This procedure may be set up as an Illustrator Action to automatically perform each of these steps.

Building Blends and Gradients
One of the more common production problems in electronic file preparation is the occurrence of "banding" or obtrusive steps in a blend or a gradient. Using specialized software, Garlich has the ability to create seamless blends/gradients or "vignettes" for most geometric shapes. However, there are many instances in which banding cannot be anticipated until the PostScript commands that create the vignette are interpreted and plotted at high resolution. At the design stage, creating with the following in mind can minimize the risk of banding:

• Multi-color vignettes band less than single color ones.
• High quality blends may be created in Photoshop. First, create the vignette with a final resolution of at least 300dpi, then filter it with a 2%-5% Gaussian blur, and add 5%-6% noise.
• If creating blends in a vector graphics application, object blends tend to be smoother than gradients as you can add more steps to the geometry. Bear in mind though, object blends are difficult to edit and add considerable complexity to processing the file.
• If using spot colors in an object blend, never go from spot to white. All of the intermediate steps turn into a process tint. Instead, go from spot to 0% spot.
• A vignette going from a spot color to a process tint is to be avoided at all cost. The increased density of ink in moving from one layer of ink to four layers will not be apparent on composite digital proofs, but will almost always be objectionable on press.

PRESSROOM TIPS

What are your “corporate colors”?
Whatever they are, your corporate colors are a very important aspect of your corporate identity. Your logo, business cards, promotional literature, product/service brochures all reflect a cohesive corporate identity to your customers and prospective customers through repetitive color and design.

A beautiful 4-color corporate pieces can lose some integrity when special corporate colors are matched in 4-color process inks instead of printing those corporate colors in a 5th and 6th ink color. With today’s technology, we can mix ink to match virtually any color. Additionally, the majority of our presses can run over 4-colors at a time, so adding a 5th or 6th color is simple.

Next time you print one of your corporate pieces, consider utilizing a 5th or 6th color to enhance your corporate identity. After all, you never get a second chance to make a great first impression.

Generally speaking, aqueous coating will cost as much as adding an additional color on short-to-medium length press runs. The benefit to using such coating is most pronounced in the savings of time. Aqueous coatings save production time by allowing press sheets to immediately be turned and run back through the press. And they save drying time, allowing jobs run in the morning to be cut, finished and delivered that same afternoon.

BINDERY TIPS

The Importance of Paper
Your choice of paper should carefully be considered when planning a printed piece. Scoring, folding and cutting are all greatly influenced by the characteristics of the paper.

Be sure to plan your job with grain direction in mind, as it affects the durability and appearance of your job. To determine the grain direction, bend the sheet of paper. You will find it is much harder to fold against the grain than with it. For best results, grain direction should run parallel to the score or fold. If you use a heavier stock that folds, it may be necessary to score the piece to assure a clean, reliable fold.

Paper coatings also need to be considered when planning your job. Coatings not only change the appearance of the paper, but also change its behavior from the pressroom through the bindery. Coated stocks often receive higher ink coverage and additional coatings (such as varnish). Because of this, heightened care needs to be given when scoring and/or folding the piece to eliminate cracking. An alternative would be to choose a heavier uncoated stock suitable for both printing and ease of finishing.

Rarely does grain figure as a consideration in the design or specification of a job. However, designs using some stocks, such as textured or patterned papers, may require careful planning at the very first stages to ensure efficient layouts are planned, and cracking is minimized.

DIRECT MAIL TIPS

Data Management
The effectiveness of your direct mail efforts is impacted as much by your data as by the piece you are mailing. There are several tips to follow to make sure your data has a high level of integrity. The most important of these is to always put the same type of data in the same field, or cell. For instance, if you have a business name field, only enter actual business name, put the name of an individual at the business into its own name field. When this simple rule is followed it is very simple to manipulate the data into the format you desire. It is also a good practice to keep first and last names in separate fields. That way if you want to do a personalized letter with a first name salutation, i.e. Dear Deb, it won’t be necessary to attempt to separate the full name field to isolate the first name.

Common file formats

Excel: Excel is a wonderful tool with many advantages. It is also very easy to ‘see’ your data when working with it in Excel. Along with multiple advantages several areas of concern should be considered. Care should always be taken when sorting data in Excel. If you don’t "select all" of the data in the spreadsheet your data can get scrambled! Also, you should be aware that Excel, by default, treats all cells as numbers so if you enter zip code 01101 into your spreadsheet without formatting the cell as text you will be left with 1101.

CSV (Comma Separated Values): This is one of the easiest formats to receive data in. This format takes the contents of each field, or cell, surrounds it with a set of quotation marks and places a comma between each piece of data.

Fixed Length: A fixed length file, some times referred to as an ASCII file, formats your data into columns. When this format is submitted it is imperative that a file structure be sent along with it. The file structure will tell us where each piece of data begins and ends.

Postage

The postage cost for your mailing depends upon a number of factors. The size and weight of your piece and the total quantity of the mailing are the main factors. There are also several United States Postal Service (USPS) service levels that can be utilized.

First Class:
This USPS service level affords the quickest delivery time and is the most expensive. First class mail can be entered with live stamps, a meter imprint or indicia – provided there are at least 200 pieces in the mailing. One of the biggest benefits of first class mail is that you will receive back pieces that do not have a deliverable address at any additional cost. This can be a great tool for ‘cleaning up’ your mailing list.

First Class Presort:
This service level affords the benefits of first class mail but at a slightly reduced rate. Prior to their entry into the mail stream the pieces are sorted to finest level possible and this is why the USPS allows a discount. However, before the presorted first class discount can be claimed file must be NCOA, National Change of Address, processed. Pre-cancelled stamps or indicia may be used to affix postage to this class of mail. Additionally, there must be a minimum of 500 pieces for this rate to be used.

Standard/Bulk:
Standard mail is the most cost effective. This rate of postage has the longest delivery time. There is a 200 piece minimum and the mail must be sorted to qualify for this rate. A pre-cancelled stamp or indicia can be used to affix postage to standard mail pieces.