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Printing Our Message - Sun. 1:30pm
Choosing layout programs, fonts, colors, graphics, paper; dealing with printers

Presenters: Hershaft, Runkle

Alex Hershaft, PhD
Farm Animal Reform Movement, www.farmusa.org

Click here for a formatted version of Alex's outline.

EFFECTIVE PUBLICATIONS

With today’s computer technology, anyone with patience and an eye for design can be a publisher.

What Is An Effective Publication?

• One that attracts, gets read, and promotes effectively its intended purpose
• Attraction: pleasing, intriguing, or startling design or graphics, color, simple text
• Legibility: time, distance, lighting, background, eyesight
• Possible purposes: fundraising, alerting, informing, instructing

Publishing Elements

• Form: fact sheets, fliers, posters, folders, brochures, envelopes, self-mailers
• Format: size, alignment, folding
• Layout: positioning of graphics, headlines, text; coverage
• Graphics: line art, process art, photos, bleeds
• Photos: size, resolution, brightness/contrast, saturation/hue
• Fonts: two dozen max; head, text, script, special, dings; serif v sans serif; B, I; families
• Color (ink): 1 v 2, spot v process
• Paper: weight, finish, recycled
• Impact of purpose

Imprinted Products

• Types: T-shirts, T-tops, T-bags, caps, bumper stickers, buttons, cups, pens, bracelets
• Substrate issues – keep it simple

Computer Tools

• Page/text layout: Quark, PageMaker, InDesign, Word, Publisher
• Graphic manipulation: PhotoShop, Fireworks
• Design: Illustrator, CorelDraw; vectors vs. pixels
• Graphic sources: Images.Google.com, ClipArt.com, Photos.com, government libraries
• File transfer: Acrobat

Vendor Relations

• Vendor selection: small shop vs megaprinter; mailhouse combo
• Price: bidding, house paper, slow periods, specials, trading, early payment discount
• Printing vs copying for BW(500) & color(2,000)
• Transfer format, color proofs