Postpress
To be sure, to be sure
May 01, 2006The steps preceding a perfect-match mailing are a cinch. You print, fold, insert and inkjet every day. It's the verification part that gets tricky. How do you ensure everything stays in order? And what happens when it doesn't?
Take a letter
Apr 01, 2006A sampling of recent mailing-related products and services.
A knack for stacks
Apr 01, 2006What are we going to do with these "haystacks" of digitally printed sheets? Binding short runs of soft- and hardcover books just got easier.
Things that make you go hmmm...
Mar 01, 2006We were intrigued by the unusual postpress applications Seattle Bindery exec Milt Vine described in his e-mail newsletter. We asked him to share some stories with our readers.
Think outside the box
Feb 01, 2006A folder/gluer update.
Crease of mind
Jan 01, 2006Inline and other options for scoring, perfing and slitting.
Do you speak postpress?
Nov 01, 2005How many languages are spoken in your postpress department? The reality is that many binderies are bilingual. But as many postpress and bindery supervisors can attest, language barriers do exist and overcoming them isn’t easy.
Service and stitchability
Nov 01, 2005When Des Plaines Publishing Co. (DPPC) added its first piece of bindery equipment in April 2005, employees went through a sense of production vertigo. The crew was completely new to saddlestitching. Most had not even see a stitcher before.
Beware of dry air
Oct 01, 2005In high-speed presses, a new element of stress is added as machinery heat causes a serious drop in relative humidity (RH) resulting in static electricity and web breaks. Paper is very sensitive to environmental changes and the HVAC needs careful control within the plant.
Fancy finishing
Sep 01, 2005The Foil Stamping and Embossing Assn.'s 2005 Gold Leaf Award winners.
Know your folding lingo
Aug 01, 2005The language of folding often has been miscommunicated, misinterpreted and misconstrued. So we’re going to set the language straight once and for all. Here’s a handy guide you can share with your customers and their designers.
Greetings from Mailville
Jul 01, 2005Printers are expanding into the mailing/fulfillment industry in an attempt to significantly increase their bottom lines. It is a logical move for printers to make, because a good deal of printed material is sent on to a letter shop or a mail house for processing. Logical in concept? Yes. Easy to accomplish? Maybe.
Now cut that out!
Jun 01, 2005Cutters are the Jude Law of most printers’ postpress operations: they’re extremely busy and essential to advancing the action. Like the ubiquitous actor, many cutters also boast a versatile supporting cast--modular material handling equipment that eliminates operator fatigue as well as process bottlenecks.
A profitable loose-leaf partnership
Jun 01, 2005As competition for print jobs intensifies, many loose-leaf binder manufacturers are partnering with trade finishers to gain an advantage.
Short-run die cutting
Jun 01, 2005There are three main types of die cutting technology: platen presses, rotary die cutters and optically registered gap presses.
Get Inline!
May 01, 2005Several digital press vendors have recently introduced inline or nearline coating options to protect output against flaking, scuffing and other mail stream maladies. Here’s a sneak preview of some inline and related developments that will be shown at the OnDemand Show this month.
Real books, real fast
May 01, 2005Muller Martini’s SigmaLine is a modular system for producing books on demand. Users can opt for a complete line or partial configurations that may include a high-speed, roll-fed printer with a perfect binder, cooling tower and trimmer.
Cataloger sees the light
Apr 01, 2005Arandell Corp., one of the largest catalog printers in the U.S., found a more cost-effective approach to energy savings in its decision to change plant lighting from the common high-pressure sodium variety to T8 fluorescent technology from Orion Energy Services.
PUR in every glue pot?
Apr 01, 2005What’s in your perfect binder’s glue pot? Many trade binderies and commercial printers are adding polyurethane reactive (PUR) alongside the more familiar ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) hot melt and polyvinyl acetate (PVA) cold emulsion adhesives.
A master mailer
Mar 01, 2005Anne-Tisdale & Assoc. has evolved from a mailing list broker to an in-house operation offering a complete range of mailshop services. Last year, Anne-Tisdale upgraded to the Rena XPS-3000 console addressing system.
Fantastic plastics
Mar 01, 2005Synthetic papers are especially suitable in niche markets where moisture or other contaminants would damage wood-based papers. Synthetic papers can be used for maps, menus, book covers, signage, point-of-purchase, security cards, loyalty cards and unusual promotions.
Punching & drilling
Mar 01, 2005While many printers know how to throw a punch, very few are aware of what to look for when buying a punch. A drill uses a rotating bit, while a punch uses a reciprocating male and female die that doesn’t rotate. A drill can only be used for round holes, whereas a punch can produce any type of hole: square, oval, round or custom.
Scratch & Sniff Basics
Feb 01, 2005Lottery tickets and similar game pieces might be the best-known uses of scratch-off and scratch-and-sniff coatings, which provide a great way to build interest in any brand or message. One of the surest ways to get the attention of consumers is to allow them to interact with your message.
Folding, stitching & gluing impossible jobs
Feb 01, 2005For 105 years, Rickard Bindery has specialized in jobs best described as almost impossible. "We enable our customers to sell the oddball-goofy-crazy things," says president Jack Rickard. (www.rickardbindery.com)
Be a bolder folder!
Jan 01, 2005Want to move beyond the same old boring folds? These fresh folding ideas and handy tips can help!
