Holiday Cards

One of the funnest times of the year is getting those special Holiday Cards from your friends and family. Opening each card to see the smiling faces, reading the heart-felt wishes, prayers and personal notes, and if you’re like me, you hang them on the fridge for the year to come.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, now is the time to get your cards ordered… And that’s where we coming in….

For the next few weeks (11/17 – 12/12), we are offering a spectacular holiday deal!

– 50 cards, 50 envelopes for $50! –

That’s right, 50, custom made, full color, single sided, 5 x 7 Holiday Cards with return address printed envelopes for $50!

The details:

 – 50, 5 x 7 cards on your choice of matte or plain finish 100# cardstock paper.

 – Custom made – tell us what you want and we will design it for you. Using a photo? Send it to us, or if you are the creative type send us your design!

 – 50, Ultra white envelopes with your return mailing address on them.

* Excessive design time may incur extra charges.

Downtown I.C. Sidewalk Sales this weekend

Throw on your walking shoes, grab some friends and enjoy this beautiful weekend by heading down to the largest sidewalk sale in Downtown I.C. this weekend! Sure to be lots of amazing deals and plenty of smiling faces. For more information go here – http://downtowniowacity.com/pages/events/sidewalk-sales.php

Also check out the great yard signs posted around town that we printed for this event for Downtown Iowa City District.

Photo by Hospers

 

Printer’s Lingo

I remember one of my first projects I did for a client. It was designed beautifully, everything was approved and it was ready to go to print. I confidently and excitingly walked into a print shop with files in hand, but as I began to talk with the Customer Service Rep I quickly felt way over my head. She was questioning me about what needed to be done to my project and using terminology I did not understand.

With technology today it has never been easier for people to create their own artwork at home and we see a lot of that come into our shop. I do however notice that when I use the same terminology that was once used on me I now see customer’s eyes glaze over with the same confusion I once had.

So here is a list of general terms you may be asked while at your local print shop depending on your project…

“4up”, “2up” or “1up” – The amount of times the artwork can fit on a single sheet of paper.

“Bleed” or “Cut to Bleed” – it means having the color of the artwork go right to the end of the page (you need to have your artwork setup specifically for this).

“Double Sided” – to print on both sides of the paper.

“Z Fold” – Folding the paper in a Zig-Zag

“Drilling” – Drilling holes for things like a three ring binder.

“Creasing” – Making a small line to allow easier folding.

“Padding” – Using a special chemical to adhere a stack of pages together to make things such as scratch pads.

“Plates” – Film used for offset printing.

“Cut Lines” – Marks used to determine where the product will be cut at to make a certain size or bleed.

“Vector Art/Image” – This is a type of file made to never loose quality when re-sized (Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw are to major programs that make this type of file.).

I hope you find this to be helpful!

Don’t Be Blind #powerofprint

Here is a great article that discusses why printing is not dead but actually one you may want to start considering right away.

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20130801/BLOGS05/130809974/why-are-marketers-blind-to-the-power-of-print

Digital vs. Offset Printing

Your design is finished, approved and you’re ready to print. Now you have to decide how you want it printed. Most people now-a-day naturally assume they will just go to the local print shop and have them do it digitally, but wait, what if going with Offset is the better choice? How do you know?

What is a bleed?

Does your project have a color(s) or image(s) that go right to the edge of the paper? This is called a “bleed.” We see a lot of artwork come in where that is what customers are wanting but the artwork is not setup correctly for it.

Valentine’s Day Cards! <3

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner we thought it would be fun to post some free printable Valentine’s cards. These are perfect for the kids (both boys and girls) to take to school. All you have to do is click on the link to download them, print, cut and done! Just that simple.

Click Here To Download

We hope you all have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Is printing still worth it?

Internet + social media = no more print, right? WRONG!

Google, Facebook, etc. are working hard to get at your monies for advertising online. With the level of attention the Internet and digital marketing is getting in recent years it’s easy to think that is where you should put all of your advertising dollars­, but don’t be so quick to do that. Here are just a few reasons why you don’t want to give up print advertising:

Welcome To Our Blog!

You may have noticed we’ve been doing some updates on our website over the past week.  Here is what you need to know to stay up to date with all the new things going on here at Hospers & Brothers Printers.

On Friday we announced one of the most exciting features available on our website…Design Online!  Now, you can create professionally designed business cards within minutes on your computer from anywhere in the world.  We will be expanding the products available to design online in the future, but are very excited to offer this tool to all of our customers.  Come test it out (or order your new business cards) on our website!

We are also on Twitter now!  Find us using the name @Hospers.

Lastly, bookmark this blog to stay up to date about the promotions and news going on at Hospers.  Or better yet, bookmark our entire website (www.hospers.net) and read this blog on there!