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.

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Primer on Paper

Paper is a basic ingredient in anything printed. But there is more to it. Here is a basic primer on paper. There is more to paper than what you will read here, so our intention here is to share some basics to get you started.

Paper is comprised of ingredients like all things. Most papers include paper pulp, cotton, postconsumer waste fiber, millwaste fiber, calcium carbonate, dyes and colorings, optical brighteners, fillers, sizings and coatings.

When choosing paper, consider:

• "Hand"
• Grade
• Weight

"Hand" is the way paper feels to the fingertips. It will be the first impression a reader or viewer gets of your brochure, book, catalog or other printed piece.

Grade refers to the quality and type (application) of paper. Grades include:

• Opaque
• Offset
• Coated
• Writing (bond)
• Text
• Cover

Ways to measure paper start with weight, but also include:

• Caliper (the thickness)
• M weight (the weight of 1000 sheets)
• Basis weight (weight of 500 sheets in a specific size)
• GSM (grams per square inch, a metric measure which standardizes weight regardless of size)

This should get you started and prepare you for that discussion with your designer and printer. For more information visit us at Executive Press (www.executivepress.com)

The Executive

Source material for this post came from www.mohawkpaper.com

What is Bindery?

“It binds us and the whole universe together,” Obi-Wan Kenobi said about the force. Well, published things need to be bound together as well. But it usually involves a different kind of “force”.

In the trade, we call it bindery.

Bindery or binding is the fastening together of pages or printed pieces into a whole product such as a book or presentation or pages in a binder.

There are a number of types of bindery. Modern commercial print suppliers use techniques such as:

• Coil binding
• Comb binding
• Velo binding
• Perfect binding

The term, bindery, especially in copy and print shops, has expanded to include other forms of paper finishing, such:

• Paper drilling
• Lamination
• Foam-core mounting

it will be used
Whatever the situation, bindery should be chosen based upon the use of the finished product and by whom. Other factors such as cost, subject matter and expected lifespan should also be considered.

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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.

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Thanks to Wikipedia for some background information used here

Brand consistency

Your brand is more than a logo. However, being consistent within your image and brand does extend to your logo and daily image creating items. This list includes:

1. Business cards
2. Letterhead
3. Collateral or website

Anything that you put out these items should project who you are from one platform or medium to the next. When devising or ordering each of the above items consider:

• Typeface
• Color of ink
• Type of paper stock
• Position of elements on the page or card
• Spelling and use of catch phrases

Use a designer if you can. A good printer or freelance designer in your area can help with the layout and production of these importnat tools.

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FSC Certification

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization established to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests. Their website is www.fsc.org.

Many companies working in an industry dealing with wood products or paper and paper goods seek to be identified with the FSC to show their awareness and commitment to responsible forest management worldwide.

Executive Press is FSC-certified. FSC’s certification system provides internationally recognized standard-setting, trademark assurance and accreditation services to companies, organizations, and communities interested in responsible forestry.

By having the FSC label the public and consumers recognize our responsible practices. There is a level credibility with customers and business partners as well as financial institutions and watchdog organizations.

For more information and real examples of our commitment to this certification, please get in touch with us.

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Green Initiative

Being green is all the rage today.

To people in the printing and communications industry it means acting responsible in the use of processes and materials in the products and services we provide to our clients.

When a company makes the commitment to become a green printing company it mans they are more sensitive to the environment. To meet this goal, many suppliers have converted to soy-based inks and print on post-consumer, waste-recycled or FSC-certified papers. Also, by implementing proven systems in production areas that reduce energy usage and recycling all paper and aluminum plates used in the printing process, printers have become more “green”.

End users need to consider that these initiatives just might make a big difference to their customers. Many place a small footnote onto their printed materials that read "Printed with soy-based inks on FSC-certified paper" or "Printed with soy-based inks on recycled paper" (whichever is applicable) to indicate their environmental awareness to their customers.

Being green is both a conscientious thing to do as well as financially responsible.

The Executive