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Prints

Finishing Techniques: How to Add an Extra Touch to Your Printed Materials

When it comes to printing, the paper stock you choose is just the beginning. Finishing techniques such as binding, folding, and laminating can take your printed materials to the next level and add a professional touch. In this article, we’ll cover the most common finishing techniques and their best applications.

  1. Binding: Binding is the process of securing loose sheets of paper together to form a book, booklet, or brochure. There are several types of binding to choose from, including:
  • Saddle Stitch Binding: This method involves stapling the spine of the printed materials together. It’s ideal for booklets and brochures with fewer than 64 pages.
  • Perfect Binding: This method involves gluing the spine of the printed materials together. It’s ideal for thicker booklets and magazines.
  • Wire-O Binding: This method involves punching holes along the edge of the printed materials and binding them together with a wire. It’s ideal for calendars and manuals.
  1. Folding: Folding is the process of bending a sheet of paper to create a multi-page document. There are several types of folding to choose from, including:
  • Half-Fold: This method involves folding the sheet of paper in half, creating four pages. It’s ideal for brochures and newsletters.
  • Tri-Fold: This method involves folding the sheet of paper into thirds, creating six panels. It’s ideal for brochures and menus.
  • Z-Fold: This method involves folding the sheet of paper into a zigzag pattern, creating six panels. It’s ideal for invitations and programs.
  1. Laminating: Laminating is the process of sealing a printed material between two sheets of plastic film. It’s ideal for materials that need to be durable, waterproof, or tear-resistant. There are several types of laminating to choose from, including:
  • Glossy Lamination: This method involves adding a shiny finish to the printed material. It’s ideal for photos, menus, and signs.
  • Matte Lamination: This method involves adding a smooth, non-glossy finish to the printed material. It’s ideal for documents, maps, and charts.
  • Soft Touch Lamination: This method involves adding a velvety texture to the printed material. It’s ideal for business cards, book covers, and packaging.

By incorporating these finishing techniques into your printed materials, you can make them stand out and leave a lasting impression on your audience. At Printivo, we offer a variety of finishing options to help you achieve the perfect look for your project. Contact us today to learn more!

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How to Printing Insights for Businesses Prints

Design Tips for Eye-Catching Printed Materials

DesignTipsDesign plays a crucial role in the success of your printed materials. A well-designed print material can make your brand stand out and leave a lasting impression on your target audience. But, designing an eye-catching print material isn’t always easy.

Here are some tips to help you create designs that are both functional and visually appealing.

  1. Keep it Simple: When it comes to designing print materials, less is often more. Too much clutter can be overwhelming and detract from the overall message of your print material. Keep your design simple and uncluttered. Use white space to your advantage, and make sure your message is clear and concise.
  2. Use High-Quality Images: High-quality images can make a huge difference in the overall look and feel of your printed materials. Make sure your images are high-resolution and look great in print. Avoid using low-quality or pixelated images, as they can make your materials look unprofessional.
  3. Choose the Right Fonts: Fonts play a crucial role in the overall design of your printed materials. Choose fonts that are easy to read and fit the overall style of your brand. Avoid using too many different fonts, as this can create a cluttered and confusing design.
  4. Use Color Strategically: Color is a powerful tool in design. Use color to help convey your message and create an emotional connection with your target audience. Choose colors that fit your brand and help your message stand out. Be strategic in your use of color and avoid using too many colors, as this can create a cluttered design.
  5. Consider the Print Medium: Different print mediums have different requirements and limitations. Consider the print medium you’ll be using when designing your materials. For example, if you’re designing a business card, you’ll need to consider the size and orientation of the card. If you’re designing a flyer, you’ll need to consider the paper stock and finish.
  6. Balance Your Design: A well-balanced design can help guide the viewer’s eye and create a sense of harmony in your printed materials. Use the rule of thirds to help balance your design. This rule involves dividing your design into thirds both horizontally and vertically and placing important elements along these lines.
  7. Keep Brand Consistency: Consistency is key in building a strong brand identity. Make sure your printed materials are consistent with your brand guidelines. Use your brand colors, fonts, and logo in your designs to create a cohesive look and feel.
  8. Use White Space: White space or negative space, is the area of your design that is left blank. Don’t be afraid to use white space in your printed materials. White space can help guide the viewer’s eye, create a sense of balance, and make your design feel less cluttered.
  9. Consider Print Finishes: Print finishes can add a unique touch to your printed materials and make them stand out. Consider using finishes such as gloss or matte, foil stamping, embossing, or die-cutting to add texture and visual interest
  10. Use Contrast to Your Advantage: Contrast is an effective design element that can help make your printed materials stand out. Use contrasting colors, font weights, or sizes to create visual interest and draw attention to important information.
  11. Keep Hierarchy in Mind: When designing your printed materials, consider the hierarchy of your information. Determine what information is most important and make sure it stands out. Use font size, color, or bolding to create a hierarchy of information that guides the viewer’s eye.
  12. Consider the Purpose of Your Printed Material: The purpose of your printed material should dictate its design. For example, a brochure meant to showcase a new product should have different design elements than a business card meant to provide contact information. Consider the purpose of your printed material and design accordingly.
  13. Use Templates to Your Advantage: Using templates can help simplify the design process and ensure consistency across your printed materials. Look for free templates online or consider working with a printing service that offers customizable templates.
  14. Incorporate Brand Personality: Your brand personality should be reflected in your printed materials. Consider your brand’s tone, voice, and personality when designing your printed materials. Incorporate elements that reflect your brand’s personality to create a cohesive and memorable design.
  15. Test Your Design: Before sending your design to print, make sure to test it. Ask for feedback from colleagues, friends, or family to ensure that your message is clear, and the design is effective. Make adjustments as needed based on feedback. Print out a copy of your design and review it carefully. Make sure your message is clear, your images look great in print, and your design is balanced and visually appealing.

In conclusion, designing eye-catching printed materials requires careful consideration of various design elements, including simplicity, high-quality images, appropriate fonts, strategic use of color, consideration of print medium, balanced design, consistency with brand guidelines, use of white space, and testing before printing. Incorporating these tips into your design process can help you create materials that effectively communicate your message and leave a lasting impression on your target audience.

Don’t have time to design? You can use our free editable templates to get print items or request a custom design from Printivo.com

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Business stationery Gift Ideas For Small Businessses Marketing Prints Prints

Five Reasons Why Your Business Needs Branded Calendars

 

Wall calendar

One of the effective marketing tools used by businesses is branded calendars which usually contain the brand logo, product pictures, and other necessary details. A calendar is a chart or sequence of pages showing the days, weeks, months, and some public holidays/special events of a specific year. It can be designed in different ways but the most popular ones are Wall and Table or desk calendars.

Uses of a Calendar

  1. Tracking- Calendars are great for keeping tabs on events and activities.
  2. Identification- With them, recognition of days, weeks, and months is made possible.
  3. Planning- Scheduling of activities is made easy with them.

Why you should make calendars

Over time, many businesses have come up with the idea of making branded calendars. These kinds of calendars often contain the usual days, weeks, and months of a specific year but they also include the logo and other necessary details about the business. To make it more pleasing to the eye, some of these brands add images of a few of their products and services.

Are you a business owner still unsure why you should join the bandwagon? Here are a few reasons;

1. Good Promotional items

 

Handing out promotional items is one thing, but offering good promotional items your audience will find very useful is another vital thing. Everybody uses calendars, and most people have at least one at home. And I bet you that a large portion of them was given out as promotional items. They can also be used to appreciate your customers.

2. Increases brand awareness

An image showing a table calendar for a food business

At times, what a business might need to increase its visibility could be a calendar. A well-designed calendar easily gets the attention of people. The more people look at it, even if it’s for the sole aim of tracking an event, the better awareness they get regarding your brand. A calendar also provides the opportunity to put your brand in front of different people and at multiple locations, such as the calendar placed in the house and the one they put that is placed on a desk at work.

3. Keeps your business in the minds of Clients/Prospects

Since calendars are visited almost every day, it makes your business seen almost every day too. Clients and prospects are unconsciously reminded of you once the need arises for any of your services, you immediately pop up in their minds.

4. Useful marketing tool

Wherever calendars are hung or placed, they perform the function of spreading the news about your business. If you’ve got new products or even the old ones and you need to inform people about them, making a calendar containing these pictures would be a brilliant idea.

5. Gives easy access

Image showing a wall calendar

Branded calendars usually contain the brand logo, contact address, and other necessary details about the business.  This helps clients and prospects to seamlessly access them once the need arises. They can easily look up their walls or the table calendars placed on their office desk to contact the business.

 

Imagine having a client show up at your store to thank you for the calendar you gave him. He further narrates how he almost missed his flight but for the fact that he looked up his walls to behold your calendar and suddenly noticed that his flight was scheduled for that same day. The importance of calendars to business owners should therefore never be underestimated.

 

If you need to print and design bespoke, top-quality calendars, look no further. We at Printivo understand how amazing calendars are and we are committed to making only the best ones.

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Brochures Prints

Six Reasons Why Your Business Needs Brochures

 

Images showing a brochure

 

Brochures are foldable sheets with at least two pages that often contain pictures, and other information regarding an event, product, service or a business. Unlike flyers and business cards, brochures have the ability to contain more information. It’s one of the reasons why some brands opt for them. Brochures are also good promotional materials. It is also worthy of note that these promotional materials can either be printed as landscape or portrait depending on your choice.