When is Rich Black better than Plain Black?

”As simple as black and white” is a saying we all know. But when it comes to printing, it really doesn’t apply.

That’s because there are many different ways to represent black in printing. The method you require will depend on how vibrant you want your blacks to look, and the method you are using to print them.

Rich Black vs Plain Black

You might be surprised to learn that the most truly vibrant blacks are NOT created by using 100% black ink. ”Rich Black” is actually created by combining black ink with other colours. The most common mixture for Rich Black includes inks known as 63C, 52M, 51Y and 100K.

There are also other options that give similar results, but with less ink coverage. Two examples are ”Cool Black” (60C, 0M, 0Y and 100K) and ”Warm Black” (0C, 60M, 30Y and 100K). Using only plain black ink givesmuch less vibrant results than all of these.

Digital is Different

It is important to remember, however, that the opposite is true in digital printing. For digital, the best results are achieved by using 100% black ink. Mixing inks, as in the “Rich Black” example above, will give you an undesirable, brown-looking black when printing digitally.

If you want to get the best looking black and white prints, talk to your printing company about how they achieve “Rich Blacks”.

A good printer should be able to talk you through the mixtures they use and advise you on the best method for your print job. And if you need more advice, you can always talk to the experts at Leopard Print Ltd – 01959 532 000 or sales@leopardprintltd.co.uk

There are soo many finishes on offer it’s hard to know what finish will enhance your product.

Leopard Print are here to help you make the right decision.

1) Sealing

This is a process that is used during the printing operation. We have the ability to add a gloss or matt seal to your products for a minimal additional cost, leaving your printed materials with an enhanced finish. This technique prevents the ink rubbing.

2) Gloss Spot UV Varnish

This is a high gloss varnish and can be applied to  specific areas of the printed material. Not suitable for    uncoated materials. This process can be used to  highlight Company Logos and images.  It can also be  used where areas need to be left unvarnished to allow  for gluing, address stamping and embossing.

3) Gloss Lamination

This is a process that provides a wide range of uses across the whole spectrum of printed products.  Suitable for a variety of products including business cards, brochures, greeting cards, reports and Folders.

4) Matt Lamination

This process gives a smooth natural finish to brochures, menu covers and folders. Not suitable for uncoated papers and the surface is prone to scuffing. However an anti scratch lamination is available for an additional cost. Matt Lamination offers excellent clarity to the underlying print.

5)  Matt UV Varnish

This technique adds warmth and subtlety to colours whilst sealing work and adding a silky touch. Matt UV Varnish protects against scuffing or marking, it resists fingerprinting and extends the life of the printed products.

6) UV Sparkle Varnish

This is a high gloss UV Varnish containing metallised  polyester             flakes that add ‘sparkle’ when applied to  selected areas of the                 printed  image It is ideal for use on  products that require extra             visual impact  and ‘shelf  appeal’. Sparkle Varnish is available in a         range of  densities  - from a fine coating to a thick, almost opaque,       coverage.

This definitely gives off the WOW FACTOR to printed materials.

7 ) Foil Blocking

Foil blocking can provide the ultimate in decorative appeal. This process is not limited to gold and silver foils, but extends to an impressive range of pigmented, holographic and security foils.  It can be used in conjunction with Embossing, Debossing and Gloss Lamination

8) Die Cutting

Enhance your Printed materials with a die-cut shaped design. This could be in a form of a business card or maybe a folder.

Have you ever looked at your printing materials like your letterheads, business cards, folders, brochures, stickers etc and wondered why the colours vary?

If you haven’t, and you look at your collateral and go aah I see what you mean, well I am here to help you understand why this happens.

For an example my client; Australian Business get their Letterheads and Compliment slips printed in 4 colour process on 115gsm Bond which is quite a smooth paper but then they get their business cards printed on  400gsm art board and matt laminated both sides.  Not only does a coated board change the colour, the lamination changes the colour again, making their stationery colours vary, which you can see from my scan.

Uncoated paper is typically used for letterheads, copy paper, or printing paper. Most types of uncoated paper are surface sized to improve their strength. Such paper is used in stationery and lower quality leaflets and brochures.

Another example Carmichael  UK they have their Letterheads  and Comp slips printed in 2  (spot) pantone colours on  100gsm Cyberstar White laser which is another smooth paper. Their  business cards are printed on 400gsm coated matt board with 2  pantone colours to the front and 4 colour process to the back.

Their booklets on the other hand are printed 4 colour process throughout and the cover is Gloss Laminated which you can see  changes the Logo colour drastically.  If you take a pantone colour  and convert it into CMYK this changes the colour  - http://www.pantone.co.uk

You can now get the MYPantone App on your iphone or ipod Touch  - http://bit.ly/qTLVBW

But again remember what you see on screen and what you see on paper again will vary.

Coated Paper – coating is a process by which paper or board is coated with an agent to improve brightness or printing properties. By applying PCC, china clay, pigment or adhesive the coating fills the miniscule pits between the fibres in the base paper, giving it a smooth, flat surface which can improve the opacity, lustre and colour-absorption ability. Various blades and rollers ensure the uniform application of the coating.

Remember, the grade, grain and colour of paper used affects the colour of the ink.

Ask your printer for a proof before signing-off on your print job.  A PDF proof will NOT show you the results of how your colour prints so do make sure you print a copy yourself.

If you ever need advice on your next print job we here at Leopard Print we are always happy to advise you – 0800 032 7335 or Sales@leopardprintltd.co.uk

To view our Top 21 Tips Now!

http://www.slideshare.net/Leopardprintltd/leopard-print-ltd-tips-booklet

How to keep your colours consistent

As children, most of us learned how to mix different colours using a paint box.

When it comes to your company logo and brand style, you want colour consistency but the final printed piece may vary in colour from what you have on the screen. So it would be helpful to understand how different colours are printed or appear on your computer screen.

There are three main ways of producing colour:

1. RGB (Red Green & Blue)

Most computer monitors are set to emit light/colours in RGB. All the colours of the spectrum are produced by merging RGB together, but there is a limit to the range of the spectrum

2. CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Black (Key)

Whereas monitors emit colours, inked paper absorbs or reflects specific wavelengths of light to create the visible spectrum of colour. Again there is a limit to the range of the spectrum.

Cyan, magenta & yellow pigments serve as filters subtracting varying degrees of red, green and blue from white light to produce a selective range of visible colours. Consequently the colours displayed on your monitor may not match the printed copy

3. Pantone Colour (Universal Spot Colour)

Over 3,000 colours and their CMYK screen values can be found in the Pantone/ Process colour guides. These show the difference between the actual colour and CMYK equivalent.

Colours can also vary when printed digitally for proofing because of difference in inks and materials used. The only truly accurate way of proofing is to produce a machine (wet) proof.

For more advice on your next Print Marketing Campaign or  to view our Top 21 Tips Now!

http://www.slideshare.net/Leopardprintltd/leopard-print-ltd-tips-booklet

Contact us Today we are always happy to advise you where we can – sales@leopardprintltd.co.uk

As you have probably guessed by now, the team at Leopard Print are totally obsessed with all things leopard.

So you can imagine our excitement in the office at the news we are adopting our very own leopard.

His name is Argun. He’s a stunningly beautiful four year  old Amur Leopard. Also called the Korean or Far Eastern   Leopard, the Amur is on the critically endangered list as  it’s believed there could be less than 30 of them left in  the wild. Amur leopards are one of the most endangered  species on the planet and the most endangered big cat.

Obviously Argun won’t be moving into Chelsfield Lane  but will continue to live at the Wildlife Heritage  Foundation in Smarden, Kent. The WHF is a UK-based  charity working extremely hard to ensure that the big  cat species of the world are protected from extinction.

The WHF also raises awareness and funding for big caT projects around the world as well as education programmes for the people who share the big cats’ environment.

You can find out more about the work of the WHF on their website: www.whf.org.uk

Also take a look at this clip of Argun and his brother when they were just a year old:  http://bit.ly/rbD07Q

We want to do everything we can to ensure the survival of more big cats like Argun and you can help us.

01959 532 000 – sales@leopardprintltd.co.uk – www.printexperts.org

In the last 2 weeks we have been Designing one of our cars to link in with our Branding.

We then asked our friends and followers on facebook to come up with a name for our car, after a few Tiggers, Pumba’s, Nala’s, Leo’s and Fluffies, we decided to go for ‘Lady Ingwe’

(pronounced Inzingwe) which means Female Leopard in Zulu which @LukasDelport came up with. So Thank you Lukas.

If you have any comments about our New Leopard Transformer we would love to hear from you

Pimped my Ride

Adding the Stickers to the sides

Adding social media to your brand

The whole car wrapped

If you too would like to get your brand on the road, please contact us and we will put you in the right direction

www.printexperts.org – 0800 032 7335

When marketing your business the first thing that may come to mind is setting up a facebook page, a twitter account and sending e-shots. All these are free and in the current economic climate reducing marketing costs may seem prudent. However, marketing is one of the trickiest elements of a business. It is how you communicate with your customers. Doing the above-following the crowd because it’s quick and easy- could isolate you from your customers, especially if they prefer traditional communication means such as print media.

There are three key reasons why print media could offer a better return than social media alone.

Firstly, the internet is a jungle full of advertisers. People do not always trust businesses they have never heard of so if you are not a household name and are trying to grow your market share, internet advertising may fail to deliver the results you require. The level of fraud carried out via social media is a growing concern to many. So much so, the Advertising Standards Authority has set out new regulations specifically for online marketing.  

Kent based print company, Leopard Print, have seen an increase in the number of people using their services. As people begin to realise social media works best as part of an integrated, diverse campaign, clients are placing large orders for leaflets, brochures and posters for a variety of uses.

However, it is predicted 88% of companies will be using social media tools for marketing by 2012. Many of these, particularly new start ups, will be using social media exclusively. For businesses whose competitor analysis reveals their competition is doing such a thing, there is a golden opportunity to take advantage of the gap. People like to feel special when they are being communicated to. Often this means being provided with something tangible rather than a flash on a screen. Distributing leaflets in person can give customers that tailor service feeling. Whereas a few years ago people may have responded sceptically, now such a thing is being welcomed.

Thirdly, many businesses forget why people are on certain internet websites in the first place. Individuals access the internet for certain things e.g. to read the news, chat with friends via Facebook or Twitter and to book flights. They are often focused on such a task they ignore the flashing adverts around them. People don’t like being disturbed hence they switch off all attention to surrounding adverts. Businesses are beginning to recognise this and use engaging print media and unique distribution methods to attract offline customers onto their websites. This way, customers feel they are in control. They are taking the decision to actively log on rather than click on impulse. Empowering consumers is essential for business success.

Greg Morris of Leopard Print- a family run business with an impressive list of clients- offers electronic media services too. However, having been in the print industry for a number of years he is particularly excited about the coming surge in print media as clients seek to exploit the gap. He values its simplicity, saying: “You can see and feel the quality”. Greg believes any marketing, social or print, will only be effective if there is an engaging message in place.