In the spirit of the upcoming holiday season, the folks here at Printing Industries of America would like to take the time to thank printers all over the world for all of their hard work. From prepress to binding, printers make the lives of marketing professionals and company executives happy and easy. But the life of a printer isn’t as easy as it looks. Printing a brochure for a conference or a label for the newest product is a lot more intricate than it seems. So, before you start thinking you could “do it better for less,” let’s stop and look at our top 10 reasons to thank a printer. Remember when you emailed a last-minute file at 4:00 p.m. on a Friday evening and asked for it to be delivered on Sunday? Remember when they got it done? Thank a printer. Remember when you hand delivered a high-profile job to the facility just to ensure that “everything goes smoothly?” Remember when they exceeded your expectations? Thank a printer. Remember when you insisted on a two-hour meeting during the holiday season to review machines, methods, colors, paper, coatings, folding, binding, and mailing? Remember when the printers participated and walked you through every step? Thank a printer. Remember when you wanted to change the brightness of your blue and you couldn’t understand why your yellow didn’t pop? Remember when they sat with you in a press check and explained color management? Thank a printer. Remember when your file specified a red from CMYK but you asked for Pantone colors because “all reds are the same?” Remember when your red turned out the way you hoped anyway? Thank a printer. Remember when you wanted your 500-piece table promotion folded in the shape of a swan? Remember when the swans was the prettiest you ever saw? Thank a printer. Remember when you sent your 5,000+ mailing list to the mail house with information from the 70s? Remember when all your direct mail pieces where delivered to the correct addresses? Thank a printer. Remember when you rushed a typo-filled document to the print house because “you didn’t have the time to proofread?” Remember when your piece came out error-free? Thank a printer. Remember when your boss insisted they see a printed proof or bindery dummy before you paid for the final job? Remember when the proof was everything you’d hoped for? Thank a printer. And finally—remember when you literally “stopped the press” for a change during the last day of printing? Remember when they worked with you and helped you get the end product you desired? Thank a printer. Always, always, always, thank your...

In the spirit of the upcoming holiday season, the folks here at Printing Industries of America would like to take the time to thank printers all over the world for all of their hard work. From prepress to binding, printers make the lives of marketing professionals and company executives happy and easy. But the life of a printer isn’t as easy as it looks. Printing a brochure for a conference or a label for the newest product is a lot more intricate than it seems. So, before you start thinking you could “do it better for less,” let’s stop and look at our top 10 reasons to thank a printer. Remember when you emailed a last-minute file at 4:00 p.m. on a Friday evening and asked for it to be delivered on Sunday? Remember when they got it done? Thank a printer. Remember when you hand delivered a high-profile job to the facility just to ensure that “everything goes smoothly?” Remember when they exceeded your expectations? Thank a printer. Remember when you insisted on a two-hour meeting during the holiday season to review machines, methods, colors, paper, coatings, folding, binding, and mailing? Remember when the printers participated and walked you through every step? Thank a printer. Remember when you wanted to change the brightness of your blue and you couldn’t understand why your yellow didn’t pop? Remember when they sat with you in a press check and explained color management? Thank a printer. Remember when your file specified a red from CMYK but you asked for Pantone colors because “all reds are the same?” Remember when your red turned out the way you hoped anyway? Thank a printer. Remember when you wanted your 500-piece table promotion folded in the shape of a swan? Remember when the swans was the prettiest you ever saw? Thank a printer. Remember when you sent your 5,000+ mailing list to the mail house with information from the 70s? Remember when all your direct mail pieces where delivered to the correct addresses? Thank a printer. Remember when you rushed a typo-filled document to the print house because “you didn’t have the time to proofread?” Remember when your piece came out error-free? Thank a printer. Remember when your boss insisted they see a printed proof or bindery dummy before you paid for the final job? Remember when the proof was everything you’d hoped for? Thank a printer. And finally—remember when you literally “stopped the press” for a change during the last day of printing? Remember when they worked with you and helped you get the end product you desired? Thank a printer. Always, always, always, thank your...

The following post was submitted by Color 2015 sponsor, GTI Graphic Technology, Inc. 1.      Tell us about GTI? GTI was founded in 1975 and is the leading manufacturer of tight tolerance lighting systems for critical color viewing and color matching assessment. We are based in Newburgh, NY, and we also have sales offices in Germany and the United Kingdom. Watch Company Overview Video 2.     What makes GTI unique? There are a lot of things that make us unique, all of them good. – We are 100% dedicated to the lighting business. All of our products are designed to assist with the visual appraisal of color or color-critical lighting applications. – All of our products are manufactured at our headquarters in Newburgh, NY. – Our people. We have a highly skilled and dedicated team that takes a customer-first approach. – Our ability to solve customer problems. Because of our technical expertise and the fact that we do all of our own design and manufacturing, we are able to offer a wide range of color viewing booths. We also offer customized solutions that include very large lighting systems for final product inspection, unique desktop systems, and everything in between. – Our attention to detail. An in-house spectroradiometric laboratory and a 100% measurement and verification production process guarantees accuracy and precision is built into all products.Above: Nick Lena, GTI’s Director of Color Technology, uses a spectroradiometer to confirm a viewing station’s light quality is industry compliant. 3.      Who is GTI’s typical customer?Anyone who is concerned with the color quality of the work they are producing. Our customers range from independent photographers who purchase a small desktop viewer to major brands that we have put together complete color harmony rooms for. 4.     Where do you see growth occurring for GTI? As you know, GTI grew up with a focus in the graphic arts and photographic industries. This continues to be a primary focus for us, and we’re still seeing growth in the packaging sector. We’ve used this knowledge and expertise to expand into non-imaging markets such as paint and coatings, plastics, textiles, food, and automotive. I see these industrial markets as a strong growth opportunity for us in the future. 5.      What do you envision for GTI over the next five years? We will continue to focus on the lighting business—improving our products and developing new ones that fit the market’s changing requirements. I also anticipate further incorporation of LED technology into the product line. Currently we use LED to simulate certain retail environments, but as the technology advances, we believe it can become a suitable source to properly simulate daylight. We are carefully monitoring its progress.Above: GTI’s ColorMatcher® Series includes five...

The following post was submitted by Color 2015 sponsor, GTI Graphic Technology, Inc. 1.      Tell us about GTI? GTI was founded in 1975 and is the leading manufacturer of tight tolerance lighting systems for critical color viewing and color matching assessment. We are based in Newburgh, NY, and we also have sales offices in Germany and the United Kingdom. Watch Company Overview Video 2.     What makes GTI unique? There are a lot of things that make us unique, all of them good. – We are 100% dedicated to the lighting business. All of our products are designed to assist with the visual appraisal of color or color-critical lighting applications. – All of our products are manufactured at our headquarters in Newburgh, NY. – Our people. We have a highly skilled and dedicated team that takes a customer-first approach. – Our ability to solve customer problems. Because of our technical expertise and the fact that we do all of our own design and manufacturing, we are able to offer a wide range of color viewing booths. We also offer customized solutions that include very large lighting systems for final product inspection, unique desktop systems, and everything in between. – Our attention to detail. An in-house spectroradiometric laboratory and a 100% measurement and verification production process guarantees accuracy and precision is built into all products.Above: Nick Lena, GTI’s Director of Color Technology, uses a spectroradiometer to confirm a viewing station’s light quality is industry compliant. 3.      Who is GTI’s typical customer?Anyone who is concerned with the color quality of the work they are producing. Our customers range from independent photographers who purchase a small desktop viewer to major brands that we have put together complete color harmony rooms for. 4.     Where do you see growth occurring for GTI? As you know, GTI grew up with a focus in the graphic arts and photographic industries. This continues to be a primary focus for us, and we’re still seeing growth in the packaging sector. We’ve used this knowledge and expertise to expand into non-imaging markets such as paint and coatings, plastics, textiles, food, and automotive. I see these industrial markets as a strong growth opportunity for us in the future. 5.      What do you envision for GTI over the next five years? We will continue to focus on the lighting business—improving our products and developing new ones that fit the market’s changing requirements. I also anticipate further incorporation of LED technology into the product line. Currently we use LED to simulate certain retail environments, but as the technology advances, we believe it can become a suitable source to properly simulate daylight. We are carefully monitoring its progress.Above: GTI’s ColorMatcher® Series includes five...

The following post was submitted by Color 2015 sponsor, GTI Graphic Technology, Inc. 1.      Tell us about GTI? GTI was founded in 1975 and is the leading manufacturer of tight tolerance lighting systems for critical color viewing and color matching assessment. We are based in Newburgh, NY, and we also have sales offices in Germany and the United Kingdom. Watch Company Overview Video 2.     What makes GTI unique? There are a lot of things that make us unique, all of them good. – We are 100% dedicated to the lighting business. All of our products are designed to assist with the visual appraisal of color or color-critical lighting applications. – All of our products are manufactured at our headquarters in Newburgh, NY. – Our people. We have a highly skilled and dedicated team that takes a customer-first approach. – Our ability to solve customer problems. Because of our technical expertise and the fact that we do all of our own design and manufacturing, we are able to offer a wide range of color viewing booths. We also offer customized solutions that include very large lighting systems for final product inspection, unique desktop systems, and everything in between. – Our attention to detail. An in-house spectroradiometric laboratory and a 100% measurement and verification production process guarantees accuracy and precision is built into all products.Above: Nick Lena, GTI’s Director of Color Technology, uses a spectroradiometer to confirm a viewing station’s light quality is industry compliant. 3.      Who is GTI’s typical customer?Anyone who is concerned with the color quality of the work they are producing. Our customers range from independent photographers who purchase a small desktop viewer to major brands that we have put together complete color harmony rooms for. 4.     Where do you see growth occurring for GTI? As you know, GTI grew up with a focus in the graphic arts and photographic industries. This continues to be a primary focus for us, and we’re still seeing growth in the packaging sector. We’ve used this knowledge and expertise to expand into non-imaging markets such as paint and coatings, plastics, textiles, food, and automotive. I see these industrial markets as a strong growth opportunity for us in the future. 5.      What do you envision for GTI over the next five years? We will continue to focus on the lighting business—improving our products and developing new ones that fit the market’s changing requirements. I also anticipate further incorporation of LED technology into the product line. Currently we use LED to simulate certain retail environments, but as the technology advances, we believe it can become a suitable source to properly simulate daylight. We are carefully monitoring its progress.Above: GTI’s ColorMatcher® Series includes five...

  Think about the demographics in your company. Chances are most of the workers have been in the industry for well over 10 years. That’s not surprising considering that—according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics—the median age of employees in the printing industry is roughly 47 years old. Within the next couple years, a lot of our workforce will retire. That’s a scary thought since most of the printing industry doesn’t have a supply of younger, skilled workers to cover the impending deficit of talent. Even those companies lucky enough to employee some younger men and women notice a wide skills gap between their seasoned employees and their new hires. We know this shifting workforce causes a huge issue for our industry. But Joe Polanco, president emeritus of one of the industry’s largest regional trade associations, has a solution: a recommitment to training. According to Joe, “Employers need to recommit their efforts (and money) to create on-the-job programs that can quickly develop the skill sets needed in today’s world of print and technology.” We couldn’t agree more. And although finding the right training program for your company can be troublesome, we’ve noticed one strategy that seems to be gaining popularity and momentum over the past couple years—online learning opportunities. The online learning (or e-learning as it’s sometimes called) market continues to grow at an exponential rate. According to , the worldwide market for self-paced e-learning reached $47.9 billion in 2015 and revenues are likely to reach $50.4 billion by 2020. e-Learning is already the second most important training method within many organizations, and 77 percent of American companies already offer some kind of online corporate training. That’s not surprising because, according to WR Hambrecht’s Corporate eLearning Exploring a New Frontier, e-learning—and the videos associated with it—are proven to increase knowledge retention anywhere from 25 to 60 percent.  Our incoming labor force also strongly supports the use of e-learning training programs. About 6.7 million American college students already use online education options and will take this preference with them to the professional world. The reasoning? e-Learning can meet the incoming labor force where they already spend their time—on mobile devices. Last year, a study of almost 24,000 adults (age 18–34) found that 77 percent of the group owned a smartphone, and they spent 14.5 hours on it every week. Not to mention, the incoming millennial wants flexible options in their education. They prefer to find their own balance to their lives and want the option to study at any time of the day or night. An e-learning program can give them that option. If you’re interested in finding an e-learning program that can fit the needs of your graphic communications...