QR Codes;Reaching Customers through Mobile Marketing
A QR Code is the newest technology to help businesses link the physical world to the cyber world and market their product and services. Using Smartphone technology, people can scan a special QR (Quick Response) code and have their telephone connect to a web address, download a Mp3 file, dial a telephone number or prompt the email client with a sender address almost instantaneous.
Mobile marketing is changing the way consumer marketing occurs. Instead of a campaign-based approach, it creates a dialogue where consumers are willing to share information and companies are able to make use of that information in a more valuable way.
Mobile marketing has the ability to send the right message to the right person at the right time and so trigger a better response rate.
What makes mobile marketing with QR codes different is that it is permission-based. Unlike other forms of mass marketing, consumers need to give their permission before being marketed to. It is also targeted and live. Responses can be processed to give real-time visibility of reaction to specific offers.
We recommend our customers start using QR codes now. Because they are new, companies using the QR codes will have a competitive advantage as mobile marketing grows. Younger, upscale consumers are already discovering mobile marketing and you don't want to be left behind.
If you would like a demonstration on how mobile marketing can work for your company, give us a call at 303-320-4855. We can show you how you can combine printing and the Internet into a low cost solution to help you increase your sales.

As a general guideline, we recommend incorporating color into almost any printing project. Use of color improves reader comprehension, calls attention to important information, and improves the overall appearance of your document.
A common way to use PMS color is to combine it with black ink as an accent. The color draws the reader's eye and emphasizes the information printed in color. Or, if used for headlines or subheads in text, the color enhances the document's organizational structure by creating easily discerned text segments.

What is a PMS Color?

PMS is an acronym for Pantone Matching System™, an industry standard for identifying and matching colors. The Pantone Matching System™ was created by Lawrence Herbert in 1963 to solve problems associated with producing accurate color matches in printing and graphic arts.
The Pantone Matching System™ begins with a base of 14 colors(two yellows, orange, four reds, purple, four blues, green and black), then creates more than 1,000 colors based on combinations of the base in a process similar to the way paint stores mix paint. Each color is numbered for easy reference and a color swatch and ink formula is printed in PMS guides--the fan format books we use to help you select colors for your printing projects.
WE have several PMS guides for our customer service representatives and press operators to use. In addition, we replace our books approximately once a year to ensure that color swatches have nt changed due to fading or exposure to light.

PMS; The colors of one, two and three color printing.
PMS stands for Pantone Matching System, a system used by printers around the world to select, specify, match and control ink colors.
The Pantone Matching system formula guide is a book of printing ink formulas and samples on coated, uncoated and matte coated stock in a fan format. The PMS book is what we use when helping you select color for your project.
Whereas cyan,magenta and yellow are combined in various percentages to produce a specific dolor a PMS or spot color ink is one single hue. In addition, the inks used for spot color are opaque rather than translucent and so do not allow white light to pass through.

To select a paper for a particular printing project, begin by listing how the finished piece will be used and what processes will e required in the manufacturing process. This will allow you to determine what paper characteristics (basis weight, brightness, smoothness, ink receptivity, opacity, strength, caliper, gloss, grain and finish) are the most important for the project.
Here are some questions to help define the purpose of the printing project.
1. Is it an image piece.
2. What is the finished size of the piece?
3. Will the piece be read once and discarded or must it last many years?
4. Will the piece be handled repeatedly?
5. Will the piece include full color photographs?
6. Are there any special manufacturing processes(die cutting, embossing, foil stamping)?
7. Will the piece be mailed? If so,will it require an envelope?
8. Must postal requirements be considered?
9. What is the printing process to be used(offset or digital)?
Here at BC Printing our customer service representatives have been trained to match paper characteristics with the production and end use requirements.

If you would like to try your hand at papermaking, here is a recipe that you can use at home.
Supplies;
Fine mesh wire screen(size 9"x12")
Blotting paper
Basin or tray(10 quart capacity)
Laundry starch
30 sheets of facial tissue
Eggbeater or blender
Rolling Pin
Electric iron
Scissors

Directions:
1. Tear facial tissue into the basin. In a separate bowl,mix 1 tablespoon of starch with 2 cups of water. Add to tissue along with 10 quarts of water. Mix thoroughly with eggbeater or in the blender.
2. Dip the wire screen into the tray or basin and allow water to drain through the bottom of the screen.
3. Dry the screen and wet pulp between two pieces of blotting paper.(The pulp sheet will stick to them so that the wire can be separated from the pulp sheet.)
4. Press out excess water with the rolling pin.
5. With the sheet still between the blotters, iron the paper on a low setting until it is dry.
6. Trim the edges with scissors.

It may surprise you to learn that the primary benefit of recycled paper is saving landfill space. According to Conservatree Paper Company, every ton of recycled paper saves three cubic yards of landfill material. It also saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water and 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough to power an average home for six months).
There are some costs associated with recycled paper. Waste paper must be collected, then sorted, bailed and transported to the paper mill. Finally it must be de-inked prior to being mixed with virgin fibers in the papermaking process.
When deciding whether to specify a recycled paper, consider the following pros and cons:
Recycled Paper Pros
1.Uncoated recycled paper tends to lie flatter, making it easier to handle.
2.Opacity of recycled paper can be better because the shorter, fatter reclaimed fibers form a denser structure.
Recycled Paper Cons
1.Some recycled papers may not last as long as papers made with virgin fibers.
2.Because not all ink can be removed from recycled paper, the brightness is often lower.