BRAND ENGAGEMENT
Q: What information should I have ready when placing an order?
A: Glad you asked. Here’s what to consider:
Objective: What are you trying to accomplish?
Timeline: When do you need it?
Budget/Quantity: How much can you spend, and how many items do you need?
Audience: Who are you trying to reach?
Theme: Do you want all of your items to focus on a particular idea?
Artwork: Do you have all the art you’ll need, or would you like us to create something?
Q: What type of brands are in your incentive programs and company stores?
A: We’re always on the lookout for new products that your employees will love, but some of the current favorites are:
Case Logic
Nike
Fossil
Blue Lounge
Tumi
Cross
London Fog
Sony
Leatherman
Dyson
Everlast
Callaway
Bose
Garmen
Ridel
Timbuk2
Oakley
OGIO
All-Clad
Pebble Beach
Q: Do you offer quantity discounts?
A: Yes. Discounts are based on specific brands and quantities.
Q: What are my payment options?
A: Prepay, COD, credit card, credit terms, and automatic check withdrawal.
Art
Q: How should I format my art?
A: Adobe Illustrator vector artwork is best. Please save as an EPS or AI file. Be sure to convert all text to outlines. If you are unsure about your artwork, just let us know, and we’ll help out.
Q: Can I use art from Word or PowerPoint?
A: Sometimes. Send it to us, and we’ll see what we can do.
Q: What if I don’t have artwork?
A: We have graphic designers are available at $90/hour.
Q: What is PMS Color match and is there an additional fee for requesting a PMS (Pantone) Color Match?
A: PMS is defined as pantone matching system. It is used to make sure that the color of a logo is consistent in any print media. Typically there is a PMS charge if a pantone color is requested as the paint is made to color specification. There is no additional fee for a “close match” request.
Q: My logo has six colors; will I have trouble finding options?
A: Products that can use six colors or more are somewhat limited. There are more options if you use four-color (CMYK) process. Four-color process is the mechanical process of reproducing a full-color image with the three primary subtractive color inks (CMYK/ Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) and black.
Sizes
Not sure how many of each size to order? Here are some suggested numbers based on our experience:
Small – 5%
Medium – 15%
Large – 35%
Extra Large – 40%
2XL – 5%
Timeline
Q: When will my order ship?
A: Your order will ship when all personalized items with your logo are ready. You can track your order in My Account.
Q: Can I use my shipper number?
A: Yes, we’ll help you get those discounts! If there’s a third-party fee involved, we’ll let you know.
Charges
Q: Any extra fees I should know about?
A: We’ll always be upfront about additional fees in your design, but some things that may affect the overall cost are:
- Logos and Artwork (Extra colors and locations cost a bit more. Same for multiple logos.)
- Pantone Matching (There’s no fee for close matching.)
- Screen Printing
- Rush Orders
- Small Order Quantities
- Shipping
Glossary
Imprinting Terms
- Color Stamp: Add the high-end look of foil to your company logo with color stamping. Simple one-color designs are enhanced when a die is used to apply colored foil to a material’s surface.
- Deboss: Also referred to as blind deboss. Is the classic method that allows you to leave an impression of your logo or desired image onto a material’s surface. We create a die and then heat-press it into the material. What’s left behind is a clean, crisp logo you can see and feel. It’s ideal on leather, Durahyde, UltraHyde, Scuba, recycled rubber and paperboard products. This process is without color and will give a tone-on-tone look. To emphasize debossing a color fill may be added.
- Embossed: A decorated surface with a raised design.
- Full Bleed: Printing from one edge of the paper to the other without the standard borders; the process by which most personal printers are limited.
- Laser Engraved: Uses light to burn an image onto the substrate. It gives your logo a clean and polished appearance. Laser Engraving is ideal for metal items and works best when the item’s surface is a different color than the substrate. The imprint color may vary depending on the material substrate of each item. Laser Oxidation is where the surface and the substrate are the same color, available on select items. The imprint turns black with Oxidation.
- Offset Printing: A commonly used printing technique in which the inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface.
- Pad Printed: An inked image is transferred from a photo-etched plate to a think, soft silicone pad. The pad can wrap itself as much as 180 degrees around a small object, and ink coverage is excellent. One color is done at a time and registration between colors is adequate for four-color process printing.
Heat Transfer and Direct To Garment Printing Terms
- Digital Transfers: Full-color printing onto a printable heat transfer material that is contour cut for heat application onto light or dark garments and performance wear.
- Direct to Garment (DTG) Printing: High-resolution full-color printing for light garments. By using state of the art printers, garments are digitally printed on just like a paper printer.
- Heat Applied Letters and Numbers: Letters and numbers with a thermal adhesive for heat application. Mostly used in sporting apparel.
- Heat Transfer or Transfer: An optional method replacing Silk Screen (Screen Printing) imprinting for detailed and multi-color imprints for a better appearance on certain substrate. It can be applied to a virtually unlimited range of surfaces: webbing, foam padding, insulated padding, PVC, nylon, neoprene, ABS, and almost any other substrate. The imprint is reproduced on the surface layer of the material. Heat transfers are done based on CYMK color process print and can’t match PMS colors. (Spot color prints can match PMS colors)
- Sublimation (Dye Sublimation): A digital printing process which uses heat and pressure to apply a design from transfer paper directly onto polyesters and specially-coated hard goods.
Embroidery Terms
- Appliqué: The process of replacing fill stitches with material to lower the stitch count of an embroidered design.
- Embroidery: Full stitching of designs or lettering onto items or apparel.
Artwork Terms
- Rasterd (Rasterized) Artwork: Raster is NOT the preferred format because it uses a fixed grid of colors known as ‘pixels’ to represent images. Each pixel is assigned a specific location and color value. If raster artwork is all you have, it must be 300 PPI (pixels per inch) for pictures and 800-1200 PPI for logos. Raster art is created with Adobe Photoshop (file extensions include .tif & .jpg, to name a few).
- .gif: A popular format for image files, with built-in data compression. Not recommended.
- .jpg: In computing, JPEG is a commonly used method of lossy compression for photographic images. Not recommended.
- .png: While the PNG image format has many benefits, it is not suitable for all purposes. For example, digital photos are still usually saved as JPEGs, since PNGs take up far more disk space. Now that most browsers and image editing programs support PNGs, it has become a popular file format for web developers and graphic artists. Not recommended.
- .psd: Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe System. Not recommended.
Color Terms
- 4 Color Process Printing (4CP): For full color, photorealistic reproduction using four colors of ink to print. Four colors of ink are combined to create the illusion of many more colors. Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) make up the colors for 4 Color Process.
- Pantone Matching System® (PMS): A standardized color matching system developed by Pantone Inc. Allows matching of printed colors regardless of the equipment used.
- RGB: A color model using red, green, and blue as base colors which are added together to produce a spectrum of other colors. RGB is the standard coloring for web and computers.
- Vector Artwork: Vector art is the preferred format because it can be easily re-sized or colored and the image quality stays the same. Vector art is created with Adobe Illustrator. File extensions include .eps and .ai
Screen Printing Terms
- Simulated Process Printing: The dark garment equivalent of 4 color process using up to 7 colors.
- Screen Printing or Silk Screened: Silk screening is the direct imprinting of a design or copy onto the surface of a product. The image is pressed through tensioned nylon mesh, leaving a paint-like appearance. This is generally a better imprint than Pad Printed, though it requires a relatively flat surface without obstructions. Our state-of-the-art techniques and machinery offer top quality screen printing: including liquid foil, crystalina, or clear soft-hand specialty inks.
- VibraTec: A revolutionary new decorating technology that allows stunning four-color process imprinting on a variety of products and surfaces. Photo-quality images and graphics can now be applied where previously only spot-color imprinting was available. This brilliant spectrum of full-color art and photography is only available on select items.
- Water-Based Digital Printing: For a truly environmentally-conscious statement, take advantage of Vantage’s eco-friendly digital printing. By utilizing water-based inks, the designs print without screens or films, use less ink, and have no excess ink waste. Ink cartridges are recycled to minimize environmental harm. Digital printing is available in our New Jersey location. Available on select items.
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
The most-engaged teams are the most productive. At Inproma, we tailor employee engagement programs just for your company and its goals.
Call 877-926-2246
Email info@inproma.com
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