Have you ever had a question and either didn't know where to find the answer or were too afraid to ask? If so, you've come to the right place.
As the name would suggest, this section is a compilation of answers to the questions our clients commonly ask. Here you'll find answers to common questions our clients ask. Just start by following one of the links below.
- What kinds of services does your printing company provide?
- What electronic file formats do you accept?
- How long does it take for you to complete my order?
- What is a "proof"?
- Why do I need approve a proof when I've provided everything needed to produce my job?
- Do I still need to approve a proof if I bring my work in on disk?
- How do I go about getting an estimate from you?
- If I order products not produced at your facility, won't I be paying more than if I purchased directly from the manufacturer?
- What credit cards do you accept for payment?
- What kinds of services does your printing company provide?
We offer a full range of printing and copying services, as well as complete mailing services.
We also offer dependability -- on time, as ordered and at the agreed-upon price.
PRINTING SERVICES - From one-color to full-color printing, we can meet your needs for offset printing.
Examples of printed materials we produce to our current customers include business stationery items (business cards, letterheads, envelopes); forms (carbonless and single piece); envelopes (remittance, catalog and booklet styles); educational materials (newsletters, flyers, instruction sheets, product sheets); sales collateral (brochures, sell sheets, catalogs); direct mail marketing pieces (seminar invitations, self-mailers, post cards, traditional multi-piece direct mail marketing packages); social printing (invitations, membership booklets).
COPY SERVICES - We offer high speed digital copier services in both black and white and color. Our Canon equipment prints 105 copies per minute in black and white and 39 copies per minute in color. If you have an electronic file, our equipment can print directly from your file.
Many printed items can also be produced on our digital copiers. We will advise you when this might be an option.
FINISHING SERVICES: Some printed or copied items require finishing work such as cutting or trimming, folding, padding, collating, stapling, or fabrication into booklets prior to delivery. We have a complete bindery department to provide these services onsite. In addition, we have equipment to score covers, number and perforate carbonless forms, affix wafer seals to mail pieces.
MAILING SERVICES: We have been providing mailing services to our customers since 1988. We can provide and manage mailing lists; maintain data quality and hygiene by checking for duplicates and identifying problem addresses; merge multiple lists into one; add ZIP+4 and CASS-certify mailing lists. These services are provided by our on-staff database manager.
We also provide services to qualify our customers' mailing for postage discounts. We presort mail, inkjet address, affix tabs and prepare the mail to qualify for postage discounts. We also lend our bulk mailing indicia to customers that do not have their own.
PREPRESS SERVICES - We provide two kinds of prepress services -- design, typesetting and layout for customers who don't have the time or tools necessary for these tasks; and preflight of files prepared by our customers.
Preflight checks files to be sure they will print correctly. When needed, we provide feedback to customers on file preparation for press. We also offer file troubleshooting services.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT SERVICES: You may not think of project management as a service offered by a printing company -- and that's precisely why we mention it. Our customer service representatives are trained to plan every aspect required to produce the job, from setting interim due dates for each production step to ordering paper to reminding you when copy, proof approval or postage deposits are due.
- What electronic file formats do you accept?
For documents, we our standard file formats are PDF (portable document format), Quark XPress, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher and Corel Draw. For single color printing or for digital output, we also accept Word files.
We support both Windows® and Macintosh® operating systems. We are an Adobe® Service Provider, a Quark™ Authorized Commercial Printer, a Corel® Platinum Service Provider, and a Microsoft® Publisher® Service Provider.
If you wish to submit your document in a format different from our standards, we can provide you with a special print driver called PrintTHAT to transform your file into a printable PDF. Ask our customer service representatives for more information.
For mail lists, our standard file formats are dBase, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel and ASCII. We also accept mail lists in other formats (such as Filemaker Pro or Word) which we will convert to a standard file format.
- How long does it take for you to complete my order?
The short answer is: it depends on the complexity of your job. In general, we allow one day for each step in the production process. However, you do not have to figure this out. Our customer service representatives will offer a delivery date that conforms to our standards. In most cases, our customers are surprised at how quickly jobs can be produced. Once we have committed to a delivery date, you can be assured your job will be ready as promised.
If your job is complex, our customer service representatives will offer you a timeline that includes all the steps in the production process -- even yours. We have found this is an excellent way to stay on schedule.
- What is a "proof"?
A proof is a way of ensuring that we have followed your instructions for design, layout, typesetting and color. Depending on the complexity of your project, several rounds of proofing may be required. We do not proceed to print until you are completely satisfied with your proof and have authorized us to proceed.
We have several ways to provide proofs: soft proofs are PDF (portable document format) files sent to you as an attachment to e-mail or viewed via a link to our web site. Hard proofs may be FAXed to you or you may come to our shop to view them. We recommend soft proofs as you will be able to check color and can easily share the proof with others in your organization who may need to see it.
- Why do I need approve a proof when I've provided everything needed to produce my job?
Even when you have provided everything we need, we still produce a proof for your approval. This safety check ensures that we executed your instructions correctly. It also provides a model for our production staff -- press operators, bindery workers, mailing staff -- to view as they produce your job.
- Do I still need to approve a proof if I bring my work in on disk?
Even if you have provided a print ready electronic file for us to use as artwork, we will still provide a proof. This ensures that nothing irregular has occurred during transfer of the file to us and provides a chance for you to see how our raster image processor has rendered the file. Although this step may seem unnecessary, we feel it is better to take a little extra time than to try to recover from an error caught on press.
- How do I go about getting an estimate from you?
Glad you asked! You can use our online estimate request form; send an e-mail; FAX; or call us. We may ask a few questions to be sure we understand exactly what you want done, and we'll also ask how you would like to receive your estimate (e-mail, FAX, return phone call).
We also may ask you a few questions about timing -- when you need the quotation and whether the project is "live" or still in planning stages. This helps us schedule our followup with you.
- If I order products not produced at your facility, won't I be paying more than if I purchased directly from the manufacturer?
Not necessarily. We began developing partnerships with printing industry trade vendors in 1970. (Trade vendors are like wholesalers -- they supply services only to printers.) We turn to our partners when our equipment is not optimal for the printing project or when using a trade vendor will better meet the job requirements.
We also are a dealer for products such as thermographed business cards, labels, rubber stamps, signs and posters.
We pledge to be honest with you -- if we think you should be dealing directly with a printer whose equipment is better suited to your job, we will provide a recommendation and introduction.
- What credit cards do you accept for payment?
We accept MasterCard, VISA and American Express.
