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Volume 2, Issue 3 Back
to School:
United Litho’s Revamped Seminar Series
Back
to School: United
Litho’s Revamped Seminar Series If Fall has your mind turning to book bags and apples for the teacher, you’re not alone. United Litho has spent the summer revamping and revising its acclaimed seminar series and has just unveiled a new line up of programs set to start this October. Although United Litho has offered seminars for the past five years, the new series is the direct result of increased customer input. According to Wayne Peterson, Vice President of Sales & Marketing and head of the movement to revamp the series, customer feedback has been the motivating factor behind the new topics. “We solicited client feedback in PressProof and from our client support specialists on topics that would be helpful,” Peterson says. The seminars, which will be offered as frequently as client interest dictates, will cover all areas of the printing process, from digital prepress to print production to mailing. In addition, programs on magazine management will bring a new dimension to the curriculum. Phil Kutz, Client and Sales Development Leader and a long-time member of the seminar program team, says the management courses reflect a new direction for United Litho seminars. “We’ve always had the philosophy that we are an extension of our clients’ magazine staffs,” Kutz says. “We’re trying to help the entrepreneurial publisher or association magazine that may have a smaller staff or high personnel turnover.” Peterson agrees. “Our surveys showed that some of our clients were bringing new staff on board who were not experienced in the technical aspects of magazine publishing.” The seminar topics have been designed specifically to address those needs. Seminar topics for 1999-2000 will include technical seminars such as using software programs like QuarkXPress and Photoshop, and taking advantage of the latest technology, such as scanning, PDFs and digital file management. Other topics will be announced as they become available. Most seminars will be free of charge, but some will include a nominal fee for materials. To keep clients informed of upcoming programs, United Litho will send out a monthly bulletin that includes both the coming months’ seminars and dates and a list of seminar topics for the entire year. Most often, seminar scheduling is based on attendee availability, so scheduling is flexible. “All the programs will be available at United Litho at some time,” Peterson says. “However, we will also take seminars to clients, if there are three or more people in an organization who would benefit from the course.” These courses will be taught by a mix of UL team members and outside experts to provide the most current, accurate information available. Class size is purposely kept small—most often fewer than eight participants—to give everyone individual attention. As Peterson notes, “United Litho differentiates itself based on delivering an extraordinary service experience, and this is a great way for us to do exactly that.” Whether you’re new to the magazine business or could just afford to brush up on the latest technology and techniques, United Litho’s seminars can be the answer to your education needs. Additional information will be available in United Litho’s monthly bulletins, or you can contact Elizabeth Agnew at 800.368.6100 or eagnew@unitedlitho.com for more information. United Litho has gone web! It’s true, they’re already a dedicated web printer, but now they’ve landed on the world wide web at www.unitedlitho.com. This new web site, which was launched June 1, will allow United Litho to stay out in front in the ever-changing printing industry, providing the best in service and information to current and prospective clients, as well as anyone interested in knowing more about the printing process. Among the many benefits the web site offers visitors is a digital workflow booklet titled Digital Workflow Guidelines: Building A Solid Foundation. “We are excited and delighted to introduce you to this method of publication production,” the site states. “We know that gaining all of the benefits available for your organization depends on developing a digital partnership between your organization and ours. And we’re ready to help. We can provide formal, custom and individual training, at United Litho or in your offices. All you need to do is ask.” The 30-page booklet describes how to work with digital proofs, prepare files effectively, and gain all of the advantages that technology has to offer. United Litho is very confident that clients will be pleased with the flexibility, speed and quality that digital workflow technology offers. “This workflow will enable us to create genuine value for your organization,” the site states. “It will produce publications with higher mechanical quality and shorter schedules. The likelihood of errors being overlooked . . . will drop substantially as you begin to use a digital color proof rather than a traditional blueline.” For easy access, Digital Workflow Guidelines, which also serves, as the core curriculum for the digital publishing workflow seminar, is available online in PDF format. For those without Acrobat (a program for reading PDF files), a link to this free software is provided. United Litho’s web site was designed with ease of use as the top priority, in order to guide clients quickly and smoothly through the United Litho world. A simple navigational concept, attractive icons and straightforward design make this site both easy to use and easy on the eye. Come visit www.unitedlitho.com to see the cutting edge of customer service and technological expertise in the printing industry. Originally used as a word processing tool, today the PC handles a variety of office duties. From email to Excel, these applications are designed to make our jobs easier. But since dates are an integral part of the information in these applications, one can begin to see the potential Year 2000 impacts inherent in using PC applications. There has been a lot of hype in the popular press about the Year 2000 (Y2K) problem. Basically, it’s the inability of certain computers and software to process dates beyond December 31, 1999. Back in the days of expensive mainframes and limited memory, programmers designed systems and software to identify dates using two digits—displaying 1970 as 70 or 1999 as 99. Problems will occur as we reach the new century. For example, if you were born in 1957, your age in 1999 is 99 minus 57, or 42. However in the year 2000, your age would be calculated as 00 - 57 = (57). Instead of the correct calculation, 2000 - 1957 = 43. The implications of this problem can be severe. For example, invoices could suddenly be 100 years overdue and outstanding interest calculated much too high. Email and voice mail systems might purge messages believed to be 100 years old. Imagine the vacation time you may get if your HR system determines you have more than 100 years of service with the company. Other systems may not start or operate at all. Actually, the Y2K problem is a bit more complex because there are a number of critical dates around the 1/1/2000 date change. Some computers track a date of 9/9/99 as a special error code. Also, 2000 is a special leap year. There are five layers of PC risk where Year 2000 is concerned. Here is a good course of action to deal with these potential problems: PC Hardware: All 486 and first-generation Pentium processor machines are obsolete. They simply can’t run today’s standard office application software (like MS Office 97), antiviral programs and email systems such as Outlook98 under Windows 95 or Windows NT efficiently. Plus, the older PC hardware is not Y2K compliant and will not be able to support the compliant software that must be installed this year. United Litho’s plan is to replace our obsolete machines with fully Y2K compliant PCs. All PCs not replaced in ‘99 will be tested to ensure that they are Y2K compliant. The main PC concern centers around the internal real time clock (RTC). This hardware and the associated BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) programming can have faulty logic that prevents the PC from transitioning into the year 2000. The faulty PC interprets the year as 1900 and programs that don’t compensate for this will fail to operate or will give unreliable results. We have completed testing for this specific problem and have found that seven of our 60+ PCs are not hardware compliant and will be replaced. Operating System: Up-to-date hardware gives us a good basis for compliance, but unfortunately, that’s one of the simplest PC issues to resolve. Software is much more difficult to test and renovate. Without being a programmer, it’s virtually impossible to know what date logic is present in programs and how they interact. The main PC software program is the operating system (OS), which manages the other programs running on the PC. Luckily, most of the desktop operating systems that we use at United Litho (Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT workstation), are Y2K compliant with just a couple of free download files. Our entire Windows version 3.1 PC’s were upgraded some time ago, since they cannot handle today’s more advanced computer programs. Application Software: Early in the Y2K story, many software companies said there were no date-related issues in modern software programs. They have been proven wrong. There are literally thousands of software applications that have Y2K issues or that should be considered non-compliant because they will not even be tested. United Litho’s Management Information Systems (MIS) department has been researching our standard PC office productivity products for some time now. These desktop products are also known as “shrink-wrapped” or COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) software because they are often available at retail outlets. We have completed the inventory and research of United Litho’s standard applications. During the third quarter of 1999, we will be upgrading all desktops to MS Office2000, Outlook2000 for our email, and a new virus software - all of which will be Y2K compliant. Data Within a Single Program: Data you create within applications presents its own Y2K problems. Spreadsheets, reports and files will need to be examined for how the date might be manipulated or the century interpreted. To aid in this area, the MIS department will be using a Y2K tool to scan PC workstations and their user-created data files. Data Shared Between Program: Data complications can arise even when sharing data among different versions of the same software. For example, “Joe” creates a spreadsheet in MS Excel 95 that contains a birth date in a 2-digit year format of 1/14/25 for January 14, 1925. When “Jane” opens the same document in Excel 97, again with a 2-digit format, the date is interpreted as January 14, 2025 because the two versions use different date ranges to make a “guess”as to the intended century. The answer here is to have Joe and Jane use the same, compliant version of the software. These are complex tasks, but not insurmountable ones. The five-layered PC problem is a difficult issue and definitely not one that United Litho is taking lightly. Over the next few months, the MIS department will upgrade United Litho’s desktops with new, standardized software applications and perform user-specific data testing. Our goal is to prevent disruption to our internal and external clients around invoicing, estimating and customer history files. If you have any questions about United Litho’s Y2K compliance contact your client support specialist. Andrew
Moore Brings Technical Support Service to Your
Door
United Litho has had a long tradition of superb product quality, as their clients will attest. One particularly unique strength is their cutting-edge commitment to customer service. United Litho offers an extensive listing of customer service seminars, and backs it up with something new: staff members dedicated specifically to answering ANY question clients have. “We have always taken an active role in troubleshooting projects,” said Andrew Moore, the newest addition to this one-of-a-kind client service team. In the past, that troubleshooting has been in-house. Now, United Litho is bringing this expertise to the customer’s office. Coupled with the seminars, United Litho now delivers top-notch customer service wherever help is needed. “We’re going to continue our seminars, so people can come here for classes,” Moore said, adding that the list of seminars offered is currently being revamped to improve the offerings. “We can also go on-site to help clients in their offices.” Are clients taking advantage? “It’s been very popular and several clients have found benefits in it,” Moore said. So, what kind of help can customers get? Moore says the United Litho technical representatives can help clients do just about anything, from organizing a job to beginning and advanced assistance with old and new software programs and upgrades, to understanding printing and distribution options. Anything to do with the process of printing, United Litho can help. Moore knows that while he’s answering customers’ questions, he’s being backed up by a professional group of people who will put out the best work possible. “The people here are our greatest strength. We’re pretty much one big team,” Moore said. Moore previously worked as a digital pre-press technical representative, and will take his six years of experience at United Litho with him into his new position as Technical Support Rep/Trainer. He’s excited about his new role. “As soon as I heard about this job, I jumped on it,” Moore said. “I look forward to having more interaction with the customers.” Coated
Stock Prices on the Rise
The paper industry has made an across-the-board price increase on all coated stocks. Our customers will see this increase by the end of August. In addition to these increases, Resource Information Systems, Inc.’s (RISI) Paper Trader suggests that further price increases will be announced in October. Y2K is the “wild card,” as Bryant Wilson of Parson’s Paper puts it. Printers could stock up on extra paper inventory to assure themselves a continuous supply at yearend. The mills could raise the price now anticipating that printers will draw off that inventory during the first quarter, resulting in future price reductions. Only time will tell. Check our web site at www.unitedlitho.com for the latest in paper trends. An
Extraordinary Service Experience: Identity Marketing When Bruce Sachenski launched Identity Marketing magazine last year, he went looking for a printer that would take a personal interest in his publication—a task that proved far more difficult than he expected. “We bid it out to four or five printers,” Sachenski says. “One of them didn’t even reply, some took so long to get back to us. Because we were a start-up, it seemed people weren’t really interested in us.” But United Litho was interested. “United seemed like they really wanted our business,” Sachenski says. “They were the only firm that invited us to tour their plant. It really showed us that they wanted to go that extra mile.” The service that won UL the Identity Marketing job has also helped them keep it. This monthly magazine, which is sent to 30,000 promotional products, screen printing and embroidery professionals, requires great attention to detail and process. According to Pam Linne, United Litho’s client liaison and trainer, these are just the places where UL can excel. Sachenski agrees. “Communication is the most important thing. When we get the job in to United Litho, they call us, they look it over quickly and they let us know if anything is missing. All the team members work together well to do their various jobs.” And the interaction has definitely had its benefits. Says Linne, “On their most recent issue, I ended up writing them a letter telling them what a great job they had done.” In addition to learning from UL’s client liaison, Identity Marketing has capitalized on UL’s cutting-edge technology. As one of the first clients to try the HP color “blueline” proofs that United Litho offers, the magazine has reaped the rewards of a more accurate proofing system. “As someone who has worked on other magazines and used traditional bluelines, I can say that these definitely make it a lot easier to catch mistakes,” Sachenski says. “You’re seeing everything exactly the way it’s going to be printed.” Sachenski has also taken advantage of United Litho’s partnerships with other printers and service providers. “They’ve handled our business reply card printing and soon will be handling our pre-sort mail services in-house,” he says. “It’s saved us time and frustration in hunting down other printers.” I went to their office and helped explain what United Litho does with their job once we receive it,” Linne says. “After reviewing each issue, we forward feedback to them, which has proven to be helpful. It’s a win-win situation. The more information we can share with them, the better organized their job comes to us ... making everyone happy.” The bottom line for this new mag is that printing has become the most trouble-free part of the production process. Says Sachenski, “We’re happy with the service we get, we’re happy with the quality of the magazine and the pricing is competitive.” And who could ask for anything more? The post office has changed the verbiage of the “Bulk Rate” indicia. After objections from the direct mail industry, due to the negative perception the general public has of the term “bulk” mail, the USPS agreed to change the name to “Presort Standard”. Beginning January 1, 2000, “large volume mailing customers,” such as United Litho, will be required to replace the words “BULK RATE” on their Standard A indicia with “PRESORT STANDARD” or “PRSRT STD”. For our customers who have their own Standard A mailing permit, the deadline for the change is January 1, 2001. Do
You Notice the Difference Between These Dogs? Here is a hint: one graphic is saved in PhotoShop’s “bitmap” mode; the other is saved as a grayscale. Knowing that, you might be able to guess which is the correct format. For those of you who are not familiar with the different file types, it is a good rule of thumb to save any art that is made up of only black and white lines (traditionally called “line art”) as a bitmap TIFF file. If you inspect the grayscale version of the graphic (the one on the right), you will notice that the edges are actually screened, which makes the art appear blurry. This effect will be
very noticeable if there is small type in the graphic—letters
may appear grainy or illegible due to the screening. Plus, you can see
what happens when you place grayscale art on top of a screen: you end
up getting a jaggy white area where Quark tries to mask around your grayscale
image. We see this problem often in supplied digital black & white
ads. It’s a good idea to check the art that your advertisers supply to
make sure the black and white files are properly saved, with the bitmap
mode files having a resolution of at least 900 dpi. Missing Extension: Pasteboard. Have you ever seen this message in Quark? If so, there is a handy utility that will eliminate the requirement to have the “pasteboard XT” extension installed while opening these files. Although rare, we occasionally do see it happen. You can download this shareware utility from Markzware's web site here. Reflowing documents from previous versions of QuarkXPress When you open a document that was saved by an earlier version of Quark, the program uses the text flow from the older version to prevent reflow. At the risk of reflowing the text and changing the look of the page, you can update the text flow to the current version by holding the option key down when you click on “Open...”. By doing this, you can update the document to take advantage of improvements in text flow in later versions of Quark. This will not work if you double-click a document icon to open it.
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