Vol. 1 - No. 3

Print Knowledge

presented by
August, 2002

*This Issue*

Digital Printing - On The Move

Terminology

The Many Faces of Screen printing

Generations of Graphics Excellence! - since 1959

"Print Knowledge is our monthly E-Zine / Newsletter dedicated to sharing information and assisting all interested parties in furthering your knowledge base of Screen and Digital Printing, Pre-Press/File Preparation, Graphic Design, Point Of Purchase products and many other related issues.

Link to Your Sales Representative

Danny Blevins

Carl Phinney

Donna Phinney

Tim Hoffart

Bob Burnell

Kay Page

Jenny Hoffart

Link to Your Customer Service Representative

Terri Kline

Cherie Roseliep

Debra Hirdning

Digital Printing - On The Move

Digital printing was at first utilized for short runs of four color process printing. Since that time there have been great enrows made in both materials available and durability of inks. inks specificly designed for long-term outdoor use. This break through along with larger format printers and new innovations in adheasives have made motor vehicles a prime target for the world of custom graphics. You see it everywhere you go. From the bumper stickers and small window decals on a passing car to full wrapps on vans, SUV's and tractor-trailers. These vehicles serve as 24/7 rolling advertising to get the "word" out to the public. And unlike having a vehicle painted, this is not permanent. As the message changes, so can the vehicle.

Even with the constant visual and audio reinforcement alloted to television and radio stations, vehicle wraps are still greatly utilized for name recognition and advertising reinforcement.
A full tractor trailer wrap on reflective material offers high impact visuals and name recongnition

Mercury Signs & Display, Ltd. offers a wide array of digital printing capabilities from plotter cut vinyl to large format inkjet images. For more details please visit the Digital Imaging pages on our website.

The Many Faces of Screen printing - Josh Eckhardt (contributing author)

Perhaps the single largest advantage which screen printing enjoys over other methods is the large variety of materials which can be printed on. This is due to the fact that the material, or substrate, is not forced to travel through the inner workings of a press, following the curve of a cylinder with each pass. Screen printing brings the ink to the substrate, and this allows great flexibility in size, shape and texture. When screen printing is mentioned to the average person it usually brings to mind the textile industry ("You're a screen printer? Oh, you make T-shirts!"). The T-shirt market is enormous and still growing , it has seen the growth of four and six color process work and the level of quality has grown exponentially over the past decade, but there is more to the screen printing world than caps and T-shirts, much more. Pay a visit to a modern screen printing facility today and you will get an idea of the extreme versatility of this often underrated industry. The ability to print directly onto 12 foot sections of heavy duty banner materials as well as buttons, bottles, CD's, caps and coozies provides our clients with an unending flow of canvas for their artistic inspirations. There is also a large market for thick styrene's, card stock, foamboard, and corrugated materials which are impossible for other types of printing to handle but which are an everyday substrate for screen printing .

(For an in-depth view of the Screen Printing industry today, please read Screen Printing - It's not just for T-Shirts anymore! on our website or in the current issue of the Houston Business Journal.    

If you would like further information on our products and services or would like to receive a quote on an upcoming project please drop us an e-mail at: printknowledge@mercurysigns.com

or visit us at:

www.mercurysigns.com

If you would like friends or industry associates to receive this E-Zine, or you would like to offer comments & suggestions, please feel free to drop us a line by clicking on the following link and send us the information you wish to impart. subscribe@mercurysigns.com
As there is a proliferation of unwanted emails circulating the World Wide Web, we only want this informational series to arrive at those email boxes that wish to receive it. Therefore, if you received this e-zine in error or are not interested in receiving it on a monthly basis, please click on the unsubscribe link and drop us a line and we will remove you from our mailing list. unsubscribe@mercurysigns.com

Terminology & Abbreviations

CMYK - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black ( 4 color process color separations) The standard full color printing process.

RGB - Red, Green, Blue - The color separation process utilized by computer monitors & the world wide web. (Not to be used for screen or offset printing)

greyscale - A monotone (b/w) image with halftones such as black and white photo images.

spot color - Refers to a print project with one or more specific colors not broken down to four color process.

PMS - Pantone Matching System. The standardized color matching and management system used to maintain consistent spot color tonality.

finishing - All post printing procedures and process of printed materials including die-cutting, laminating, sewing, etc.