain of youth” for print production.

Manufacturing Speed: 9000, 10,000, 15,000, 18,000 sheets per hour. In an effort to increase production capabilities press manufactures have been increasing speeds. I’m still amazed every time I see a press running. Stop for a second and think about it. Five sheets of paper entering the press every second, traveling through a series of cylinders and precisely placing an image to form a perfect rosette of dots. Offset presses are a manufacturing wonder. As speeds increase to need for all raw materials to perform as well as the physical press characteristics to be in spec are critical. Think about the speed at which you can waste stock if print is not controlled or out of specifications. Remember, paper is the biggest expense in your print job.

Distinction: Why do you award the job? After all there are thousands of print shops. There are also hundreds who will undercut your favorite printer’s price. Those who do, most likely are doing so just to “keep the lights on” but never the less they are out there and ready to pounce on the project to survive. Process control is a way for the printer to distinguish their service as a trusted partner who understands the necessary requirements for producing consistent, top quality manufacturing.

Your job as someone who purchases print is to make certain you are getting everything you pay for. Ask your provider what process controls they use in the production process. Minimally they should tell you that they validate their proofs against a color standard and the proof you receive should include a certification reading on it. Learn what the sticker means. What are the tolerances accepted by the printer? Don’t be fooled by comments like we have a closed loop color system. Then if they stop there, ask them to see the report data from the press run. It should be measured against the same standard as the proof you already ok’d. If they cannot provide you with report data specific to your job they did not measure, record and track!

Get the Gears Turning

Did I happen to mention I’m a firm believer in using automation in the print production cycle? Did I mention that if printers aren’t providing you with automation tools that streamline production you should find a new printer? Am I delusional to think that the company you work for puts a high emphasis on quality at a reasonable cost? Sorry to bombard you with all these questions but I cannot stress enough that, today, AUTOMATION is the key to profitability. Simple yet powerful Internet applications create cost savings, reduce human error and provide faster delivery of products and services.

So how do you do it? The first step is to commit to it and pick a partner who can provide all the necessary services. Then start to build a list of your requirements for your individual business needs.

Let’s talk about the types of print that should be automated.

Versioned Print, Personalized Print, Print-On-Demand and even some Custom Print jobs.

Versioned print refers to your communications that follow a basic design but change based on information. Examples might be sell sheets, newsletters, posters etc. Think about the work you produce 2-pagers, 4-pagers, tri-folds, 12, 16, 20, 24 pagers the list goes on. Create the buckets and we can work to create automation templates that will address these jobs for you.

LCP 1X1 Digital Print will take care of all your personalized print. Web-to-print solutions provide your organization with the tools that make ordering and customizing offers to one or many possible. Mailing list services as well as PURL campaigns create targeted offers that in many cases can exceed your expected results and produce the highest quality sales leads.

LCP Complete, our fulfillment division is fully integrated with our Web-to-print solution. This gives you the ability to have one login for personalized print but also combine that offer with inventory items such as static print, iPOD’s, kit’s, and any other inventory items. Go a step further and consider reducing or eliminating your inventoried print and move to Print-on-Demand whenever possible. This reduces waste of resources by eliminating the destruction of outdated material and provides you the ability to update information anytime. Couple in the green initiatives your organization has and POD is a necessary part of making that successful.

It's a partnership that makes all of this possible. It's the desire to work together to create a custom built machine that churns through your challenges and produces first class results. Lets build that machine together!

Sorry Quark – Adobe has got you beat!

Being a graphic arts professional for over 20 years and a QuarkXpress user for at least 15 of them, this article is bittersweet. Quark evolved into one of the most important page layout tools in the arsenal of desktop publishing professionals. It was the de-facto standard against which all others were judged.

Not so fast! Like I said I was a Quark Supporter. I loathed Pagemaker and everybody who used it. At the same time the arrogance of Quark continued to lurk around in the recesses of my brain. I had numerous issues with functionality and the unwillingness of the brass at Quark to listen to users. All that being said, when the media announced that Adobe would be releasing “the Quark Killer” I laughed out loud. Adobe, page layout, ha, what they are going to do, fix Pagemaker or worse yet Framemaker? No way!

Swallow – Boy was I wrong. When InDesign was first released, Adobe made it so incredibly affordable that I tried it. InDesign 1.0 was worse than Pagemaker. We all laughed again. Adobe could never take over. Adobe is going no where, as a matter of fact lets take a look at QuarkXPosure. After all Quark is superior at page layout maybe image manipulation is better there as well. Gulp – Boy I was wrong again.

Today, InDesign is a perfect compliment to Illustrator and Photoshop. As a graphics professional, we now cringe at the thought of receiving work in anything later that Quark 6.5. Quark 7 broke a good program and Quark 8 is too little to late.

InDesign and the newest PDF RIP technology create a speedy workflow that works. Printers everywhere prefer the formats and it has enabled productivity increases that help everyone save time and money. If you are on the fence about making the switch, JUST DO IT! The learning curve is quick, the cost is within reason and the benefits are enormous.

Direct Mail Born Again

Many marketers today have pulled away from direct mail but the tides are now turning. See this article: Firms Hold Fast to Snail Mail Marketing

Utilizing snail mail especially postcards that are intelligently designed as collectibles as described in this article or better yet incorporate variable data with a "call to action" PURL are once again proving to be an effective marketing tool. Print is not dead it is just more complicated and as a result even more effective than ever.

Finally, I'm Going to Kick the Ball!

Typical print sale models are like Charlie Brown sitting at his desk while the teacher goes “wha wha wha”. You don’t want to hear it and you tune it out. Print today is sold as a commodity just like everything else. Margins have shrunk and volume is down. More importantly for the design/agency community control of print has all but vanished. You are Charlie Brown and the purchasing department at your client is Lucy holding the football (your print project). You want to kick it, you have good reason why you want to kick it and no matter what you do, there seems to be no way you will. From a purchasing point of view it makes complete sense. Why should I pay you to manage print and pay for it and your mark-up? So now we know the problem, today’s economy has put price in front of quality. You worked tirelessly with your team to create extraordinary graphic designs and then at the last and most crucial step, execution, it is ripped away from you and you fly through the air and land helplessly on the ground. AAUGH!!!!

Hey, we are smarter than Charlie Brown aren’t we? We know the problem, now lets address it and fix it. Taking FULL control of the project is possible. There is not a purchasing agent in the world that would turn down a value proposition that also controls cost. Technology is the answer. Using it is the trick. If you can eliminate almost all prepress costs and never see another file prep alteration charge would you? If your answer is yes, we should talk. Today’s technology makes this possible. Technology alone is not enough; it needs to be used correctly and efficiently. I would love to fly a plane but I guarantee you would not want to be there when I land. I wouldn’t either, but with a trained instructor sitting with me and having some control, I would eventually be able to do it. Using technology for print production is much the same. You don’t want to crash but if you have someone to teach you what to do you will succeed.

Today, printers should be supporting their clients in the use of technology not only for print but also for all forms of communication. Targeted marketing programs that are defined and measured, purl campaigns, email blast, and soon, mobile device tools. These are all part of the communication channels available to advertisers. Your value proposition to clients is to handle the whole project. You need partners who want the same.

Nightmares of Authors Alterations?

The number one issue any print or marketing collateral buyer faces when managing a project is to stay within budget. Almost every project ends with the discussion about unforeseen costs. Printers and advertising agencies alike call these Author Alterations. I call them nasty problems that put undue stress on the client relationships. The fact of the matter is, when they occur they need to be paid for and generally they are legitimate.

So what can you do? Communication is the key. When AA’s pop up, the client deserves to know the cost right away. Make certain you instruct your sales representative how you expect AA’s to be handled ie. Go ahead and proceed for anything under $200.00 but anything above wait for my ok. This type of information is critical to maintaining a healthy relationship between you and your printer.

Now lets talk about preventing AA’s.

The first step is to use SPELLCHECK. It’s free and every program has it incorporated into its tool set. Second, do ALL your proofreading prior to submitting files. After 18 plus years in prepress I’m amazed at the amount of AA’s that result from typos or incorrect words that are undetectable by spell check. (ie you instead of your, there instead of their, etc.) These two steps save thousands of dollars when followed religiously. In our manufacturing environment we have used the word “relentless process control”. Your file creation should incorporate the same phrase as part of its workflow. Proofreading and using spell check are part of your relentless process control.

Another way to prevent alterations is to utilize automation techniques offered by your printers. If your printer cannot put the same production tools into your hands that they use, you should be looking for a new printer. Technology has made it possible for clients to completely eliminate AA’s associated with copy or color alterations. Combine this with calibrated proofing in your office and AA’s can be eliminated all the way up to the press. Do I have your attention? Are you wondering what is necessary to do this? Good!

Automation can be simple or very complex. It is based upon establishing a working relationship with your printer and establishing some simple rules to trigger automated actions. Naming conventions, predefined layouts and accurate file preparation are the three most important factors that make or break automation. A willingness to take on the challenge is the first step to achieving the results every budget minded professional as been dreaming of. The choice is up to you. For more information or a live demonstration of the process, please feel free to contact me 847-561-5639 or your current sales representative at Lake County Press!

RGB to CMYK basic conversions in Photoshop

One of the biggest issues with files supplied by graphic designers today is inconsistency in color separations. Since the advent of digital photography, clients routinely submit files with color all over the spectrum. Here are some simple tips to improve your results and give your printer a fighting chance to produce a consistent job. Please understand that there is no substitute for working with a professional color separator at your trade shop or printer. The below guidelines are for you to use when your budget or time line do not allow for involving a color professional or the color requirements of the job are not critical.

Adjust the levels of RGB to get a full range image. The easiest way to do this is using the levels function in Photoshop. Notice the three triangles under the histogram. Holding down the option key, slide the highlight triangle to the left until you start seeing some white noise on the screen. Then holding down the option key move the shadow triangle to the right until you start seeing some black noise on the screen. Be careful not to move either too far, doing so will make color too clean and unnatural. A good rule of thumb is to back off each move slightly by moving the sliders back slightly before hitting OK. If your image is too bright move the middle gray arrow to the left slightly. This technique will optimize the color range of the shot. IT IS IMPORTANT to realize that this technique will help maximize the color purity and range of an image but will not make a horrific image better. It may even hurt. Your judgment is still required but this technique will serve as a starting point. Below you will find a before and after sample of an image.


Now you are ready to convert the image to CMYK. Most users simply go to the image menu, to mode and then CMYK. This is probably the most dangerous way to convert an image. Photoshop and Adobe have so many settings for color that it is difficult to know exactly what is happening when you do this. Fortunately, Adobe did provide an additional way to convert color spaces. Under the edit menu there is a function called convert to profile. This tool affords users the opportunity to convert files exactly as asked.

LCP uses two basic profiles and we would be happy to supply them to you. They should be placed in the following directory on your Macintosh: /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Color/Profiles. For most jobs we use GRACoL2006_Coated1v2. Jobs that contain large gray or neutral areas, wood grains, metal objects, whites such as sinks or snow scenes generally print with less color variation when separated using a GCR profile. For these jobs we use a custom profile we call LCP_MaxK_340. In grey component replacement (GCR) the CMY values that add to grey all along the tone scale can be replaced with black ink. Grey component replacement only adds black to the CMY equivalent of what would have printed as a grey.

To convert in this fashion, first make certain that your Photoshop CMYK color setup is set to the target profile (either GRACoL2006_Coated1v2 or LCP_MaxK_340). To do this open the color settings from the edit window and make sure the working space CMYK is set to the target profile. Failure to do this will not have any effect on the end result but will not allow Photoshop to accurately report the CMYK values using its densitometer feature. If you are making color moves based on these readings it may cause your results to be undesirable. See the picture to the right for the color settings screen.

To complete the conversion process we are going to use the Convert to Profile function located at the bottom of the Edit Menu. There are a few things to understand here. Every file has a Source Profile. This is usually embedded in the image and should be left alone. You can change the Source Profile and affect your results but this will take much experimentation and is too much to try and explain here. The next section is where you assign the Destination Space. The profile you choose here should be either GRACoL2006_Coated1v2 or LCP_MaxK_340 depending on whether or not you are looking for a GCR separation that I explained earlier in this post. Finally there are the conversion options. These should be set as pictured below. Changing any of these setting will result in different results.


I cannot stress enough that the above information is a guide to help you provide consistent color among all of the images in your piece. Color is something that takes years of practice and experience and there really is no substitute for a professional color expert.

What does it mean to be an effective partner?

Merriam-Webster defines a partner as, a: one associated with another especially in an action :associate, colleague b: either of two persons who dance together, etc. In business I like the second part of this definition. Last evening I watched the Winter Olympic Ice Dancing finals and thought about all the work that these partners have put in for their 6-7 minutes on the ice. Effective business partnerships are much like these athletes, two parties working together to produce a result. In the dance, partners support each other in many ways, one might lead and the other follow, one may lift or carry but to do this the other jumps, in planning the dance there is collaboration and the sharing of ideas. Successful partners understand what each other's strengths and weaknesses are and work to utilize the strengths and minimize the weakness. When successful, the dance is a series of fluid movements resulting in an appealing and often awe-inspiring performance. Sound fairly simple? I don't think so. We often fail to realize that in order for the partners to achieve that near perfection on the ice, hours of dedication, trial and error, practice and failure was endured. If one partner does not put in the necessary effort the dance will fail. This all holds true with business as well. In my past roles as a technical manager one of my responsibilities was to present technology to customers. Each and every time, clients were amazed at the possibilities and left excited about moving forward. My job was complete. It was now up to the sales representative and the client to create the effective partnership. Of the numerous clients I met with, only a handful use the technology today. Why? The partnership was not effective. Either one partner or both lacked either the desire or ability to put in the necessary effort to succeed. My point is that effective business partnerships only work as a result of hard work, dedication and the desire for both the provider and their customer to support each other. Doing so will produce the fluidity of a perfect dance. So the next time you read about someone being a partner, ask yourself a few question. Am I willing to put in the effort to make the partnership succeed? Do I have the resources available to support an effective partnership? Can I count on my partner to provide the support I need and am I willing to support them in return? If you can say yes to these questions then an effective partnership can be within your reach, you may even have place on the podium.

Industry Changes since 1990

Nineteen years ago I took my first job as a designer. The year was 1990 and when I came in for my first day of work we took delivery of two shinny new Mac II fx computers. I still remember the cover of Macworld magazine displaying two F14 jets with the headline, “The Fastest Macs Ever.” Quark was version 1.x and we had hot wax machines on every light table. The studio manager/owner was a freak about typography and we meticulously created kerning pairs for every font we owned. For fun we would give each other font recognition tests. On a daily basis we begged to turn off the Compugraphic and say goodbye to setting galleys of type and layout pages completely on the Mac. For the first year, all we did was set the copy and leave holes for photos to be stripped in. We created very clean art boards that were sent to our local printer. That was the last we saw of the project until it was done. It was almost another year before we started outputting film and any graphics. We were on the bleeding edge. Running curve calibrations daily and pushing the printers to use our film. The agency gave me my start with the Mac and for that I’m very grateful.

From there I went to work for a prepress house and was introduced to Scitex. How cool it was to build complete pages, output color-separated film complete with traps in imposed flats. A 16-page letter sized book might of taken two plus days to complete. Typical rates for the work were $300.00 an hour. A Scitex workstation that could process both color corrections and assemble pages ran well over $300,000.00. We were bursting at the seams with work and there were no arguments about cost or the time it took to complete the job. Clients would wait days to see proofs and there were very few alterations. Color was looked at and approved prior to final pages being submitted. Agencies were paid for their design and film houses and printers for everything they did.

Since that time personal desktop computers have continued to evolve, office secretaries have become designers and the art of typography has all but vanished. Agencies have carved their niche and remain vital to successful campaigns and collateral. There are only a handful of separation houses, which have either successfully maintained clients through data management or have been swallowed whole by wide-eyed printers who saw an opportunity to capitalize on another revenue stream. Increasing the work on their high priced production presses. I had a choice to make. Do I go back to the design side or join a print shop that realizes the value of prepress? I choose the later and took my knowledge of production and design to a startup printer in need of my skills. I quickly created efficient systems for production and worked daily with the agencies that were creating files. Automatic Picture Replacement (APR) was the Scitex version of OPI and we worked with our customers to utilize PSImages to allow for automated swap out of images. It was a big deal. No desktop computer could handle working with high res files and we needed a way to speed up production processes and push work through the shop. Overtime was a given and people worked routine 60-70 hour weeks. A few years into that job we purchased two Macintosh Quadra 900’s and started using Photoshop for color correction. Each machine was equipped with a whopping 256 meg of ram and with all the software and Barco Monitors cost $32,000.00. It would only be a few more years and the work would begin to slow.

Technology continued to change for the next several years and computer systems and software began putting more and more control into the hands of the designer. We saw a huge decrease in the quality of the work. Color consistency and printability was and still is a huge issue. Digital photography has made everyone his or her own photographer. To be competitive sales people had to start promising anything they could to get the job. The profits of commercial printers started to decline and the work became a commodity. There needed to be a reason someone would be awarded the print. The days of quality work have been swept aside and it became a culture of delivering proofs the next day.

As you can see, I have seen quite a change in an industry that today still continues to change. I began to ask myself what the next change was going to be and I looked deep into my experiences and decided it was the right time to leave the production side of print and join the world of sales. Today, technology continues to progress and the ability for designers to build quality files is within reach. Automation available in today’s prepress systems has put tools into the clients’ hands that have never been available. Savvy clients will adopt these technologies and as a result control their costs and budgets and increase profits for their firms. Printers will be forced to provide these technologies to win work and fill their capacity. So the question becomes who will deliver these technologies and provide the necessary training to take full advantage of them. Add-on the ability to intelligently discuss web-to-print technology, targeted marketing, and print on demand and the answer has to be someone who has been involved in the production of it and is a not only your sales representative but your go to person. Someone who will give you the answers they can and if they can’t get them for you and then teach you what to do next.

Our economic environment has created difficulty for all of us. Those who succeed will need to reinvent what they do and deliver new products and services. I for one will be on that side of the equation. Why not join me?