Environmentally Friendly Printing

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Many people have discovered the benefits of environmentally friendly printing. Starting with the design process, graphic artists can design the green-ness into the piece that is going to get printed. We call this process Clean Design. We believe that clean design starts with knowing what types of papers, processes, decoration techniques, coatings and bindery operations add up to making printing as eco-friendly as possible.

Papers
This is the easiest decision to make, use recycled paper, right? Well, the most responsible papers are not as obvious a choice as you may think. There are many things to consider.

• Recycled Content
• Post Consumer Waste (PCW) percentage
• FSC Certified (Paper that has virgin pulp that is trackable back to the originating forest)
• Elemental Chlorine-free
• Process Chlorine-free
• Acid-free
• Finishes or Coatings (Online and Offline)
  
• Brightness
• Thickness
• Mailing Techniques and processes*

Inks
We use Soy based waterless inks, which are the best combination of technology eliminating the use of water in the printing process, but the base product of our inks is soy. You can learn much more here.

• Waterless Inks eliminate water and chemicals that are normally necessary in the printing process to impress the image on a plate to the paper itself.
• Soy or Vegatable Inks eliminate the use of petroleum in the process of making ink, this also helps in the recycling of the printed products we produce. Soy and other Vegetable inks are easily separated in the recycling process from the paper on which they are printed. This has zero effect on print quality or the length of time that the printed impression will last in circulation.

Platemaking
Our Computer to Plate (CTP) system is manufactured by the same company that makes our offset printing press.
However, interestingly enough, our Presstek™ DI (Direct Imaging) press uses its own internal (online) platemaking system that is imaged thermally diretly from a computer. We do use our offline CTP system to make plates for our Heidelberg® offset printing equipment to make that process chemistry free and as environmentally friendly as possible.

The following statement was released by Presstek regarding their offline CTP system that we use on our Heidelberg equipment:

Not only do our chemistry-free plates eliminate a significant source of toxic emissions associated with conventional offset printing, our platemaking process does away with the need for film and its associated environmental impact.

• Our plates do not use any chemicals in their production
• We recycle all of our plates back to the manufacturer
• Our Presstek press uses only the area of the plate that you need and allows you to use more of the plate when imprinting a small area at at ime, for example, if you print a letterhead that only has a header, we still have a considerable amount of area to use on that plate.

You can learn more here.

Waterless Printing Presses / Chemistry-free Direct Imaging (DI)
The advantages start with the inks and extend throughout the entire waterless printing process. DI presses eliminate the need for: To read in much more detail about Waterless Printing, please click here.

• Chemical processing
• Production steps associated with film-based platemaking
• Separate imaging of plates using an offline CTP system Presstek DI presses achieve this efficiency

by automatically imaging the printing plates and printing the job directly on press.
The digital file is sent to the DI press where all four plates are simultaneously imaged
in precise register. Plates are imaged via thermal process; the heat from the lasers removes the top layers of the plate aterial, exposing the ink receptive layer. The laser and digital plate comprise an optimized system that eliminates the use
of chemistry in the platemaking process. 50 sheets to 25 sheets) after the DI was installed. From an ecological perspective,
this waste saving gains importance when you consider that one tree is equivalent to only two hundred thirty-six 11″ x 17″
brochures printed on 100 lb. cover stock. Paper waste reduction is achieved through the DI presses’ control over major variables in the printing process, such as ink/water by up to 90 percent.

Bindery

• In our bindery operation, we recycle all waste from trimming and die-cutting
• We use biodegradable shrinkwrap
• We use recycled cardboard to make our cartons
• We pack cartons as efficiently as possible while ensuring the integrity of your project without damage

*This is the easiest decision to make, use recycled paper, right? Well, the most responsible papers are not as obvious a choice as you may think. There are many things to consider.*Have you ever thought about the process involved in simply making a Postage Stamp…This simple choice avoids using a postage stamp that has adhesives, paper waste, tons of energy and non-eco-friendly printing done by the USPS (US Postal Service) in the printing and manufacturing of postage stamps.

We suggest using an indicia, which is that printed version of a stamp, that is simply printed in black ink with a black box around the details of who is mailing a piece and the permit number assigned by the post office.

Filed under: Acid Free, Chlorine Free, Design, Education, Environmentally Friendly Printing, Green Guarantee, Recycled Paper, Technology, Waterless Printing on January 12th, 2008

DI or Direct Imaging Offset Printing Presses

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Printing Responsibly uses DI presses, which bring 2 different types of advantages, performance and environmental.

You can download the same brochure we read before buying our latest press. Learn more about DI Presses at the website of the manufacturer, Presstek. www.presstek.com

Filed under: Design, Education, Products, Technology, Uncategorized on December 16th, 2007

The Green Guarantee™.

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Your Green Guarantee gives you peace of mind and includes:

• Paperless Ordering
• All Jobs produced in an FSC Certified facility
• All Papers are FSC Certified, Chlorine-free, Acid-free and/or Recycled.
• All Digital Workflow
• Soy inks for Offset printing
• Simitri Toners for Digital printing
• Chemistry-free full color production
• Film-less platemaking (plates recycled)
• Eco-friendly packaging
• The option to add the Green Guarantee logo to your job, discretely, yet with pride.
• The option to include the FSC logo and our certificate number on your orders, please allow 24 hours additional for our external FSC audit to take place.
• The option to include a green tag line on your finished product that states that you are “Printing Responsibly” with a link to our educational blog.
• The option to include a green tag line on your finished product that lets the world know that you printed on FSC Certified, Chlorine-free papers with Soy inks.

Let us know what you are comfortable with and we will layout the artwork for your approval.

Filed under: Design, Environmentally Friendly Printing, Events/Sponsorship, File Preparation, Green Guarantee, Products, Recycled Paper, Technology, Templates, Waterless Printing on December 13th, 2007

Vote. The entries are in, the top ten are chosen. Pick your favorite three.

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The goal of this contest is to create an effective message that gets you to take action, in this case the action is to receive votes to win this competition.

We hope you have enjoyed the contest so far.

We thank all of the entrants for their time and dedication in submitting their designs for Clean Design 2006. We were honestly surprised to see what a great response we had received. The submissions came in from all over the world and in as many styles, languages, and artistic interpretations as could possibly be imagined. We also thank Adobe for their sponsorship and support. Good luck to all the top ten picks.

Cast your vote for the top three entries. We ask that you send your friends and colleagues and maybe your clients to vote on your behalf. Our system allows each visitor to vote once. The voting will close on March 6th, 2006 at midnight.

Thank you for your participation,

The Marketing Team at Printing Responsibly

Filed under: Design, Events/Sponsorship, Uncategorized on March 2nd, 2006

Who prints What at with Printing Responsibly?

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Well, it has been quite an experience taking our business from phones, email and all the other typical business communications methods to a more streamlined and more customer oriented web application to sell our products and service our customers.

We started out getting a lot of traffic from our fellow “techies” out there, and quickly were found out by the freelance designers in the world. Next we were fortunate to work with many of the hardworking and very talented freelance and graphic designer firms all across the US, then we started getting inquiries and live jobs from corporate america, top clothing brands and non-profit groups, who of course were buying recycled paper based print jobs.

Who?
Ralph Lauren, Verdura Jewelers, US Helicopters, Silas Partners, a group of 17 doctors in Virginia, a Bio-Deisel company in California, Pentagon Software, a movie producer, Phoenix Marketing, UsedBicycleBuyer.com, Viacube, and not to mention AIGA.org/The United Nations, the non-profit group that is helping to build alliances and programs internationally for graphic designers.

What? Pocket folders, business stationery, many, many orders on recycled paper, brochures, envelopes, business cards, sell sheets, postcards, photo printing, giclee prints and many others.

We are very happy to have worked with such great organizations, brands and non-profit groups.

Thank you for all your support,

The Marketing Team at Printing Responsibly

Filed under: Design, Products, Technology, Uncategorized on February 15th, 2006

Stationery

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Welcome to the page that will help you get the best quality stationery.

Basically, stationery is the simplest form of business communication there is. Business cards, letterhead, envelopes, announcement cards, etc. are all simple forms of printed communications, but when crafted poorly, these staples of a good business practice can really hurt you.

So, the pitfalls are;
Really cheap stationery printers - Because they will not put the craftmanship into the printing, trimming, packing, and paper choices that you will need.
Full Color Stationery only printers - Because they cannot offer you match color or spot color (Pantone®) PMS color inks to ensure a good color match througout your stationery set and beyond into other printing you may do like a sales kit. We offer PMS matching inks throughout our stationery lines and pocket folders as well.

We offer the traditional craftmanship that you need, quality paper choices from all the top brands from, Mohawk, Strathmore, Wausau, Neenah and more. We offer you color choices of recycled papers, like Neenah Environments and Mohawk Writing.

Filed under: Design, Education, Products on December 29th, 2005

Is your graphic design complete? Are you still trying to design a business card in word or publisher?

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If you’re not a graphic designer, your time is best spent focusing on your core business. A professional design communicates legitimacy and attention to detail. We can connect you with professional designers who can help you present your business in a way that reflects the care and effort you’ve invested in your business. Please send an email to help@printingresponsibly.com with the subject “Need design help” and we’ll help you find the right designer for your situation.

Filed under: Design on June 13th, 2005