Print Buying Direct

Newsletter Printing – Dynamic Graphics Bring Traffic to a Halt – 27th August 2010

The key to dynamic layout lies in the inherent capability of our eyes and brains to give two-dimensional objects movement.  For example, we can look at a photograph and determine whether the subject is stationary or in motion.  The photograph itself doesn’t move.  But our perception of the object tells us whether it’s static or dynamic.

Here are a few design tips to draw readers’ eyes where you want them to go.  Take caution not to overuse these tools.  For maximum effectiveness, use only one or two per page.  When you want an area of your newsletter to be noticed, use these guided missiles:

• arrows that point to the type
• graphics in the shape of a circle
• a small amount of reversed (white on black) text
• a bold typeface
• colored type or graphics
• drop shadows
• unusual photographs
• silhouetted photographs
• illustrations that “move” toward articles
• text wrapped around photographs and graphics
• drop caps that signal the beginnings of articles

Newsletter Printing – Static Boxes & Rules

Static layout elements are just as important as dynamic ones.  Borders, screens, and text wraps help group layout elements together.  Rule (lines) and white space help separate items.

Boxes and borders. Control the appearance of your borders by changing the width and style of the line you use.  Also consider filling the bordered area with a light screen (halftone).

Text wraps. White space also functions as a border.  Place the white space around the periphery of the elements you want to group together.  Place white space between elements when you want to separate them.

Lines. Lines (or rules), along with screened areas, can separate articles in a mostly-text newsletter.

Avoid placing rules within articles, such as between headlines and body copy or between subheads and body copy.  Rules separate.

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands. See our Print Testimonials webpage to see what our customers think of us.

NEW: Visit our New Christmas Card Printing Online Minisite – Either upload your Christmas Card Artwork or Choose one of our New Free Christmas Card templates – there are tmplates to upload your own photo – Photo Christmas Cards and ones designed for personal use or business use which have been designed by a graphic designer. If you have any suggestions of feedback as to what images and style you think our Christmas Cards should feature then simply let us know.

For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Newsletter Printing – Effective Placement of Headlines
• Newsletter Printing – Target Your Audience With Visuals
• Newsletter Printing – Back-Page Designs for Prodigal Readers
• Newsletter Printing – Front-Page Strategies

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

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Newsletter Printing – Effective Placement of Headlines – 10th August 2010
The size of the headline, along with the position of the article on a page, communicated the importance of the article.  When laying out your pages:

• place important headlines to the top of the pages
• span at least two columns with the headlines for your most important articles
• use the largest type size you’ve chosen for major headlines
• avoid reducing the type size of the headline to make the headline fit: reword it instead
• use a consistent typeface, type size and alignment

Maintain the maximum promotional punch of your writing by breaking long headlines strategically.  Keep adjectives on the same line with the accompanying noun.  Avoid ending a line with a preposition.

Instead of breaking the headline like this:

Up to Your Sleigh Bells in Christmas
Bills

Begin the second line with the preposition:

Up to Your Sleigh Bells
in Christmas Bills

Captions. When using a caption, place it under or to the side of the photograph.  Set it large enough type to be read easily by skimmers.  According to David Ogilvy, four times as many people read captions as body copy.

Pull quotes. Pull quotes on a page of all text add visual interest and give you another chance to capture readers.  Place pull quotes on the part of the page the eyes go to first, approximately at optical centre (in the middle column, just above mathematical center).

Subheads. If you have an interview written in question-and-answer format, the questions can work as subheads.  Set questions in bold, so readers can skim the questions and read the answers that interest them.

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

NEW: Visit our New Christmas Card Printing Online Minisite – Either upload your Christmas Card Artwork or Choose one of our Free Christmas Card templates. If you have any suggestions of feednack as to what images and style you think our Christmas Cards should feature then simply let us know.

For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Newsletter Printing – Target Your Audience With Visuals
• Newsletter Printing – Back-Page Designs for Prodigal Readers
• Newsletter Printing – Front-Page Strategies
• Newsletter Printing – Selling With “First Glance” Appeal

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

Newsletter Printing – Target Your Audience With Visuals
When deciding which visuals to use and how to size them in relation to one another, consider your target audience.  Use subjects and scenes that your readers can relate to.  Visuals that always attract include:

• people doing something (using your products, at one of your events)
• before and after visuals
• children and animals
• a frame with a single element, versus multiple elements
• tight crops and zooms
• contrasting colors
• crisp focus
• varying levels of gray

Cropping Photographs.
Since most readers look at photographs first, use photographs and captions to convey your most important promotional point.  Pull the reader into the subject by cropping in on the subject you want to highlight.  Also, when showing customers, make the image of the customer as large as possible.

Creating silhouettes.  Another effect that adds interest to a photograph is silhouetting -  a cutout of part of a photograph.

Silhouetting is useful for showing people.  After all, most people aren’t square or rectangular.  Removing the background helps make people look more lifelike.  Use this effect to show people from within your company.  They’ll look approachable and personable.

Although silhouetting creates informal pages, keep in mind these types of photos lose some of their journalistic value.  (Newspapers only use silhouettes on their lighter features.)

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

NEW: Visit our New Christmas Card Printing Online Minisite – Either upload your Christmas Card Artwork or Choose one of our Free Christmas Card templates. If you have any suggestions of feednack as to what images and style you think our Christmas Cards should feature then simply let us know.

For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Newsletter Printing – Back-Page Designs for Prodigal Readers
• Newsletter Printing – Front-Page Strategies
• Newsletter Printing – Selling With “First Glance” Appeal
• Newsletter Printing – Page Pyramids

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

Newsletter Printing – Back-Page Designs for Prodigal Readers – 7th July 2010
An estimated 15% of readers start at the back of the newsletter and work their way forward. These nomadic readers judge a publication based on what’s left at the end.  If it’s interesting, they know that the beginning of the newsletter is good too.  Convince  these sceptics with short news blurbs or a newsworthy item.  Use one of the front-page strategies here.

If your newsletter is self-mailed, all readers will at least glance at the back page first.  Then they’ll turn to the front.

Left-Page, Right-page Stategies
Once inside, people start reading at the tops of pages and move doen.  Begin articles on the tops of pages.  If you have a continued article, place the continued part at the bottom of the page.

Place photographs, graphics or important industry information so they draw readers first to the top left side of a spread.  However, also realize that the top right-hand portion of a spread is a powerful position.  Place promotional items, such as new product or service announcements, here.

People Don’t Read, They Skim
When working within you page pyramid, assume that no one will ever read a word of your body copy.

Concentrate on pulling readers in and making your key points through interesting photographs and captions, headlines, pull quotes and subheads.  These elements can also guide readers from article to article.  Skimmer bypassers also help make your newsletter layout more pleasant for readers.  These shortcuts include:

• photographs and captions that tell a story
• headlines that say, “Start here”
• dynamic graphics that point to key articles
• white spaces, rules and boxes separating articles

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

NEW: Visit our New Christmas Card Printing Online Minisite – Either upload your Christmas Card Artwork or Choose one of our Free Christmas Card templates. If you have any suggestions of feednack as to what images and style you think our Christmas Cards should feature then simply let us know.

For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Newsletter Printing – Front-Page Strategies
• Newsletter Printing – Selling With “First Glance” Appeal
• Newsletter Printing – Page Pyramids
• Newsletter Printing

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

Newsletter Printing – Front-Page Strategies – 6th July 2010
Front Page. Cover story. Page one. No matter what you call it, it’s the place where most people (roughly 85%) start reading your newsletter.  Here are a few strategies to consider.

Hard news. Place your most important articles on the front page.  Readers expect the most newsworthy articles to appear on the front page.  If you place dull articles on the front page, you’re telling readers that the rest of the newsletter is even less exciting.  (Tell your boss that the traditional spot for the president’s letter is on the second page.)

Top Ranking. Some publishers rank news items by the greatest amount of overall interest.  The most popular articles go on the front page, the middle group go inside, and the remainder are condensed into news bulletins.

Skimmer bait. Invite readers in with short news blurbs.  News-briefs condense long articles into two or three lines.  This gives readers the feeling they’re merely skimming the headlines.

Continue one. You can combine the skimmer bait technique with one continued article.  Readers often read the news briefs first, then start reading an article placed in the right-hand column.  This article leads the reader naturally to page two.

The lure. Lure readers by placing useful information on the front page.  One you’ve captivated readers, they’ll turn to the inside pages – filled with your promotional information.

Goal-driven. If you have important news, such as a new product or an upcoming event, that you want everyone who opens your newsletter to see, place it on the fron page.  Don’t bury newsworthy information deep within as article.

Remember that it’s the editor’s job to give instructions on article placement to the layout artist, if they are not one and the same.

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

NEW: Visit our New Christmas Card Printing Online Minisite – Either upload your Christmas Card Artwork or Choose one of our Free Christmas Card templates. If you have any suggestions of feednack as to what images and style you think our Christmas Cards should feature then simply let us know.

For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Newsletter Printing – Selling With “First Glance” Appeal
• Newsletter Printing – Page Pyramids
• Newsletter Printing
• Green Printing – Packaging and the environment

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

Newsletter Printing – Selling With “First Glance” Appeal – 5th July 2010
The position of many parts of your layout, such as the nameplate and mailing panel, will be the same from issue to issue.  In the layout stage, use the areas around the standard features, the “active areas,” to create appeal.

First, focus on the prime real estate areas of the mailing panel and the front page.  The active areas on the mailing panel are the teasers or contents box.  Next, look at your goals for this issue or this year.  Plan to change this area with each new issue to attract attention by using:

• teasers
• contents box
• event calendar or notice of an upcoming meeting
• eye-catching cartoon or photo
• location map
• sale announcement
• famous quotation
• coupon
• lists of services and everyday specials
• list of products offered
• Web site link to must-have content

Place a quick message, table of contents or teaser that gets people immediately involved with your publication.

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

NEW: Visit our New Christmas Card Printing Online Minisite – Either upload your Christmas Card Artwork or Choose one of our Free Christmas Card templates. If you have any suggestions of feednack as to what images and style you think our Christmas Cards should feature then simply let us know.

For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Newsletter Printing – Page Pyramids
• Newsletter Printing
• Green Printing – Packaging and the environment
• Environmentally Friendly Printing – Environmental issues

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

See Our latest press Releases Digital printing in Cheshire,

Crewe Printers in UK First

Also Digital printing in just 15 Minutes

Newsletter Printing – Page Pyramids 1st July 2010

Page Pyramids: How Readers Eyes Work With Your Page

Understanding how the human eye interacts with your newsletter page can also help you make layout decisions.  Readers look at your newsletter in three different stages:

1. when it’s folded or flat in the mailing stack
2. when it unfolded
3. when it’s opened to the inside pages

When the newsletter is folded and in the mailing stack, readers first look at their name on the address label to make sure the newsletter was sent to the right person.  Then they glance to the return address area.  Next, they unfold the newsletter and look at either the front of back page.

On these pages, readers look at photos or illustrations first, unless they are small.  In the absence of photographs, readers’ eyes are attracted by the largest, most dominant element on the page.  Then they move to the second most dominant, then to the third, and so on.  On a page of all text, readers’ eyes usually move from the upper left to the lower right corner of the page in a “Z” pattern.

Note that only the first and last pages are seen by themselves.  Other pages are usually seen as two-page spreads.  On two-page spreads in magazines (most eye movement research has been conducted using magazines), the readers’ eye goes first to the right-hand page.  Once readers have glanced at the right-hand page, their eyes go to the left-hand page.  Both pages are read following the “Z” pattern.

The “Z” pattern assumes that the elements on both pages are of equal interest.  A key word in a headline or an interesting photograph can draw the readers’ eyes to the left or to the bottom of the page.

As the editor, your job is to encourage readers to at least skim all the elements of the newsletter.  Armed with better knowledge of eye movement, investigate how you can use the layout to guide your readers through each of the NEWS levels – name, enactment, written words and selling.

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

NEW: Visit our New Christmas Card Printing Online Minisite – Either upload your Christmas Card Artwork or Choose one of our Free Christmas Card templates. If you have any suggestions of feednack as to what images and style you think our Christmas Cards should feature then simply let us know.

For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Newsletter Printing
• Green Printing – Packaging and the environment
• Environmentally Friendly Printing – Environmental issues
• Environmentally Friendly Printing – Condensing filtration solvent recovery

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

See Our latest press Releases Digital printing in Cheshire,

Crewe Printers in UK First

Also Digital printing in just 15 Minutes

Newsletter Printing – 30th June 2010

Everyone out there who has seen an article titled “Letter from the Chief Exec” on the front page of a newsletter, raise your hands.  The placement of this little gem generates a big “ugh” for two reasons.

First, it needs a better headline.  More importantly, it’s taking up space in a prime area of your newsletter – like leasing an Oxford Street store front for storage.

This blog shows you how to create layouts that draw readers to the articles that sell your products.  You’ll learn how to zone your layout – arrange type and graphics on the page – and use publication and page pyramids to guide readers’ eyes.

Newsletter Publication & Page Pyramids
Inverted pyramids work for both news writing and page design.  The idea of the inverted pyramid is to begin with the most interesting faces and work downward, in decreasing order of importance.

Within a publication, that means placing your most important news on the most visible pages.

The publication pyramid is built like this:

1. the front page
2. the mailing panel and envelope
3. the back page
4. right-hand pages
5. tops of pages

In addition, each page has an individual hierarchy.  Visuals, captions, headlines and subheads all signal to readers and skimmers what’s important on the page.  If these areas are interesting, the reader assumes the rest will be.  If they’re not…another page gets turned.

The page pyramid looks like this:

1. photographs or graphics
2. captions
3. headlines
4. kickers and decks
5. pull quote
6. subheads
7. leads

Once you “zone” the prime real estate in your newsletter, you’ll know where to place the high-profile boutiques and where to build warehouse space.

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

NEW: Visit our New Christmas Card Printing Online Minisite – Either upload your Christmas Card Artwork or Choose one of our Free Christmas Card templates.

For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Green Printing – Packaging and the environment
• Environmentally Friendly Printing – Environmental issues
• Environmentally Friendly Printing – Condensing filtration solvent recovery
• Green Printing – Carbon absorption

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

See Our latest press Releases Digital printing in Cheshire,

Crewe Printers in UK First

Also Digital printing in just 15 Minutes

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Green Printing – Packaging and the environment – 29th June 2010
Packaging is a prime target for complaints by environmentalists, who often see a printed carton as unnecessary, a waste of the earth’s valuable resources, or as litter in the gutter. They forgot that packaging can reduce waste: in countries using sophisticated packaging methods, food waste can be virtually nil; without it, wasted food levels through damage or rotting are much, much higher.

Litter is probably one of the most visible forms of pollution encountered by us all every day. A solution for it is very difficult to find, particularly if it is taken to include all aspects from individually discarded food wrappers, newspapers and the like to larger scale tipping of household or industrial rubbish unauthorised areas for quickness and cheapness. In fact, packaging plays a relatively minor part in what gets into the local rubbish tip.

Packaging is the target of the forthcoming EC Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. Individual country initiatives such as the German Duales System Deutschland, allow for the setting-up of independent private waste collection outside the normal household system, so that the packaging could be collected separately and subsequent recycling ensured. Each package registered in the system is printed with the ‘Green Dot’ logo, for which a fee is paid, the income so generated going to pay for the collection scheme.

The German preference is for recycling above all other methods of disposal of packaging. Targets in the draft EC Directive are given as 60% recycling, 30% incineration and only 10% landfill within ten years. The French Eco-Emballage System and proposed Belgian Eco-Tax on packaging not including certain quantities of recycled materials, all seek to reinforce this dependence on recycling.

The UK relies mainly on land filling for disposal; of packaging, but the Government is now considering action with regard to encouraging waste collection and segregation for recycling taxation to discourage the use of landfill, increased re-use of some packaging, greater use of incineration with heat recovery, and council (or private) charges to enhance collection and segregation.

Careful consideration is being given to a wide range of options from an environmental, economic and practical point of View by central and local governments and industry.

Areas requiring significant discussion within such plans are the funding mechanism, practical application and end-use markets for recycled grades. Industry must and is establishing baseline data for wastes generated, materials which are recyclable, and end-use suitability.

In the UK, industry-based groups such as the British Carton Association and the Cellulose Fibre Industry Group (CEFIG) are very active in collecting data from membership, intiating industry activity, and lobbying and providing information to Government bodies.

Packaging companies such as Fields are considering the problem of solid waste management from several areas, including:

• Manufacturing waste generated during the conversion of raw materials into packaging products.
• Secondary wastes resulting from ancillary materials used for wrapping, and the protection of raw materials, and containers for liquid products such as inks and glues.
• Post conversion waste, such as household waste, which relies on consumer participation for further use.

Manufacturing waste results from the production of packaging in tow main forms. The first is trim waste due to the complicated shapes of packs, needed to hold a variety of finished goods. It is not possible to completely interlock and butt across a sheet of material or to produce three dimensional shapes without facilities to hold the shape as it is formed, and with these areas being trimmed-off or stripped-out later. Good planning and manufacturing practises ensure this type of waste is always minimised.

The second main source of industrial waste is a product being rejected as substandard, either as materials supplied to the printer or the printer’s products themselves. Again, improved production efficiencies and control, and the implementation of standard audited operating and quality assurance procedures to BS 5750 are minimising such wastes.

Post-industrial board waste generated during carton manufacture enters into a recycling system which allows in excess of 80% of the waste to be utilised, with market sectors continually being evaluated to make best use of these recycled materials, a very efficient, industry-based recycled system is in place and operative.

The types of materials used for packaging are very specific to their end use and food packaging in particular is strictly controlled both by the industry as a recognised need to protect consumers, and by legislation means under government control (notably the Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations).

Recycled materials, because of their generally variable composition, are generally not allowed to come into direct contact with food, but recycled fibres are used as the bulk of boards such as white-lined chip with an outer virgin or coating layer. An example of the control of materials is the restrictions being placed on the use of heavy metals in packaging, or components of packaging. Ink makers are thus being forced to confirm that their products contain extremely low levels of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium even though these materials are not deliberately used in formulation but may be present as trace impurities. The possibility of taint or odour impeding product quality is rigorously tested by all suppliers, convertors and food manufacturers.

All of these points illustrate the technology required to produce the raw materials for packaging, and the rigorous procedures and test systems needed to convert these materials into safe, reliable packs for consumer.

The moves that paper and board makers are making to produce their products in a more environmentally-friendly way are described elsewhere in this publication, but it is perhaps worth mentioning that it is important in packaging to develop material grades that allow the overall weight of material per pack to be reduced.

As a major carton manufacturing company, Field Group Ltd is involved in many industrial group activities and internally is applying BS 7750- the Environmental Management Systems Standard- and developing a Life Cycle Analysis database for specific material grade and product comparisons. We are thus committed to playing our part in improving the environment.

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

NEW: Visit our New Christmas Card Printing Online Minisite – Either upload your Christmas Card Artwork or Choose one of our Free Christmas Card templates.

For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Environmentally Friendly Printing – Environmental issues
• Environmentally Friendly Printing – Condensing filtration solvent recovery
• Green Printing – Carbon absorption
• Green Printing – Thermal incineration

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

See Our latest press Releases Digital printing in Cheshire,

Crewe Printers in UK First

Also Digital printing in just 15 Minutes

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Environmentally Friendly Printing – Environmental issues – 28th June 2010
Where more than one option is available, a careful choice must be made between one system and another with the obvious deciding factors those of capital and general running costs. However, with green issues well to the fore, the environmental impact of using any control technology is increasingly playing a key role in influencing the decision-making process.

The emotional topic of global warming caused by the continued of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere primarily by industry, has often led for calls within the European Community for a surcharge on fuel, or a Carbon Tax as it is often referred to, in a bid to make industry reduce the amount of fossil fuels consumed. Although no agreements have yet been made on such a tax, it must be borne in mind during the decision-making process as it would undoubtedly increase the costs of operating all energy dependent control systems such as thermal and catalytic incinerators.

It should be borne in mind that the combustion of one therm of natural gas will consume 16.95 lbs of oxygen, and as a by-products of the combustion process will produce 11.65 lbs of carbon dioxide. A typical printing company utilising an incinerator which consumes natural gas at the rate of 47 therms per hour would therefore be responsible for the production of 1589 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

In addition other gases are also produced as a by-product of the combustion process, notably nitrogen oxides, which are a contributory factor in the production of acid rain.

Environmentally Friendly Printing – Dryer optimisation
One of the principal factors in determining the size of the pollution control system required to comply with the legislation, and therefore in determining its initial capital and subsequent operating costs, is the volume of the waste gases generated by the printing process which require treating. As the volume of the gases increase so too does the size of the system required and it’s running costs.

It can be appreciated that by reducing the volume of gases generated, a much smaller emission control system is required with an associated reduction in its capital and operating costs. For all printing processes, the quantity of the waste gases generated is linked to the operating efficiency of the drying systems utilised. Therefore, as a first step in the selection of a suitable emission control system, a detailed investigation into the operation and performance of the drying system should be implemented and necessary measure carried out to ensure that it operates at peak efficiency.

The results of an intensive study of over 100 flexographic, rotogravure and coating printing plants throughout Europe illustrated that the majority of drying systems are operating well below optimum efficiency. By optimising the operation of the dryers, exhaust air flow rates are reduced significantly reductions of up to 75% can be achieved- and the size of the control system required to clean the gases reduced in scale accordingly and similarly the costs involved in its installation and operation.

Other benefits to be derived by optimising the operation of a typical drying system include:

• Reductions in energy consumption – between 30-50% on average
• Increased press machine speeds-typically up to 40%
• Reduced exhaust flow rates-up to 20% on average-smaller emission controls system
• Improved product quality- reduced solvent retention
• Reduced environmentally impact- lower CO, CO2 and nitrogen oxides.

In deciding upon the type of pollution control to install, a diverse variety of factors must be taken into account. The legislation to be applied throughout the European Community has yet to be finalised and this clearly creates problems when trying to establish a blueprint for the ideal pollution control system for any printing company.

Each system, as outlined, has significant advantages and disadvantages whether relating to their field of application, financial cost, or environmental impact. The long term running costs of a system should be established realistically well before a final decision is made with the figures quoted by the manufacturers checked by independent advisers, for these can vary widely.

Similarly, before deciding upon the size and type of control system to install, it is worthwhile establishing whether the print drying system is operating at optimum efficiency or whether improvements can be made. Failure to do so may result in the specification of a system which is far bigger than that really necessary with its associated additional costs, and which is prohibitively expensive to operate.

Clearly, where pollution control systems are concerned, taking time over the selection process, and looking pragmatically at all the options available can pay notable dividends.

Peter Harrison is Joint Managing Director of The Printing House Ltd, and Print Buying Direct of Crewe, Cheshire, UK.

We have great online print prices – Print Buying Direct are UK market Leaders and Innovators in Leaflet Printing | Brochure Printing, Large Poster Printing, Banner printing online (A1 Posters, A0 Posters etc) and Banner Stands.

For more free articles on Printing and Graphic Design see our Online Printing | Print Buying Direct Website.   For more information on printing and graphic design please see some of our recent blog articles;

• Environmentally Friendly Printing – Condensing filtration solvent recovery
• Green Printing – Carbon absorption
• Green Printing – Thermal incineration
• Green Printing – Emissions to air

Print Buying Direct is the online Trading Name of The Printing House Ltd.  One of the UK’s leading quality printing companies for graphic design, short run digital printing, long run litho printing and large format colour printing. Based in Crewe, Cheshire (Cheshire Printers), in the North West of England – delivering to customers across the UK and Europe.

NEW Product Alert – we now sell Exhibition Stands, Pop Up display stands and A Boards

See Our Latest Press Release about our Web to Print Solution.  See us on the RED TIE Web to Print site

• Print Buying Direct is the UK’s leading Web-to-print Printing Company
• The Customer Experience just gets Better and Better at Print Buying Direct
• Web revolution allows Crewe to ‘Print the World’
• Stay Legal and Give Yourself a Sporting Chance

We have just launched 2 new brands – keep an eye out in the coming months for;

Cheap Banner Stands and Premium Banner Stands

See Our latest press Releases Digital printing in Cheshire,

Crewe Printers in UK First

Also Digital printing in just 15 Minutes

Share
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