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.
- I don't know how many I want to order until I know how much they cost.
- What kind of work does Printing Creations do?
- Is white considered a printing color?
- I see that most of Printing Creations' estimates are based on a computer-ready file. What does that mean?
- How long does it take for you to complete my order?
- What is a "proof"?
- Why do I need to look at a proof if I've already given you everything I need to have done?
- 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?
- Why do I have to pay for postage in advance?
- How can I comply with the Post Office move update requirement?
- What is Intelligent Mail Barcode?
- My vendor did the NCOA processing and I still got mail returned to me. Doesn’t NCOA take care of that? Why am I still getting returns?
- What is the Pantone Matching System?
- Why do the printed colors look different from the colors on my screen?
- I don't know how many I want to order until I know how much they cost.
We understand your dilemma. The price per piece of custom printing varies greatly with the quantity ordered. Because design/typesetting, platemaking, press setup, bindery functions and waste factors all directly affect the total cost, the more you order, the lower the cost per piece. We will be happy to give you prices based on several quantities. We do, however, need a starting point, are you thinking of 1000, 10,000 or 100,000?
- What kind of work does Printing Creations do?
Although Printing Creations uses high end printing technology to produce your project, we use good old-fashioned customer service to work with you during the project.
Nowadays it's refreshing to find a printer who truly pays attention. When your projects are finished on time without a hitch, you've found somebody you can trust.
Services: Our high-speed printers can produce copies efficiently and economically whether you provide hard copy or digital files on disk. Our state-of-the-art color and black and white digital print production equipment allow us to deliver work quickly and efficiently.
Printing Services: From one-color to full-color printing, our facility has the capability to meet your needs. From short run to long run, we can offer a solution that will be just right for you.
Finishing Services: We can cut, perforate, score, number, fold, collate, saddle stitch, bind, produce tabs for manuals, mail, and just about any other bindery process you could ever need.
Design Services: We utilize the latest design technology available in order to offer a full range of design services. If you need a brochure produced, we can work from your digital files or design your brochure from scratch.
- Is white considered a printing color?
Not typically. Because white is the default color of paper, it is simply recognized as the absence of any ink. However, when using colored paper, white ink may be used if any text or graphic requires it.
- I see that most of Printing Creations' estimates are based on a computer-ready file. What does that mean?
A computer-ready file is an electronic file that you the customer supplies to Printing Creations. Your computer-ready file needs to have been created in a computer application that can be sent to the appropriate printing output device. Certain office applications such as the Microsoft Suite of products are wonderful for going direct to copiers and large format ink jet printers, but are very clumsy and do not work at all when they are sent to output devices that need to be separated into the four colors (CMYK) for full color printing. To play it safe, create in InDesign, Quark, Illustrator or Photoshop for your full color printed projects.
- How long does it take for you to complete my order?
We typically turn around jobs in five to seven business days, but that's just a ballpark figure. The real completion time will depend on our work load and your job's complexity. Some jobs can be finished in hours, others take more than a week. Let us know your deadline and we'll tell you if we can meet it. We go to great lengths to meet your most stringent requirements.
- What is a "proof"?
A proof is a way of ensuring that we have set your type accurately and that everything is positioned according to your requirements. Typically, we will produce a proof which will be sent to you online or printed on paper which can be viewed in our store or delivered to you in person.
On multiple color jobs, we can produce a color proof on our color output device to show how the different colors will appear.
- Why do I need to look at a proof if I've already given you everything I need to have done?
We employ human beings to produce your work and, last time we checked, humans are not perfect. Your approval on the final proof is assurance that you have looked over every aspect of our work and approve it as accurate. It benefits everyone if errors are caught in the proofing process rather than after the job is completed and delivered.
- Do I still need to approve a proof if I bring my work in on disk?
Yes.
- How do I go about getting an estimate from you?
Well, since you are here, we would suggest you use our online estimate request form. Otherwise, the best way to ensure that we get all the information necessary to do an accurate quote, give us a call and talk with one of our customer service representatives.
- Why do I have to pay for postage in advance?
When we deliver a mailing job to the Post Office, they require that we pay the entire postage amount at the time of mailing. The US Postal Service does not grant credit to anyone.) Since Printing Creations does not "mark up" the postage charges to our customers, we ask that you pay these fees in advance. That is also the reason that we do not accept credit cards for postage. We will be glad to extend terms for all other charges, if you have an account with us.
*We will be happy to supply you with a copy of the postage receipt from the US Postal Service upon request.
- How can I comply with the Post Office move update requirement?
NCOA is one of the USPS-approved methods of complying with the November 2008 move update requirement. The purpose of move update is to keep mail that isn't deliverable as addressed out of the mail stream.
Complying with move update is a requirement for qualifying for a postage discount and applies to both first class presort and standard (including non profit) mail.
Of the five USPS-approved methods, the two most commonly used is NCOA (which is performed on the mail list prior to mailing) and ancillary service endorsement (wording printed on the mail piece to tell the USPS what to do if it is undeliverable) which is a post-mailing process. NCOA and ancillary service endorsement can be used together if desired.
Move update is address-specific (rather than list-specific) and addresses must be verified every 95 days.
- What is Intelligent Mail Barcode?
The Intelligent Mail barcode offers many advantages, and how you manage the near-term implementation could have long-term implications for your business.
Beginning May of 2009, mailers may use the full-service option of the Intelligent Mail barcode. Effective the fall of 2009, mailers will be REQUIRED to use it to earn the greatest postage discounts.
- My vendor did the NCOA processing and I still got mail returned to me. Doesn’t NCOA take care of that? Why am I still getting returns?
There is no form of Move Update that will completely eliminate your return mail. No matter what you do, you may always get some returns. NCOA will substantially reduce your return mail if you are using the new addresses, though. There are a number of reasons why you will still see some returns. Here are some of those
reasons:NCOALink® requires an exact matching process. This is actually for the consumer’s protection of privacy. If a customer file doesn’t have the same original name and address as it appears in the USPS database, then the USPS will not provide the new address information. There is some flexibility to allow for nicknames and similar sounding but not spelled exactly the same matches. The record may be flagged as a possible move but a new address can’t be provided if a match can’t be confirmed. So, it’s possible that the record in your database may have been a non-exact match in this scenario but could not be move updated. You can ask your vendor to let you know about these records after they perform NCOA processing so you can make the final decision as to whether or not to mail these.
Not everyone files a Change of Address. In fact, estimates have ranged from 15% to 20% of the population moves without filing a Change of Address with the Post Office. That means an NCOA process will not catch those moves – they will probably get returned to you identified as having moved without leaving a forwarding address.
Did you instruct your vendor not to mail to the new address but to still mail to the old address? Depending on the class of mail, how long ago the person moved and any ancillary endorsement you may have used, it’s possible the mail would not be forwarded to your customer but would be returned to you instead.
It’s possible that the person may have moved but the new address they provided was not a good address or that they moved again after your file was processed. These instances are infrequent but they do occur.
If you don’t update your database regularly – or haven’t for a few years – it’s possible the individual moved more than 4 years ago which means their move falls outside of the NCOA process.
It’s possible that they didn’t move at all. Maybe this was a LACS update (Locatable Address Conversion System) where a rural address got converted to an urban-style address. Those updates only stay in the system for 18 months. After that, the old address becomes a DPV failure and it’s likely undeliverable and will get returned to you. You’ll need to investigate alternatives such as Address Element Correction or another type of address updating to try to find that customer. Or, you may need to pull it from your file.
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What is the Pantone Matching System?The Pantone Matching System (PMS) is a color reproduction standard in which colors all across the spectrum are each identified by a unique, independent number. The use of PMS allows us to precisely match colors and maintain color consistency throughout the printing process.
- Why do the printed colors look different from the colors on my screen?
In short, printers and monitors produce colors in different ways.
Monitors use the RGB (red, green, blue) color model, which usually supports a wider spectrum of colors. Printers use the CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) color model, which can reproduce most—but not all—of the colors in the RGB color model. Depending on the equipment used, CMYK generally matches 85–90% of the colors in the RGB model.
When a color is selected from the RGB model that is out of the range of the CMYK model, the application chooses what it thinks is the closest color that will match. Programs like Adobe Photoshop will allow you to choose which color will be replaced. Others may not.
