Digital Press

The final piece of a printing capability in any effective print shop operation is a digital press.

Take for example our digital press, this Canon machine.

"With this machine we can do 4-color quantities of your project as small as one copy," Tom Sadler said. Tom is President and an owner of Executive Press.

"This press adds just the right element to our mix of machines and capabilities,"Tom continued.

The machine was added to the operation at the request of a client who did a large-volume, product manual printing on a regular basis. Since then, Tom said, its capabilities have been applied to work done for other clients.

"Short run, long run and specialized digital work really shines on this machine, Tom added.

When shopping for a printing look to see the breadth of their capabilities and if digital is a part of the mix.

The Executive Pressman

Heather Hunt, Customer Service

She understands both the rhythm of the dance floor as well as the beat of the print shop. You ask and she understands and delivers.

Heather Hunt is Executive Press' Customer Service Representative (CSR) and newest employee. But new does not describe her experience. A Dallas native, she grew up in the printing industry, starting with her dad's print shop.

"I started working in the shop when I was about 12," Heather said. "From bindery on through, I've done every job in a printing company over the past 20 years."

Heather's experience is key to her day job at EP. She writes up orders and estimates jobs for clients. She fulfills orders by providing quotes and requests for the services of the company. She may be the voice you hear when you call in for an order status or as a first-time customer. Every job originates at her desk.

"This is a fun place to work," Heather said. "the hardest thing for me is to let go of a project to someone else because I want to see them all through the shop."

Having fun is something Heather knows about in her away-from-work life. As a professional belly dancer, she performs in dance concerts throughout the United States. She also performs in local restaurants, private functions and at the Scarborough Renaissance Festival every Spring.

“I started dancing a few years back at the local Renaissance festival and it grew into a passion,” Heather said."It is a great way to stay in shape and the moves require a precision that my other life experiences fit right into, she added.

Executive Press is proud of our people and the work they do for our customers and in the community. When you call in, you can be assured that Heather and the rest of our team will do their best to meet your communication needs.

The Executive Pressman

Using Soy Inks

Using soy inks is a part of being a green printer and being FSC certified.

What are soy inks and how are they made?
Instead of being made from petroleum, soy inks use a base of soybean oil. The soybean oil is refined and blended with pigments, waxes and resins. Using soy inks makes it easier to recycle the paper printed with soy inks.

Why use soy inks?
To be environmental friendly and supportive of our environment. The manufacture, use and disposal of soy inks do little, if any, harm to the environment. Since soybean oil is naturally cleaner than petroleum inks, the colors are brighter. Images printed with soy inks are sharper, studies show. While they can be used in most applications, they take longer to dry. But that tradeoff is minimal considering the advantages of image quality and cost.

When did soy inks take over?
Since the late 1980s, newspapers began using soy-based inks to save money (over expensive petroleum-based inks) and to give them sharper, cleaner images. In 2004, over 95% of newspapers in the US used soy-based inks.

Who uses soy inks?
Printers and suppliers who are either FSC certified or environmentally friendly or conscious, use soy-based inks and printing products. Plus anybody who wants to save money.

How do you make sure soy inks are used?
Ask your printer if they use soy inks. Or specify them when you place an order. Or ask your designer to specify soy inks.

The use of soy ink is so pervasive and become such an industry standard that the National Soy Ink Information Center (established in 1993) was closed in 2004. Soy ink use is now regulated by the National Soybean Council.

The Executive

Digital Printing Made Understandable

Digital printing is printing using techniques developed for computer printers such as inkjet or laser printers.

Many graphic projects begin with analog sources such as 35mm slides, transparencies or reflective art (photographs, original artwork). To produce a digital image, these elements are converted to digital files that can be manipulated on a computer system.

Digital printing differs from other types of printing (lithography, flexography, gravure, and letterpress) in these ways:

• Every print can be different, because printing plates are not required.
• There is less waste of chemicals and paper,because there is no need to check for registration and position during the actual printing.
• The ink or toner does not permeate the surface it is being printed on, as do conventional inks.

Because there is less initial setup, digital is useful for rapid prototyping, and cost effective for small print runs.

Digital printing is used for personalized printing and print-on-demand (POD) systems. This is ideal for short run books of varying page quantities and binding.

The Executive

Thanks to Wikipedia for some background information used here