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Paper sizes a (very) brief history.
Did you know that the ISO 216 (A size) standard of paper was initially proposed by German scientist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (pictured), way back in 1786. In a letter to Johann Beckmann he discussed a scheme of paper sizing where each size would have a ratio of ?2 for its dimensions (width × height) and…
Read More20% Off Business Stationery!
Our friends over at Mail Boxes Etc., Colchester are starting this crazy day off with an exciting announcement. That’s right – a massive 20% off all letterheads, business cards and compliment slips available all the way through ’til the end of June 2011. So go and have a word with the lovely folks over there…
Read MoreEasy guides without the calculator
When you are laying out print guides with InDesign it can take a while to get everything just as you want them. This tip could make things a little bit easier for you. When inputting into the value fields of InDesign (for example to set the position of a guide) you can use simple maths.…
Read MoreAnother InDesign top-tip
Sometimes we find ourselves changing the same option time and time again, whether it is the size of a document, the colour of the headlines or the width of the columns. To make things easier with InDesign you can set all of these functions to a default of your choosing, meaning you won’t have to…
Read MoreDigital embossing – give your designs a new lift
Have you heard about digital embossing? This break through technology is a kind of surface laminate which can give your print designs a new lift. A layer of plastic resin is applied to an area on the surface of your print giving a similar look to a spot UV finish, but with a much thicker…
Read MoreA quick Adobe InDesign tip
Here is a quick heads-up if you use Adobe’s design and graphics software InDesign regularly. Did you know just a quick press of the ‘W’ key will change your current view between the ‘Normal’ and ‘Document’ mode. All of your guides, outlines and margins will disappear from the screen giving you a much cleaner and…
Read MoreWho needs to read the small print?
Stay away from blurry edged text Colour mixing is great on larger areas, as most printing processes use a four colour system you need to mix the pure colours to create those secondary hues – everyone knows when it comes to print that yellow and cyan make green. But when it comes to small text,…
Read MoreBoost your blacks
When you use black in your document you might think there is nothing darker than 100% black. But when you print on a litho press or even using digital printers, these blacks may end up looking a bit more charcoal than jet. This is when ‘rich black’ comes into play. Adding some colour in with…
Read MoreLooking a bit off colour?
Do you have an unhappy hue happening when you print your documents? Is something going wrong with your creamy colours? This top tip should help sort out those ghastly green woes. Often when we’re working with digital CMYK print work at Print Colchester it is tempting to simply convert our existing web and online documents…
Read MorePrint your own money!
You might not know this, but you can’t just go around printing your own money. According to the letter of the law – it’s illegal. But did you know that many modern photocopiers have built in copy protection for legal tender? The technology looks for known patterns in the clusters of dots that make up…
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