Bike Race Course Signs

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Signs for a bike race
Bike Race Signs

Our new flatbed printer makes great looking signs to go along a race course. It can be a bike race, a running race, or even a road rally. These signs give your event a professional look, and we can produce them very quickly. We usually need just a day or two for production.

We print on coroplast, which is plastic cardboard. They will not fade in the sun, and they are waterproof. You’ll be able to use them year after year. We can supply metal step stakes that make it easy to stick them into the ground.
So, invest in great looking signage one time and you’ll have them for many years. It’s a great improvement over the hand lettered signs of the past, and they do a great job of marking the course for the racers.
Posted in Flatbed printing | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Bike Race Course Signs

Repositionable Fabric at the Mount Washington Observatory

Posted on June 23, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Temporary Wallpaper
Display using Repositionable Fabric

Here’s a great use of our new Repositionable Fabric material. The Observatory was creating displays to educate visitors about weather and the work they do, and they wanted to cover some existing boards with new artwork. Our new repositionable fabric was the perfect choice!  All they had to do was peel off the backing paper and apply it over what they wanted to cover. As you can see from the picture, it looks great.

We use our UV stable inks when printing on this material, so that it will not fade if it gets some sunlight. It should be good for several years.
When you want to put up a display that is easy to install and comes down with no damage to the underlying surface, repositionable fabric is a great choice. The folks at the Mount Washington Observatory are raving about their new displays! You can see them at their visitors center in North Conway. The Obervatory itself is also worth a visit, either via the Mount Washington Auto Road, or a vigorous hike to the summit! You’ll see lots of our work at both places.
Posted in large format printing | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Repositionable Fabric at the Mount Washington Observatory

New Microsoft Office

Posted on June 16, 2010 by Jay Buckley
PowerPoint Poster

PowerPoint Research Poster

Microsoft began shipping Office 2010 yesterday, and I thought it might be useful to discuss the collaboration tools they offer in this latest version of Office.  We’ve been using the beta of PowerPoint for a few months to be sure we are comfortable with it, since a lot of our business is printing posters from PowerPoint files.

All of the tools we’ve tried have one big assumption- that everybody is using the latest version of the program, and on the same platform. That’s usually true within a big company that standardizes on hardware and software, but it’s often not the case between academics in different institutions, not to mention the computer you have at home versus work.

For PowerPoint posters, it’s really important that a file look the same when different people open it. If you really want to get into a confusing conversation, try suggesting a change to someone who is looking at something different on his screen than you are! What we know to be true is that different versions of PowerPoint will show the same file differently, and this is especially true between the Mac and the PC. The collaboration tools that Microsoft is offering do not change this, and they act the same as if you emailed the file to your friend who opened it on their computer.

We have a completed discussion of our testing of the collaboration tools on Postersession.com.

Posted in Poster Printing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Flatbed Printing

Posted on June 14, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Flatbed Lage Format Printing

Direct Printing on Board

Flatbed printing is the latest technology to hit the large format printing business. For good reason!

By printing directly onto rigid materials like foamcore board, sintra, styrene, and 50 point board we are able to save labor. It becomes a single step, instead of a two step process.

We’ve already incorporated this new technology into the printing of event signs, particularly golf tournament signs. It allows us to offer the signs at a better price, and the signs are more durable than before.

Another important feature of this process is the work is dry to the touch when it comes off the machine. This means we can ship without waiting for things to dry overnight, which was usually the case with solvent printed material.

Posted in Flatbed printing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Lakes Region Healthcare Event Banner

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Vinyl event banner

DARYL CARLSON/CITIZEN PHOTO

Here’s an interesting way to use a banner. At Lakes Region General Hospital, they had a cancer survivors’s celebration event, and everyone signed a banner that we had made for the hospital. The banner was then hung in the Hematology/Oncology area.

The event was held yesterday for National Cancer Survivors Day. This picture and a story about the event were in the Laconia Citizen.

Posted in Vinyl Banners | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Lakes Region Healthcare Event Banner

Pop-Up Booth Replacement Graphics

Posted on June 7, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Pop Up Booth Replacement Graphics
Installing a replacement panel

The time will always come when the graphics on your pop-up booth need replacement. We have a solution that’s affordable and does a beautiful job- replacement booth panels.

By the time your booth is several years old, who knows where everything came from? Not to worry. We can make replacement panels for just about any booth, and at a substantial discount from what your booth maker will charge.
We print on paper, laminate with our crystal laminate and an extra heavy backer material, and apply the stiffeners and magnet. You get panels that are attractive and affordable.
We can help with the design, too. Our graphics professionals have done thousands of booth designs, and you can benefit from their experience!
Posted in large format printing | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Pop-Up Booth Replacement Graphics

Road Race Signs

Posted on June 4, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Road Race Signs

Signs for a Road Race

Here’s a great use of coroplast (plastic cardboard) signs– to mark the path of a road race. They sure look a lot nicer than the hand lettered pieces of poster board you usually see along a race route.

We also did a number of signs for this customer that advises people along the race route that there will be a race on a certain day, and to expect delays and to watch out for runners in the road.

These signs are printed on our new Flatbed printer, which uses UV curable inks and prints directly on the board.  They are waterproof, will not fade in sunlight, and will last for years. Our customer expects to be able to use these signs every year for a long time.

These signs use H stakes, also called step stakes. They are made of wire in an H shape, with the wire on the top going into the flutes of the coroplast.  The bottom wires go into the ground, assisted by your foot on the cross wire.

These stakes work great for signs up to 18×24″. They are easy to use, and easy to re-use, and are galvanized so they aren’t all rusty next year when you take them out of the box.

Posted in Flatbed printing | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Road Race Signs

Tabletop Booths for Local Shows

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Table Top Trade Show Display

Table Top Display

If you are doing local shows, you often have a table for your display without all the fancy pipe and drape setups of larger trade shows.  A table top display like the one shown at the right is a great way to do this kind of show affordably and effectively.

This kind of display is easy to transport and carry. It folds up to fit in a trunk or back seat, and carries like a suitcase.

We print the same crystal laminated graphic panels that we do for larger booths, so you won’t have trouble with glare and the colors come through brilliantly. They attach to the display with velcro, and are easily changed out when your products or graphics change.

Posted in large format printing, Poster Printing | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Tabletop Booths for Local Shows

Store Graphics Done Easily with Repo Fabric

Posted on May 28, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Store Graphics with Repositionable Fabric

Repositionable Fabric Graphic

Here’s an interesting job we did recently. Our customer wanted to put a jazzy graphic in a product showroom, and were going to buy a piece of paper and use spray adhesive to mount it.

We suggested they try our new repositionable fabric, and they loved it! Instead of all the fuss and muss of spray mount, the material comes with “sticky note” ahesive on the back. It’s easy to put up, and if you don’t get it on straight the first try, you just pull it off and start over.

As you can see, it also gives a great look. We  print it with our UV stable inks, so it will not fade. Since it’s direct printing on the fabric, there’s no glare trouble with bright showroom lights.

Posted in large format printing | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Store Graphics Done Easily with Repo Fabric

Plymouth State University Remembers the Weeks Act

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Plymouth State show commemorating the Weeks Act
Student with Display

Students in the History Department at Plymouth State University recently produced a group of displays commemorating the passage of the Weeks Act in 1911 that created the National Forest System we know today. The show will travel around New Hampshire this summer.

Of particular interest to those of us who live in the area is the wonderful job that was done in creating the White Mountain National Forest out of timberlands that had been ravaged by logging. Looking at them today, you’d never know! The forests are back, and we are enjoying over 2000 hiking trails that celebrate the outdoors. The vision of the people who created this public treasure is to be much admired.
We printed the displays for Dr. Marcia Blaine, whose students did the designs. They were printed on 13 oz smooth vinyl so they can be rolled up for travelling.
Posted in Vinyl Banners | Comments Off on Plymouth State University Remembers the Weeks Act