The Wrong Way to Make a Banner Stand

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Curling Vinyl Banner
Curling Vinyl Banner

Let me first say that we did not make the banner stand in the picure.  As much as I love Southwest Airlines, whoever did make them made a mess.

What’s happened is that they made the banners out of vinyl, and then put them under tension in a banner stand.  We learned a long time ago that when you do that, the banner curls at the edges, in our industry we call it “canoeing.”  They probably looked great for a month or two, then they started to curl.
We solve the problem by using a polyester film instead of vinyl.
Since the film is more rigid, it doesn’t stretch in the center causing the edges to curl in.  Surprisingly, it’s not much more expensive either. I wish I knew who to contact at Southwest. These banner stands don’t give a very good presentation, and they are such a great airline!
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Vinyl Banners for Lamp Posts

Posted on February 17, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Lamp Post Banners
Lamp Post Banners

You see this kind of banner in a lot of downtown areas where they have lamp posts to hang them from. It’s a great way to advertise events or places of local interest.  We did these for a local church.

We print the banners on our matte outdoor vinyl, sew pole pockets in the top and bottom, and put grommets on the inside corners.  That’s one trick to this product- they need to be tie-wrapped to the pole so they don’t walk off in the wind.
The hardware comes in single or double sets. The ones in the picture are singles- on just one side of the pole.  A double is on both sides.  The ones we sell are an aluminum bracket that is held on the lamp post with long hose clamps.
Usually we ship you the hardware directly from the manufacturer, and send you the banners from our shop.
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Restaurant Wallpaper

Posted on February 15, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Restaurant Wallpaper

Restaurant Wallpaper

Here’s a cool wallpaper job we did for a bagel restaurant.  What a better way to show all the yummy things you make than to put pictures of them on the wall of your deli?

This is our standard suede finish wallpaper, solvent printed. The colors are accurate, and the printing crisp and sharp.  It’s durable, too.

The bagels look good enough to eat, don’t you think?

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Cool Poster Printing Effects

Posted on February 12, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Poster Printing Special Effects
Poster Printing Special Effects

Here’s a really awesome effect done by our good customer Northway Bank for posters in the bank’s branches.  They did a photoshop edge blur on these posters, and the result looks really three dimensional.  But it’s not!  It’s just a piece of paper.

I must tell you that I saw them coming off the printer and thought they looked weird laying on the table.  When I went into the bank a few days later and saw them on the wall, I was amazed. It wasn’t until you looked at them on the wall that you catch the illusion of depth.  The people in the bank were all talking about it too, and they loved them!
So, here’s something you can put in your bag of tricks to make your posters more dramatic and effective. 
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Poster sized checks for photo ops

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Big Checks for Presentations
Big Checks for Presentations

Ever wonder where they get those big checks? We do a lot of them!

A big check is a great way to get publicity for your company or organization.  When you are making a donation, take a picture and send it to the newspaper along with a press release.  They will usually print it.
Not to mention that they are just fun and they bring the people in your organization together for a charity.
We make big checks in two ways. Either we print a one-time use check, like the one at the right we did for Macy’s, or we print a check with glossy laminate on it and leave the fields blank so you can write on it with a dry erase marker.  The reusable check gives you the opportunity to get a lot of exposure for a small one time cost.
Almost all of the checks we print have a logo on them, and that’s included in the price. You can order your check online and have it back in a few days.
We’re in the blog catalog- 

Graphic Design Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory

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Museum Banners

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Museum Banner

Museum Banner

Walk by any museum and you’ll usually see a vinyl banner announcing the special exhibits on display, and upcoming shows.  It’s a great way for the museum to let people know what’s going on and perhaps attract them inside.

Here’s  a picture of a banner we did recently, as it came off one of our printers.  This one will be two sided to fit on their fixture.

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Large Format Printing from PDF Files

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Poster Printing
Poster Printing

A pdf file is a great way to show others what a document will look like.  A pdf will look the same on Mac or PC, and you can download Acrobat reader for free.  We send pdf’s to people all the time so they can approve something before we print it.

Going the other way, however, is a little more complicated. First of all, to create a pdf your will need Acrobat, which is a $300 program. It is also available as part of Adobe Creative Suite, and  you get it for less when you buy the bundle.  Acrobat puts  a printer in your list that generates the pdf when you select it as a printer.
If you are sending a pdf to someone like us, you’ll want to select “for print” as the quality of the pdf you send. Some older versions call it something different, like “press quality” so just choose the highest quality choice it gives you.  The higher quality of pdf you choose, the higher resolution it saves the images.
We also suggest that you proof your pdf carefully. It is very good at creating a file that looks just like what you created in your design program, but it is not perfect!
One other thing I just found as I was migrating programs to a new computer- older versions of Acrobat don’t work on Vista and Windows 7, and you’ll need to buy the upgrade to Acrobat version 9.
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Trade Show Booths

Posted on February 5, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Trade Show Booth
Trade Show Booth

Here’s a great looking trade show booth done for a very affordable price. We made four crystal laminated panels that fit onto a pop-up skeleton. Done!

In this case, we used the same booth design that our MegaPrint Inc. booth uses. We shipped the skeleton directly to the customer, and used our own booth to hang the panels to be sure everything fits just right.
Usually, we want to bring your pop up booth here to be sure that everything fits properly. If the panels are off by even 1/32 of an inch, that’s 1/8″ over four panels, which would surely show.
If you are getting ready to do a pop-up booth for your next show, let us show you how to do it beautifully and affordably.
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Plymouth loses a fine young man

Posted on February 4, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Magnet Sign

Magnet Sign

Plymouth lost a fine young man last week when Marc Decoteau was killed in Afghanistan.  He was a 2008 graduate of Plymouth High, and played on three state championship football teams.  The community will remember him at a memorial service at the high school on Saturday.

We are making a memento of Marc to be passed out at the memorial service. It’s adhesive vinyl applied to magnet material.  While we do a fair number of large magnet pieces for automobiles, we don’t usually do small pieces.  In this case, we are doing it to support our community, and because it needed to be done quickly.

RIP, young man, may God bless your sacrifice and your family.

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Vinyl Banners as Signs

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Jay Buckley
Vinyl Banner used as a Sign

Vinyl Banner used as a Sign

If you’ve ever priced a good sized sign, you’ll know how expensive they can be.  That’s because they are made to last, usually for 20 years.

Often, however, you really don’t need it to last for so long.  By using a vinyl banner, you buy something designed to last for 3 years.  With the great digital printing technologies we have, you can still get a very attractive product.  You can tack it up to the side of a building, as was done in the photo, or wrap a sheet of plywood with it. Either way, for a fraction of the cost you get a sign that will last for a few years.

Signs for construction, buildings for sale or rent, and grand openings are all candidates. We have on more than one occasion done a sign for a new restaurant because the permanent sign wasn’t ready yet!

One other big reason to use a banner is that many zoning ordinances permit them on a temporary basis, whereas you need to go through the permitting process to install a sign.

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