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Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 00:22:20 -0600
To: hotnews@inu.net
From: Cy Stapleton hotlinecy@inu.net
Subject: January Hotline Newsletter
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Hotline Newsletter - January 1997
by Cy Stapleton
=====
Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone in
the graphic arts industry you feel might be interested,
mention it at any trade meetings, etc. It is free. To
subscribe, send a message to: hotlinecy@inu.net and
request to be added to the Hotline newsletter list.
Other outstanding free e-mail newsletters of interest to industry
members are:
Dr. Terry Montgomery's I-Way. To subscribe e-mail your
request to: sysop@printer-net.com
Tom Crouser's The Crouser Newsletter. To subscribe
e-mail your request to: tomcrouser@aol.com
=====
HELP!!!!!
I would very much appreciate it if you would help me out
with a 3-question survey I am doing concerning
publications you receive and read. It is very brief and
should only take a minute or so. Please snip this
questionnaire and click on the Reply button and give
me your response (the question number and key number
preceeding the publication. Any additional comments
would be welcome.
1. Which of the following publications do you receive
personally addressed to you? Please note all that apply.
100 American Printer
101 Graphic Arts Monthly
102 Printing Impressions
103 Hi-Volume Printer
107 Quick Printing
109 Instant & Small Commercial Printer
2. Of those you receive, which one do you spend the
most time reading? Please note one only.
100 American Printer
101 Graphic Arts Monthly
102 Printing Impressions
103 Hi-Volume Printer
107 Quick Printing
109 Instant & Small Commercial Printer
3. Of those you receive, which provides the most useful
information for your business needs? Please note one
only.
100 American Printer
101 Graphic Arts Monthly
102 Printing Impressions
103 Hi-Volume Printer
107 Quick Printing
109 Instant & Small Commercial Printer
4. Comments, if any...
That's it...
Thanks
cy
=====
Tips from old timers...
As I have noted in the past, one of my favorite graphic
arts publications is Type & Press, an 8-page
quarterly labor of love of Fred Williams (24667 Heather
Ct., Hawyard, CA 94545). Type & Press is a journal of
letterpress printing and one fairly regular column is
Tips of the Trade. These tips are from long- time
letterpressmen, but some can be put to good use by
offset printers. Here are several from a recent issue.
* To remove labels from metal or unpainted wood, dampen
with nail polish remover. Lift off with a dull knife.
Do not try on painted or varnished wood. This is
particularly good for removing pressure sensitive labels
and Elmer's glue.
* A proof-reading tip: Begin reading at the tail end of
the copy and reading backwards for typos. Not
guaranteed for grammatical error.
* Paper will cut almost like hot butter if parafin wax
is rubbed on the operator's side of the blade - with
caution, of course.
* When doubtful about the drying qualities of a certain
ink, run extra copies and mark them test for checking
hourly after the run is completed.
* For best results when trying to print in gold ink,
make two impressions. Run the first impression in chrome
yellow. This will reflect the gold ink laid down
during the second run, resulting in a more golden luster
for the print.
=====
Producing A Type Style Book
A type style book is a necessity. You not only need a
sample of your available typefaces for your customers
to select from, but you also need to know what
characters are available. The best utility I have found
to generate a professional type style book for the PC is
a Windows shareware program named Printer's
Apprentice. Using PA, you can select one of several
different types of style sheets. It will generate style
sheets from both TrueType and ATM fonts. A shareware
version is available free from my Infoserver. The
keyword is PA@. To get this shareware copy simply send
an e-mail message to: hotinfo@printer-net.com. In the
Subject or Topic field type the keyword PA@ and send the
message. Nothing is required in the message area unless
your software requires it. If your software requires
something in the message area, simply type a couple of
junk characters and send the message. Shortly you will
find in your mailbox a message with the attached file.
The message will give you the instructions on how to
load it. If you find Printer's Apprentice helpful, you
should compensate the author for his requested
registration fee. I believe it is $25.
=====
Clipart Catalog...
Another wonderful utility for the PC is named PixFolio.
Pixfolio will generate a very professionally looking
catalog of your clipart images. The images are printed
20 per page and include the image's filename in
alphabetical order. A fully working shareware version is
available at no charge from my infoserver. The keyword
is PIXFOLIO. Use the same method as noted above to
retrieve it. What I do for both my type style sheets
and my clipart catalog is to print the images on
mylar-reinforced 3-hole punched paper on my
laserprinter. I then put these sheets in a 3- ring
binder for customers to look through.
=====
ICED Acquires The House of Gutenberg's 15th Style Print
Shoppe
My long-time friend, Bud Hadfield, has acquired my 15th
century style wooden common press, type foundry, and
traveling exhibit. At age 62, doing the demonstrations
that I have done for the past 20 years or so has become
more and more difficult. It's time for me to pass it on
to someone else, and what better industry institution
than Bud Hadfield - founder of Kwik Kopy Printing and
top dog of ICED. Bud has assigned two individuals to do
the demonstrations, which will be co-sponsored by
owners of Kwik Kopy Printing Centers, Franlkin's
Printing, Ink Well, Copy Club, American Wholesale
Thermographers, Digital Imaging and Copying, etc.
The press is probably the most photographed press in
this country. In the 1970's it traveled as a featured
exhibit with the University of Texas' Gutenberg Bible
when that massive work was exhibited across Texas. The
exhibit includes original pieces ranging from a 5,000
year old clay tablet which contains the earliest form of
handwriting to a piece actually printed by Johannes
Gutenberg. There is a piece of Egyptian papyrus, some
ancient hand carved Chinese wood type, a 13th century
manuscript leaf, etc.
=====
Shop Decorations...
This might be a little commercial, but here it is. I am
breaking up my printing history collection that I have
spent some three decades putting together. The
collection is comprised of many outstanding rather
high-end pieces. I also have a fairly large number of
highly affordable, but impressive pieces that were
printed over 500 years ago. When I had my shop I had a
little area where I had a half dozen or so of these
antiquities exhibited. My customers were fascinated with
them. If you are interested in starting your own
mini-museum, you can start with one of my 15th century
pieces. Each piece is over 500 years old - printed
within about 30 years of the time of Gutenberg, framable
and authenticated. In addition, you will receive my
white paper which gives you ideas as to how you can
expand your display through other sources to make it
even more interesting. The cost is $49 and includes the
shipping charge. Included will be my booklet A Brief
History of the Printed Word, an original piece that was
printed somewhere between 1450 and 1499, a description
and authentication, and ideas as to how you can expand
your mini-collection. You may order by snail mail,
e-mail, fax or phone at the address at the end of this
newsletter.
=====
Great Photos
One of my favorite radio personalities has been
advertising an inexpensive periferal that will capture
photos from the TV, Video tapes and Camcorders. Since he
didn't speak with forked tongue when he got me hooked on
Snapple (the popular drink) I decided I would invest
$195 at the local computer store on Snappy. Boy, was I
ever surprised. As many readers know, Libby and I
publish a souvenir magazine for the Scarborough
Renaissance Festival. In years past I have shot
traditional film for the hundreds of photos I use in the
magazine - at an cost of close to $1,000 per issue. Last
year I decided to try a digital camera and purchased a
discontinued Logitec black and white digital camera for
a couple of hundred bucks. It worked great and the
photos came out great. The only problem was that I had
to go back to my computer about every 25-30 shots and
download the .PCX files and re-charge the camera for a
few minutes. It looks like Snappie is going to put an
end to that. I've tested it on some video I shot with my
little 8mm Sony camcorder last year and was astounded.
The resolution was far superior to the digital camera
and rather than having two or three shots to select from
for each shop, act, game, food booth, etc., I had
thousands of frames to select from. When I found one I
liked, all I had to do was click and it was captured. If
you have an application similiar to mine - like a
newsletter, sports program,, etc. you really need to
take a look at this little goodie. It should be
available from most computer stores or mail order
catalogs. If you have trouble finding it, the developer
is Play, Inc. and they can be reached at 916-851-0900
from 8am to 6pm Pacific time.
=====
Helene's Hotline - How does it work?
Seldom does a day pass when someone does not fax, e-mail,
or call me to find out what Helene's Hotline is and how
it works. The entire story would be too long for this
newsletter, but here we go with the basics.
Hotline is a source service that I provide under
exclusive contract for readers of PTN Graphic Arts
Group's publications - Quick Printing, Southern
Graphics, Printing News East, Printing News Midwest, and
Print Business Register. I started this free service
many years ago in my own publication, which was acquired
by Southern Graphics about nine years ago. After
Printer's News was absorbed by Southern Graphics, Helene
Schweiger took over responding to the reader inquiries -
thus the name Helene's Hotline. I worked extensively
with Helene and when she died a few years ago I was
asked to take over the column and service. I agreed
providing I could keep the name. Helene was a dear
friend.
Hotline will receive in excess of 100 fax inquiries
daily from printers across the country and even a few
from foreign countries. These inquiries will range from
where to find a product or service the printer's
customer requires to information about how to put
together a difficult job.
I developed a database to make it easier for Helene and
me to respond to these inquiries and it was not long
before printers started asking how they could acquire
the database. A survey indicated that there was a great
deal of interest on the part of printers to have the
database on their own computer, so I started working on
a stand-alone database that we could market. The first
one contained about 1,000 products and services and the
industry reception was outstanding. The past four years
we have introduced three major upgrades and about 40
minor upgrades. There are now two databases - the
Hotline database which contains over 9,000 vendors and
over 18,000 products and services and the Hotline Ad
Specialty database which contains over 3,000 direct
manufacturers of promotional products and over 33,000
products. The data in both databases are updated daily
as more current information is received. There are now
almost 3,400 printers across the country using the
Hotline databases on their own computers.
All Hotline inquiries are accepted only by fax or by
e-mail. Let's say I get an inquiry from a printer who
is in need of a vendor who has the capability of
printing full color photos on a 1,000 foot length of
white ribbon. I will search the database for companies
who indicate they have this capability and will do a
screen dump of that company's record and either fax or
e-mail it to the reader. I will then tag that company,
noting that I have suggested him. When the next inquiry
for a similar requirement comes in, I will go to the
next company, suggest that company, and tag it. After I
have suggested the last company that has noted it can
produce that product or service, I delete the tags and
start with the first company again.
Many question how we can afford to offer this most time
consuming service at no charge. Several things come
into play. First of all, it is an outstanding reader
service and builds a large number of loyal readers -
something advertisers love. Secondly, I only suggest one
potential source. If the reader wants a number of
potential sources to shop, they can purchase the
database and have my entire list on their computer for
immediate access. Many users claim that they more than
paid for the cost of the databases with additional
profit they made the first time they used the databases.
Turn around time on inquiries range from 2-5 days -
depending upon how much of a backlog of inquiries I
have.
I offer this service only to printers - not to end
users. If I get an inquiry from an end user I refer them
to a printer in their area and fax that printer the
inquirer's name and a potential source for what he is
looking for.
A selection of 20 to 30 of the previous month's over
2,500 questions and answers are used in the Hotline
columns. I don't have any sophisticated method of
determining which to include. Since I do all of the
responses personally, I try to include two or three
really obscure requests and the remainder are questions
that came up over and over again. In the columns I try
to not only give readers potential sources but also
ideas they can offer to their customers.
As noted, I update both databases daily as I work my
Hotline inquiries. In addition, the last week of
December I print a set of mailing labels for each
database. I use these labels to mail my Vendor Update
Form to each vendor - sending about 250 to 300 each
week. As those updates come in they are immediately
entered into the database. If a Vendor Update Form is
not returned within 60 days after it was mailed out, I
will call the vendor and attempt to get update the
database on the phone. If they are out of business, I
delete their data.
In a 12-month period of time we will see about 40% of
the vendors having some major or minor changes in their
data; about 15% will have gone out of business and about
15% of the database will be new vendors. I find out
about new businesses from my readers, from trade shows
and publications, from associations, and from those
businesses contacting me. Most recently my major problem
has been the large number of area code changes.
Recently we have started an interactive Hotline
listserver we call HotTalk. You subscribe to HotTalk
(it's free) by sending an e-mail message to:
hottalk@printer-net.com. In the Subject or Topic field
type the word SUBSCRIBE (nothing other than that word).
Nothing is required in the message area unless your
software requires it. If it does, type a couple of junk
letters and send the message. In a few minutes a welcome
message will appear in your mailbox. It will give you
instructions on how to participate. If you have a
question, you simply send e-mail to
hottalk@printer-net.com with a brief description in the
Subject or Topic field and describe your question in
detail in the message field. Send the message and it
will go to all subscribers. Other subscribers are
encouraged to reply with their solutions and I will also
reply to each. Those replies are also sent to all
subscribers. Quite often other subscribers have answered
the question before I get to it. This is a great way to
share information and knowledge. You will get a lot of
mail, so you will have to learn how to scan topics you
are interested in and delete those you have no interest
in. You will also have to get in the habit of checking
your mail at least daily so it doesn't pile up on you.
Don Piercy, the (ex)director of Printing Industries of
the Gulf Coast, told me recently that with all of the
information that is becoming available on the Internet
that in the very near future there will be no need for a
service such as mine. What shortsightedness. Even the
Library of Congress must have a librarian. I see the
information highway as an opportunity, not a competitor.
As printers outsource more and more and as they find
they have less and less time, the need for services
such as mine will increase - and the price is certainly
right.
=====
Book Review...
The Digital Quick Print Shop
by Harry Brelsford
$49.00
Harry Brelsford's new book, The Digital Quick Print Shop
(Digiaal), has just been introduced in this country. It
is a best seller in Harry's home country, Australia.
Digital is a blueprint to guide the quick printer to
the entry ramp and down the Digital Printing Highway.
Almost everyone in our industry is aware of the fact
that the question is not whether or not to get into
digital printing, but how soon and how. Most only see
costly high end solutions.
Harry outlines solutions that will not only get the
traditional small shop into digital printing but
enables them to discover an entirely new market. One
main and very attractive feature is that the digital
print shop is much easier to operate than a conventional
offset shop.
Harry does not write about theory. The concepts
described are currently working in his very profitable
1,600 sq. ft. digital quick print shop located in one
of the most competitive and technologically advanced
small market areas anywhere - Australia's Gold Coast.
The book is comprised of ten sections. Those sections
are: Getting from There to Here; A World of Change,
Changes Affecting Quick Printing; Solving Equipment,
Computer and Short Run Full Color problems; Solving
Management and Staff problems; A Walk Through MacCopy
(his shop); Marketing and Sales; Focus Needs;
Objectives, Profit and Action; and Random Thoughts on
Success.
The Digital Quick Print Shop is available for $49 plus
$5 shipping and handling from the PTN Graphic Arts
Bookshelf, (409) 637-7475, Fax (409) 637-1480, E-mail
hotlinecy@aol.com, or by snail mail: Box 151107, Lufkin,
TX 75915-1107. Major credit cards are accepted.
=====
WOW!!!
The December issue of our Print Business Register -
notes that Indigo reported total revenues of $22.6M for
the third quarter of 1996. I was speaking to Jerry Hill,
the fellow who purchased my old print shop and he told
me his revenue for that little 4-person shop in December
alone exceeded Indigo's reported quarterly revenue by
over $15M. Could it possibly be that our editor made a
typo and Indigo's revenue should have actually been
$22.6 million? Impossible! We don't make mistakes.
=====
For a catalog of available books, video & audio tapes,
and software, or for the Hotline database brochure,
contact me at one of the above. Be certain to include
your snail mail address.
If you are a vendor who would like to be listed in the
Hotline database (there is no charge to be listed), fax
your request to: (409) 637-1480 and we will fax you our
Vendor Data Form.
=====
Til next month, God bless you and yours
The House of Gutenberg
Cy Stapleton
Box 151107
Lufkin, TX 75915-1107
(409) 637-7475
Fax (409) 637-1480
Email - hotlinecy@aol.com
Tuesday, January 14, 1997 2:10:30 PM
If you have written an interesting article and would like to publish
it to the entire printing
and graphics community contact Martin
martin@printusa.com
here for information.