Corel 09 Iul

Transcript

Published for the Association of CorelDRAW® Professionals (ACDRP) / www.coreldrawhelp.com CorelDRAW ® Help the entrepreneurial magazine for CorelDRAW® users worldwide J uly 2009 Uni sub ® Si l ver f or Phot os Using CorelDRAW: Cleaning Up Bitmap Artwork CorelDRAW Applied: Imposition Layout for Full-Color Image Transfers Inside Color: Color Correction is Just the Beginning Getting Ahead: Is Auto Digitizing for You? NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS July 2009 Help CorelDRAW ® 2 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 3 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® Inside ACDRP By Mike Neer, Executive Director Gain Another Perspective Published by Association of CorelDRAW® Professionals President: J ohn H. McDaniel Vice President: J udith McDaniel Executive Director: Michael R. Neer Assoc. Exec. Director: Steven V. Neer ACDRP Corporate Offce: Albany, OR OFFICES Membership & Publishing offces located at: 4549 N. Glenn, Suite 110, Fresno, CA93704; 800-276-8428, 559-276-8494 Fax 559-222-1390 www.CorelDRAWHelp.com [email protected] Subscriptions: Free to qualifed individuals and businesses. Send change of address to the above. ACDRP Membership: $60/yr., See the website for details. Includes exclusive content and more. Advertising: Request a Media Guide or download it from www.CorelDRAWHelp.com. Writers: CorelDRAWPro accepts articles from industry experts. Email publisher for details. © Copyright 2009 by ACDRP. All Rights Reserved. EDITOR / PUBLISHER – Michael R. Neer [email protected] GRAPHICS – J ohn Mise ADVERTISING – J ohn McDaniel II [email protected] 541-990-6687 JULY 2009 Help CorelDRAW ® Last week my oldest son, Matt, turned 21. I wanted to celebrate his birthday with a gift that he’d remember for a long time. After all, turning 21 is a big deal – and I think it means a lot more than being able to legally buy a beer. I had always wanted to take my boys on a plane ride, and we hadn’t had an opportunity since they were little and they don’t remember that. I always thought we’d travel to Washington, DC, or Orlando, FL, or someplace fun. But for this birthday, the idea popped up that maybe it wouldn’t cost too much to charter a fight in the local area. So I checked it out, and for $150-$200, we could charter a single-engine prop airplane and go for a one-hour ride above the Valley. Both my boys were amazed at how small everything looked from up there. The checkerboard pattern of farm lands, the spaghetti lines of roads, the wildly curving San J oaquin River, and even buildings like City Hall, the baseball stadium, the schools – they saw everything with a new perspective. And that’s my point for this column. Whenever we can step back from or above the daily routines and conficts, we are able to put things in perspective. Our everyday problems seem less problematic.. Our worries are just part of a bigger picture. This perspective is really comforting, relaxing, and gives us motivation to take a fresh start at our day’s activities. So when we’re worried about the economy, or about how our business is doing, or any number of other things in our lives, it’s a wonderful tonic to gain another perspective. J ust off the top of my head, I can think of four great ways to do just that: 1) Take an airplane ride. I don’t know about you, but I get rejuvenated fying up high. I can think more clearly, plan more, relax more. It’s as if I’m foating above the heavy stress of earth, and the inspiration and creativity is greater. 2) Take a vacation. One of our columnists, Donna Gray, plans at least one vacation every year with her husband Dave and another with some friends. They have a great time, and in that relaxed atmosphere they develop a marketing plan for the next 12 months. They come back ready revitalize the business – because they have been revitalized. 3 ) Ta k e a c o u r s e . Continuing education is one of the best ways to gain another perspective. We discover new ways to do things in our business, whether it’s marketing, finances, graphics, or production. We improve our skills so we have more value to offer our customers, and more leadership for our employees. 4) Take a daily Quiet Time. We are all so busy doing outward activity that we seldom take time to go within and be quiet. That puts us out of balance. However you do it -- meditation, prayer, walk in nature – it’s valuable to spend some time everyday settling down and just being. This is an immediate and satisfying way to gain another perspective. Watching TV and exercising don’t count. It’s got to be quiet time where the body and mind really relax. I’ve done all of these at one time or another, and the wonderful secret about gaining another perspective is that it also opens the door to creativity. It’s like we have to break out of our regular patterns in order to approach our projects with a creative eye and energy. For those who use CorelDRAW, it’s essential to cultivate another perspective regularly. See you up in the clouds. Have a nice fight! BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 4 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® 1.888.437.4564 • [email protected] From creating unique projects like architectural models to engraving on high-tech gadgets, our laser systems provide a wide variety of capabilities. Create all the products you see here with one very versatile laser system. Visit www.epiloglaser.com/coreldrawpro.htm for more information! Tech tattoos are just the beginning... Zing 24, 30-60 watt laser - 24" x 12" engraving area • Works like a printer - USB or Ethernet connection • Engrave on almost any surface • Easily cut wood, acrylic, plastic and much more • Just import an image and print • it to the laser All it takes is one idea. Zing 16 Systems Starting at $7,995! The New Zing 24 Laser System BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 Help CorelDRAW ® 5 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. July 2009 Magazine Sponsors Logo-Links Tour Sponsors Logo-Links Corel Corp. Web Ad Custom Graphic Technology Web Ad Epilog Laser Corp. Web Ad Geo. Knight & Co. Web Ad John E. Lepper Inc. Web Ad Johnson Plastics Web Ad LaserSketch Web Ad N&R International Web Ad Paramount Services Inc. Web Ad ProLink Graphics Web Ad SPONSOR INDEX DEPARTMENTS Click “Web” to go to sponsor’s website. Click “Ad” to go to the ad in this issue. Clicking the ad itself will go to website. LEARN! Apply! GROW! 3 Inside ACDRP: Gain Another Perspective 6 Graphics News Wire 26 Logo-Links 30 Focus: Embroidery Products 32 GNN Network 32 Marketplace 33 Contributing Writers CorelDRAW ® Help CONTENTS 7 Using CorelDRAW: Cleaning Up Bitmap Artwork by Dave Demoret 10 CorelDRAW Applied: Imposition Layout -- For Full-Color Image Transfers by John McDaniel 12 Inside Color: Color Correction is Just the Beginning by David Milisock 14 Inside Transfers: Unisub Silver Shines! by Bill Leek 16 Inside Screeen Printing: Setting Up the Press by Jeff McDaniel 19 Inside Sandblasting: Mask Equipment Requirements by Judy McDaniel 21 Inside Engraving: Hardware Design -- Bearings Part 2 by John McDaniel 23 Getting Ahead: Auto Digitizing: Is It Right For You? by Deborah Sexton 28 Marketing Secrets Staying Sharp in Summer’s Slump by Donna Gray 34 Traveling Tidbits: Las Vegas, Lone Pine, and Rising to a New Level by Otis Veteto “Giving away profts with the hope that we will make it up in volume is not the answer for how to get more business.” -- Donna Gray BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 6 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® GRAPHICS NEWS WIRE July 2009 Product News Headlines: Calendar (Web Link) Check out the upcoming training classes and trade shows of interest to CorelDRAW users. CorelDRAW ® Help • Stahls ID offers CAD-PRINTZ Wall Graphics • ASI launches email marketing tool for distributors • Pulse Microsystem adds Interactive Community to website • Hirsch adds new color blended font pack for Tajima units • Printa Systems offers Silver Pad Printing Package • Floriani Embroidery Commercial Div. offers No Show Nylon Mesh Fusible • Digital Art Solutions introduces Photo Tools Collection • Equipment Zone offers Printer Support Plans for DTG Units • Imprintables Warehouse has new premasking application tape • Unisub introduces ChromaLuxe Clear • Great Dane Graphics offers four new Kids Theme Stock Art • ASI introduces Distributor Success System • J ohnson Plastics to distribute ChromaLuxe Clear • Stahls ID releases new Zebra Print • RS Owens receives three PPAI Supplier Achievement Award Nominations • Scott Fresener introduces T-Seps Color Separation Software • Scott Fresener launches T-Biz Network • Imprintables Warehouse adds new blog on heat transfers • Cotswold offers new Eco-Stick BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS NEWS DETAILS (Click Here) July 2009 7 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® Using CorelDRAW® Training Cleaning Up Bitmap Artwork By Dave Demoret, Contributing writer ► Everyone knows all too well about getting Camera-Ready Art or Well-Scanned Images from every source there is, including from Professionals who are supposed to know. So, since we usually don’t get the art we need, 72dpi direct from the internet, we need to re-create a lot of it one way or another. Let’s take a look at one way to take an image in bitmap format and clean it up, change it to a vector format, and use as little time as necessary for the job. Keep in mind that this is just one way of doing this and also that you are in business to make money and not art master pieces. If you cannot proft from your work, you won’t work long. A customer sent in this image to show the kind of artwork they got from their customers all the time. This image really is in better shape than most and will be relatively easy to show how this process works. ASSESSING THE BITMAP 1. Import the bitmap image 2. Check the dpi and the sharpness of the image edges. 3. Here the original image was 10” x 7” at 72dpi. We have a 72dpi in comparison to a 293dpi image at the right, Figure 1. To get a higher dpi and sharper image, reduce the size of the image by selecting and dragging one of the corner nodes until you have the desired dpi range. 4. If your image color is fairly solid and the image is fairly sharp and clear of other debris, you may choose to do one of the methods to follow. 5. If you have an image that cannot be reduced to increase the dpi and sharpness, you may need to do the following steps. a) place the artwork in your scanner. you may need to print it frst if the bitmap was sent to you by eMail. b) Re-Scan the artwork at a higher dpi of no less than 300 and probably no more than 600dpi. This will usually allow you to get a cleaner image to start with. c) With the artwork at the higher dpi, you again may choose one of the methods below. Method 1: Converting the Artwork to Black & White The reason you are changing the image to black & white is for edge defnition, density of color and speed. Remember, you’re in business to make money. To do this, just follow these steps. 1. Select your new image, click on ‘bitmaps’ in the main menu. 2. Then, in the pull down menu select ‘Mode’. 3. In the ‘Mode’ fyout menu select ‘Black & White (1bit)’ as in Figure 2. 4. This will produce a pop-up menu as in Figure 3 where you will want to select ‘Line Art’ in the Conversion Method box also shown in Figure 3. 5. At this point you will select the new image, go to the Property Bar and click on Trace Bitmap and chose ‘Line Art’. 6. This will produce the best image in a vector format as in Figure 4. The image is clean and solid but the text in the artwork has been all but totally washed out of the image. Note: Notice the text has been removed in Figure 4. This is because the color of the text was not dark enough to reproduce as black in the conversion method. Most of the time you will want to select the proper BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 8 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® Using CorelDRAW® Training font and type it in yourself anyway. We don’t worry too much about the text converting since it is more desirable to use a “font” so you can do editing later. 7. You may now select the proper color to put back into the new vector image and add the text. (For more on how to add color & text, call us.) Method 2: Solidifying the Color The second method takes just a little more time but it is sometimes necessary due to very poor color density. you may choose to do the frst part of this method even if you fnish with the Black & White method. This is just to solidify the color (or increase the density). After assessing the bitmap, you may choose to clean up the color. That is, we will make the bitmap colors more of one solid color as opposed to the hundreds of color pixels seen in the original. 1. The frst step is to click on the bitmap image to select it. 2. Go to the Property Bar and click on ‘Edit Bitmap’. This should take you directly into Corel PHOTO-PAINT. 3. With the image in PHOTO-PAINT, if you zoom in closely you will easily see how different your colors are in each pixel as in Figure 5. We want to make them all the same color or red or blue. 4. While you are still zoomed in close, select the Eyedropper Tool and chose a dark blue pixel. 5. Notice the blue square at the bottom of your Tool Box on the left. This is the Foreground Color Square. There is also a double arrow icon next to it. This is for swapping colors of Foreground and Background Colors. 6. Click on the double arrow icon, placing the blue in the background, and then select a lighter shade of blue to be placed in the Foreground Color Square. Note: You may also use any color from the Color Palette to swap colors, as in Figure 7. 7. At this point you are ready to change all the pixels to one color. Simply go to the Paint Tool Flyout menu, just under the bucket in your Tool Box, and select the last icon... Replace Color Brush Tool. 8. You may want to increase or decrease your ‘Nib Size’ from your Property Bar for this tool. Here I have it at 60 but it will be relative to your zoom level and how BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 9 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® fast you want to change color. J ust hold down your left mouse button and drag to change colors. 8. In some cases you may also want to increase or decrease your ‘Color Tolerance’, or range. This will accept or reject certain pixels not falling into the tolerance you have selected. Play with this to see the different effect it will have on your image. 9. Now all you need do is to leave PHOTO-PAINT with either a copy and paste method (much safer) or just click on the X in the red box top left corner and select ‘yes’ when it asks if you wish to save changes. This step will automatically put you back into CorelDRAW and place your changed image on your page. 10. With your colors solid, you can now ‘Trace Bitmap’ in color and fnish your vector image using it as is or, keep the graphic and ad the text separately as in Figure 8. For more information on different techniques or individual questions you may call direct at the number below. We also have On-Line Training on Tuesdays as well as one-on-one On-Line Training available. I would love to hear comments and questions. Dave Demoret, founded Prolink Graphic Services to help people understand and proft from learning CorelDRAW. He has been in both the Flat Graphics Industry and the Decorating Graphics Industry over the past 30 years. Dave has used CorelDRAW® since version 3 and became a CorelDRAW Training Partner in 2006. During the past 5 years he has been conducting workshops all over the U.S. and is the author of several Video CDs & Instructional CDs on CorelDRAW. He can be reached at 765-DO COLOR (362-6567) or by email at [email protected] Using CorelDRAW® The legendary power of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite is all around you. In promotional items, brochures, logos, signs and so much more. ® © 2009 Corel Corporation. All rights reserved. Find out more at: Don’t own a previous version? Get started for free at www.corel.com/cdprotrial www.corel.co /cd m pro With extensive file compatibility and powerful automation and customization features to optimize your workflow, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 can deliver on any design project - from layout and photo editing to illustration and powerful bitmap-to-vector tracing. ® BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 10 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® CORELDRAW APPLIED By Judy and John McDaniel Learn ► I mposi t i on Layout – For Ful l -Col or I mage Tr ansf er s So far in this series we’ve showed how Imposition Layout in CorelDRAW can be used to duplicate layouts for standard labels; and then how it can be modifed to create custom layouts. To Review We can use Imposition Layout with Laser Engravers, Mechanical Engravers, Sublimation Printers, Vinyl Cutters, Sandblast Film Printers, etc., etc. Essentially we can use it with any output device that has a print driver for Windows, and even some that don’t. As we’ve shown before, to effectively use Imposition Layout we need to use the product’s size as the page size in CorelDRAW; or if we want to introduce a gutter between pieces, a page size that is slightly larger than the product size. And then in the output device’s printer driver use, (1) a standard paper size, or (2) a custom material size, or (3) the machine’s table size. Following this practice will allow us to duplicate and distribute one layout over the output material, creating as many copies as will ft. In some of the previous articles we have used this feature to “step and repeat” a static layout. Essentially applications where all the pieces produced are identical. Last time we showed how Imposition Layout can be used with variable information. Up to this point we have concentrated on simple projects that contain no photographic images, applications that are designed primarily for engraving. What we will tackle now is how we can apply imposition layout tools in full-color image transfer applications. First, where the image is static and text information is variable; then we’ll consider an application where pictures are a part of the variable data. Our First Project The frst project we will tackle is full-color name badges to wear in the offce and at trade shows. If you have a retail shop or sell your products at shows, fairs, etc., wearing company badges is excellent advertising. If at all possible it’s always good to wear your work. It shows potential customers one of the products you can create for them. The frst decision we need to make is badge size and image transfer method. For our purposes (advertising and identifcation) we will select a pre-cut 2x3 inch badge and transfer the image via sublimation. That will give us lots of area for a full color print with vibrant colors. Since we don’t want to produce badges one at a time, our frst task is to create or purchase a holding fxture, i.e. production jig. For sublimation image transfer purposes, our fxture needs to be able to withstand temperatures in a heat press (approximately 400° F), so it needs to be made from heat resistant materials. By doing a little research on the web we found a pre-cut badge blank and production jig fxture available from Unisub. The product number for the badge is 5530 and for the fxture is 5941. Basic CorelDRAW templates are available for both items on their website, and the products are available from a number of sublimation material suppliers. The basic template for the badge is shown in picture 1, and for the production jig is picture 2. Both of these are OK but need a little more work to make them really usable. The Badge Template We’ll start by modifying the badge template. You’ll notice it’s setup on an 8.5 x 11 inch page, with Basic CorelDRAW template for a name badge. BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 11 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® CORElDRAW APPlIED a text description of the two colored rectangles, a blue rectangle on top of a green one. let’s frst defne what those areas are. The blue rectangle represents the product’s size; the green one is a suggested overprint area, otherwise known as bleed. The purpose of the bleed is to insure the entire surface of the badge is printed. If you don’t overprint the transfer a little, you run the risk of having a white edge showing on the fnished product. That said, everything that must appear on the product must ft within the blue area. The template is not usable in its present state, except as a guide. Any background image can be placed within the green rectangle using the PowerClip command, and the blue rectangle can be used as a reference for what will appear on the product. However, we do not want to print the text, and probably want to print more than one image on a sheet of transfer paper; or at the very least have the option of using a smaller sheet. To make the template more usable I would suggest the following changes: 1. Delete the text -- left click on the text and press the delete key on the keyboard. 2. Resize the page to the size of the green rectangle -- 3.25 x 2.25 inches in landscape mode, change the page size on the property bar with nothing in the layout selected. 3. Make sure the rectangles are centered on the new page -- If they are not, select both rectangles and then press the P key on the keyboard. 4. Give the blue rectangle a blue outline (or any other color you would like) and remove its fll -- left-click on the blue rectangle, then left-click in the X well on the color palette to remove the fll, and right-click blue on the color palette to create a blue outline. 5. Give the green rectangle a green outline and remove its fll -- left-click on the green rectangle, then left-click in the X well on the color palette to remove the fll, and right-click green (or any other color you would like) on the color palette to create an outline. Production jig available from Unisub. 6. Make sure the Object Manager Docker is visible -- If it’s not, click on Tools/ Object Manager, or Windows/Dockers/Object Manager 7. In the Object Manager, create a new layer (for convention I have named the layer Product Outline). 8. Optionally rename the original layer Print Area. 9. Drag the Blue Outline and drop it on the Product Outline layer. 10. Turn the Product Outline layer off for printing and editing. Left-click the printer and pencil icons next to the layer name in the Object Manager Docker. 11. Create another new layer (I’ve named this the Background layer). Drag this layer below the Print Area layer. We will use this layer to import any background picture we want to use for the product. 12. Create one fnal new layer to contain any text and additional graphics we want to print on the product. 13. Make sure the layers are ordered top down -- Text & Graphics, Product Outline, Print Area, and Background; and make sure Product Outline is off for printing and editing. 14. Save the layout as a CorelDRAW Template, click on File/Save As Template. See picture 3 for the completed template. Conclusion What we have accomplished so far is to take a manufacturer’s product template and modify it for our use. The original template had a single item on the page and was not suitable for use with Imposition Layout or Print Merge. We have changed all of that. Next time we will start with the revised template and populate it with a background and text for use with Print Merge. Judy and John McDaniel are owners of JHM Marketing and CorelDRAWhelp, Inc. They provide consulting and training services for the industry. Currently they are both Corel Training Partners. They offer private training; as well as one-on-one application support through an email subscription service. (For information on training services offered and their application support service visit www.CorelDRAWhelp. com. (For information on the Association of CorelDRAW Professionals, please visit www.CorelDRAWPro.com.) They can be reached via email at JHMcDaniel@ CorelDRAWhelp.com. Completed template. CDH BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 12 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® INSIDE COLOR By David Milisock Learn Col or Cor r ec t i on i s Just t he Begi nni ng What I’ve done here, with the gracious consent of my friend and colleague Nancy Seibert of Advanced Signs and Graphics, is to set up a situation where we can discuss not only color correction but simple image manipulation. Captures A and B are the end result of an image capture of Nancy and some author who thinks he knows some stuff about color, converted from RAW to Prophoto RGB, with all the details as shown in capture C and then converted to U.S. coated V2 CMYK. The most interesting and diffcult concept of color is that in many instances there is no right or wrong. I left the images on A and B in the fle as high resolution so you can zoom in on them and examine them more closely. If we place 20 people into a room and view these two images we may get as many as 20 different opinions. In my experience you’ll get 3 to 5 different opinions for sure! The arguments will go like this: Well, A or B (depending on the opinion) has more natural fesh tones, and B or A has more accurate whites. All of these discussions are wonderful and are the things that build character in the group. Needless to say, in the end on a calibrated system, it is this character that will be making the decisions on how the image should be corrected. I have a very long term relationship with my monitor, a Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 91TXM and know that it and no other monitor display exactly like the print. The display system is regularly calibrated and work is always checked against the print. In the case of these two images both display well; image A displays just close to being too fat and too blue/green, and image B displays just being on the edge of being too warm, but the contrast value is smoother in the shadow tones. (Not to mention the corrections for camera faults that we will discuss later.) With that said on the Heidelberg press that we regularly use when we run to the calibrated densitometer numbers, the slight color shift will be toward the blue/green. Also I converted these using the Adobe U.S. Coated V2 CMYK as it is readily available for all to use for proper previewing of this article. Normally I would have used a Kodak CMyK profle that shipped with an older version of CorelDRAW which I believe is a superior CMyK profle. So the argument goes back and forth about the color, and the fact is that while we may have our opinion, there is a spread in the shifts in the color that are acceptable because in the end it comes down to our opinion. Among the general opinion of the population of our client base, repeatable, acceptable or exceptional results in color are some of what brings them back. So what are some of the other parts that bring the clients back? In my opinion, achieving the goal of the shot! In this case, we wanted snap shots that could be used to help promote our companies via print, web and self promotion. The key word was SNAP SHOTS, to look natural. Not model shots or product shots. So what we simply do is to try and remove any errors ► BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 13 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® InSIDE COlOR CDH induced by the capture process while retaining the natural look of the subject. Notice in image A that there is a very slight amount of red eye, on her right cheek and nose there was a touch of sheen. Around the mouth there was some shine that was also removed. All these things have been removed in image B. Image A has, in my opinion, issues due to this sheen. Your eye does not properly focus on the center of the face of the subject. I prefer the focus of an image of a person to be on the subject’s eyes and toward the center, left and right, of the image if at all possible. The only editing done of this image was to convert from RAW to Prophoto, color correction using only the tone curves, via LAB, Adobe RGB and U.S. coated V2 color spaces, and this included the contrast adjustment. There was also a very slight amount of cloning to remove the refection from the light source. NO SMOOTH SKIN, or any other effects. Only the tone curves and the aforementioned cloning. Image B, when almost fnished, displayed one issue that irked me and that was the shine in Nancy’s left eye, right as we look at the image. This shine caused the viewer’s focus to shift right instead of to the center. You will have to zoom into the eyes on both images to get the full effect of how subtle this adjustment is. I used the clone tool and removed just a very slight amount of that shine in her left eye. This brings the viewer’s focus back toward the center of the face and creates a more pleasant experience when viewing this image. David Milisock, president of Custom Graphic Technologies Inc. of Lancaster, PA, has been in the print production business since 1975. He specializes in professional support for CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite. He started supporting CorelDRAW fles for print output with V4. Output includes computer to plate processes for all commercial digital front-end applications, as well as Postscript-compliant graphic applications. He offers technical and color management support for all RIP-driven corporate digital output systems, and also offers Giclee printing. He can be reached at 717-509-3523 or [email protected]. What Readers Say about CorelDRAWHelp Magazine Digital Format Well thought out. Well designed. Easy to follow links. Better than a snail-mail magazine because the provided links give immediate access to addtional information and resources! Leo Lennemann, Sandra Lee’s Trophy & Gift, Grove, OK I think it is easy to get around in page by page in pdf format. J ohn J Runyon, South Metro Wire EDM Inc., Shakopee MN I look forward to each issue. I actually print it and keep it in a binder for future reference. ... You continue to help my awards business grow due to the educational and how-to articles. Rob Thomas, Celebrations, Farmington, MO Excellent Content This magazine is a great resource. I have gained a great deal of insight into the program, and I’ve also found sources of supply. Nelson Wood, Wood’s Wood Works, Caledonia MI I love reading CorelDRAWHelp! It’s quite informative and really gets my creative juices fowing. Debbie Santiago, New J acob’s Chapel, Clermont, FL Keeps me up to date. Look forward to it. Save every issue and print articles of interest to put into my ‘training’ book for employees. Chris Williams, Created For You, Horsehoe Bay, TX Helps keep me informed about new products and new ways to use CorelDRAW. Lawrence Coen, Coen Enterprises & Graphics, Elkhart,KS Your articles help keep me up to date on many new technological methods which are a tremendous help in my style of business. Gary Whitener, Cody Tees, Ste. Genevieve, MO I like all of it! It is [full of] very informative, clear, concise articles. Trish Stuart, Twisted Threads, Emory, TX Great info in every issue. Dennis Duval, Duval’s Custom Etched Glass, J asper, TX CorelDRAWHelp is like a refresher course; it lets me in on better ways to do graphic techniques. A time saver. Dianne Beck, Poulsbo Church, Poulsbo, WA I appreciate the fact that CorelDRAWHelp is focused on helping the business owner become successful. I haven’t read an issue that hasn’t given me something to assist my business. J im Good, A2Z Engraving, Madison, AL BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 14 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® INSIDE TRANSFERS By Bill Leek Apply Universal Woods/Unisub®of Louisville, KY, has just released a new series of products built around a great new silver aluminum substrate with a clear scratch and UV-resistant sublimation coating that will appeal to both the photographic and personalized products markets. The photographic reproduction products are marketed as CHROMALUXE CLEAR™. They provide an exciting addition to the already highly successful ChromLuxe white-coated photo product line. The ChromaLuxe high-defnition photo panels are unlike anything else available. The special clear coating on silver aluminum provides photographers with a unique and modern look to images that cannot be replicated using any other technique. Photographers have sought a method for printing their images on silver for some time. Some silver-coated inkjet papers have been released, but they have not come close to the look and durability of this new Unisub product. Black-and-white photographers will particularly like the highly refective gloss aluminum fnish. landscapes, product shots, and portraits come to life with a stunning, elegant appearance. ChromaLuxe Clear opens up a whole new printing dimension for them. ChromaLuxe panels are .045” thick and have .25” rounded corners. They are available in 8x10, 11x14, 11.5x11.5, and 16x20 sizes. I would like to see a 12x16 panel that could be printed on a 13x19 format printer and transferred on a 16x20 heat press. As with all Unisub products, pressing time is only a minute and obtaining good results is virtually foolproof. The panels can be displayed in many different ways. Unisub offers an inexpensive offset mounting system. Vintage black-and-white photos can be mounted in a variety of nostalgic wood frames. I particularly like using low profle shadowbox modular metallic frames that complement the image. These are available in many fnishes and are relatively inexpensive. HOW TO GET THE BEST RESULTS ChromaLuxe Clear will work best with higher contrast, slightly darker images. Proper image selection and adjustment is key for optimum results. Soft, pastel prints on silver will appear washed out and kind of gimmicky. When working with color, images with more intense colors and somewhat harsher light will provide the most stunning results. Cars, motorcycles and anything that has chrome on it are perfect subjects. Dramatic landscapes (Ansel Adams) sunsets and seascapes also look great on this material. If your source photo does not meet these requirements, you can add contrast using the TONE CURVE adjustment in Corel PHOTO-PAINT®and apply an S CURVE. (An illustration of this is included). UNI SUB SI LVER SHI NES! Unisub’s Brand New Sublimation Substrate Produces Dramatic Results S CURVE: Using PhotoPaint apply an S Curve as illustrated to increase contrast of your image prior to transfer. ► BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 15 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® InSIDE tRAnSFERS WAIT….THERE’S MORE! In addition, Universal Woods has released license plates, name badges, id tags and clock kits made from the same silver aluminum. These are marketed as UNISUB SILVER™. The combination of great looks, durability and the extra thickness of the .045 aluminum make this product line world class. The photos in this article speak for themselves. CONCLUSIONS: Universal Woods again shines and stands out as a true innovator and market leader in the sublimation marketplace. ChromaLuxe Clear™ and Unisub Silver™ are exceptional imprintable substrates. Order some samples today. You won’t be disappointed. Bill Leek is a industry writer based in Houston,TX. He has over 30 years experience in computer engineering and graphics design. He has developed several lines of color imprintable products, and has done testing on a variety of products for different manufacturers. He can be reached at [email protected] or 281-970-6677. CHROME SILVER SATIN: The beauty of ChromaLux Clear is demonstrated in this high contrast image with vibrant colors. LICENSE PLATE: License Plates produced with Unisub Silver have a dramatic look and are extremely durable. SMALL SILVER ITEMS: Unisub Silver provides a perfect substrate for these high quality name badges and id tags. CDH BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 16 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® INSIDE SCREEN PRINTING By Jeff McDaniel Apply Background At the end of our last article, our screens were in the drying cabinet after transferring the image to our capillary flm. In this article, we are going to re- install our screens on the screen printing press and set up to print. Our setup and yours Our setup is the Printa 770 series screen printing machine from Printa Systems Inc. All of the supplies and tools we will cover from here on were provided in the turn-key system from Printa with the 770. Your setup may be from another source but will most likely contain components of what we will discuss below. Some specifc features of the Printa 770 that apply to this article There are a couple of features on the Printa 770 that make re-aligning your screens very easy. The screens used with the Printa 770 have tapered alignment pins on the back side that slip into the press armatures (see Image 1). This allows us to be close to aligned simply by placing the screen back on the press. The armatures have linear, skew, and angle micro adjustments for easy re-alignment of the screen (see Image 2). Re-aligning your screens to the artwork After transferring our artwork from positive to the screen, we need to re-align our screens. Generally we will leave the exposure unit on the machine with the trap or choke layer artwork on top. Next we will place our screen back on the printing press armature and lower the artwork over our exposure unit. If you look closely at our screen you can see that the artwork is slightly shifted (see Image 3). This job is fairly simple and we could probably leave the screen where it is, but we have found that it is always a good idea to line everything up as closely as possible to avoid halting the production run once we have started. To align the artwork on the Printa we simply unlock the armature and adjust the micro adjustments until our artwork is correctly aligned (see Image 4). The registration marks we printed on our original artwork and washed out in the screen are an excellent indicator of how close we are. Once we have our frst layer done we will proceed to our next screen and check it against our trap artwork (see Image 5). If necessary, we can again unlock Set t i ng Up t he Pr ess ► Image 1: Tapered alignment pins slip into the press armatures on the Printa 770. Image 2: The armatures have linear, skew, and angle micro adjustments for easy re- alignment of the screen. Image 3: If you look closely at our screen you can see that the artwork is slightly shifted. Image 4: To align the artwork on the Printa we simply unlock the armature and adjust the micro adjustments. BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 17 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® InSIDE SCREEn PRIntInG the armature and use the micro-adjustments to bring the artwork into proper alignment. Installing the Platens Now that we are satisfied with the alignment of our artwork, we can install the platens. Our press has 4 printing stations on it so we can install 4 platens. We use a set amount of space between our platen and the screen armature so that all of our platens have the same relative distance from armature to platen (see Image 6). After placing the platens we strip off the old protective tape and place new tape on the platen surface (see Image 7). The protective tape we use is a standard 16-18 tack transfer tape that we also use in the shop to transfer vinyl lettering. Before we fnish preparing our platens we need to double-check our height offset between our screen and our platen (see ► Image 5: Once we have our frst layer done we will proceed to our next screen and check it against our trap artwork. Image 6: We make sure that all of our platens have the same relative distance from armature to platen. Image 7: After placing the platens we strip off the old protective tape and place new tape on the platen surface. Image 8: Before we fnish preparing our platens, we need to double-check our height offset between our screen and our platen. Image 9: To apply platen adhesive simply lay a bead down on the platen. Image 10: Use a squeegee to create a thin layer of adhesive across the entire surface. BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 18 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® InSIDE SCREEn PRIntInG Image 8). This screen has a little more than 5/32”(about 4mm) of clearance between the screen and the platen. The clearance allows the screen to snap away from the garment during the printing stroke. If you are working with heavier garments like thick sweatshirts a larger clearance might be required. Once we are happy with the clearance between our screen and platen we can fnish preparing the platen for use. During the printing process we need something that will hold the garment frmly in place while we screen print our image. To achieve this we use a platen adhesive. Platen adhesive is somewhat like the old white wood glue that we used to use in school. The platen adhesive however does not completely dry. To apply platen adhesive simply lay a bead down on the platen (see Image 9) and use a squeegee to create a thin layer of adhesive across the entire surface (see Image 10). You can test to see if the adhesive is suffciently dry for use by touching it with your fnger. If your fnger comes away wet, the adhesive needs to dry further. When the adhesive is properly dried, it should feel sticky but not wet. Masking off the screens The parts of the screen that are not covered by capillary flm must be masked off so that the ink will not fow through the blank areas onto the work piece. For masking off our screens we use a special screen masking tape. The screen masking tape can be overlapped if necessary to cover wide areas that are not covered by the capillary flm. Our frst image shows the screen partially masked off (see Image 11). We will continue to lay down the tape until the entire blank area of the screen is covered (see Image 12). Using block out Block out is a liquid that can be used to cover pin holes and imperfections in our screen. We generally like to use block out on the underside of the screen where the alignment marks are (see Image 13). We apply the block out with a small squeegee. Once the block out is applied it takes 10-15 minutes to dry (see Image 14). Conclusion In this article we covered re-aligning our artwork, setting up our platens, and masking out our screens. In our next article, we will set up our fash cure unit and start printing. Jeff McDaniel is the Owner/Operator of Creative Graphic in Philomath, Oregon. Creative Graphic offers services including laser engraving, rotary engraving, sandblasting, sublimation, image transfers, vinyl signs, banners, screen printing, and promotional products. Jeff routinely applies graphics to a wide variety of materials. You can contact Jeff by email at [email protected]. CDH Image 11: Our frst image shows the screen partially masked off. Image 12: We will continue to lay down the tape until the entire blank area of the screen is covered. Image 13: We generally like to use block out on the underside of the screen where the alignment marks are. Image 14: We apply the block out with a small squeegee. Once the block out is applied it takes 10- 15 minutes to dry. BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 19 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® INSIDE SANDBLASTING By John and Judy McDaniel Applications Mask Equi pment Requi r ement s ► In our frst article we explained some of the reasons we chose sandblasting. We went on to defne decorative sandblasting as “The controlled disruption of a material’s surface resulting in a recognizable pattern”. We further explained that (1) surface disruption is achieved using a pressurized abrasive air stream; and (2) control is achieved using masks/resists/stencils, and with artistic use of the abrasive air stream. As a result, the basic requirements for a sandblast operation can be divided into two major categories: The equipment needed for the sandblast process, i.e. to create and control the abrasive air stream… This equipment includes: I. A blast cabinet -- Pressure pot or Siphon system. II. Nozzles to shape the air stream III. A dust collector. IV. An air compressor. The equipment needed to create sandblast masks/ resists/stencil includes: I. A computer system with graphic software – CorelDRAW, etc. II. A mask-making system of some type. A. For Photo Masking…An inkjet or laser printer, and a UV exposure unit B. For Vinyl Masking…A vinyl cutter C. For Laser Masking…A laser engraver is required; A rotary attachment is recommended As with all equipment purchases, there are various confgurations you can choose at differing budgets. You can add a decent sandblasting system with photo masking capability to your operation, assuming you already have a computer, for as little as $2500 to $3000. If you’re starting from scratch without anything, plan on $3500 to $5000. From there, other features may be acquired later which can bring your total investment closer to $10,000 to $15,000. Your equipment choices should be dictated by your customers’ needs and as always by your anticipated revenues. So far we provided an overview of the equipment needed for the sandblast process; and last time we covered the basic computer system requirements. This time we will provide an overview of the equipment needed to create sandblast masks/resists/stencils. Mask Creation Systems… Once you have your design completed in the computer, you need some method to create a sandblast mask from it. Currently there are 3 main methods of doing that: (1) photo-masking, (2) vinyl cutting, and (3) laser masking. Each method has varying artwork and equipment requirements. The following is a brief overview of the equipment requirements for each method. We will cover each in greater detail in future articles. Photo-Masking This method uses some type of computer printer and ultraviolet (UV) exposure unit. The most basic, cost effective confguration will include an inkjet printer, inkjet receptive flm, and a simple UV exposure unit. Costs for such a setup should be less than $500 for flm sizes up to 8.5 x 10 inches. Inkjet receptive flm is around $1.00 per sheet and is suitable for high detailed work. Not all inkjet printers will work well with inkjet receptive flm; check with the flm supplier for their recommendations. A laser printer and velum will also work very well for most photo-mask applications. However, for very detailed images, such as photographic halftones, or images with fne lines, a laser printer and velum won’t provide suffcient detail. For fne detail work, you will need an inkjet system or direct-to-flm printer. The advantages of photo-masking are: (1) high detail, and (2) low initial equipment costs. The disadvantages are: (1) high consumables costs, and (2) limitations of image size. For large images, photo-masking equipment and consumables can be very costly. Vinyl Cutting Cutting vinyl for masking has been used for many years and actually predates all other methods. Some artists cut vinyl by hand. First they apply it to the product, draw their design on the surface, and then cut it by hand. This method is typically used for one-of-a-kind designs. Computer-controlled vinyl cutters are generally used for multi-piece production. Desktop vinyl cutters are available in the $600 to $800 dollar range; foor models in the $1000 to $5000 dollar range. The advantages of vinyl-masking are: (1) low cost of consumable material, (2) large image sizes are easy to create, and (3) vinyl is suitable to Example of a glass with laser masking. BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 20 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® InSIDE SAnDblAStInG CDH use on materials that can be damaged by water like wood. The disadvantages of vinyl-masking are: (1) it is not suitable for highly detailed images, and (2) vinyl requires additional steps in application. Adding a vinyl cutter to your equipment inventory will have the advantage of giving you the ability of creating vinyl signs. Laser Masking A laser engraver is another device that can be used for creating sandblast masks. Several companies are producing flms that can be applied to glass and then cut with a laser engraver. This form of masking can produce excellent detail. To purchase a laser for this purpose would cost in the area of $10,000 to $15,000 dollars. Adding a laser engraver will also add all types of laser-engraved items to your available product offerings and expand your capabilities. Conclusion Setting up a sandblast operation is easy and relatively inexpensive. Complete photo mask startup packages that include some photo mask materials, an exposure unit, a pressure pot cabinet, and a dust collector start in the $1500 range. To this package you would only need to add an air compressor and computer, assuming you didn’t already have one. You could also choose to create masks with a vinyl cutter or laser engraver. Then you wouldn’t necessarily need the photo-masking component of the package. You could cut masks with the vinyl cutter, or burn them with the laser. In short, sandblasting is one of the least expensive and most rewarding personalization processes you can add to your business. Next time we will describe some of the products that you can create with sandblasting along with the type of masking that was used for each item. Judy McDani el and her husband John are owners of JHM Market i ng and CorelDRAW ® help, Inc. They provide consulting and training services for the industry. Currently they are both Corel Training Partners. They offer private training at selected locations throughout the U.S., and on location for corporate customers. They have a series of interactive CDs teaching CorelDRAW ® available at the CorelDrawHelp.com bookstore. In addition, they provide one-on-one CorelDRAW ® Application Support Service through CASS, an email subscription service. (For information on training services offered and their application support service visit www.CorelDRAWhelp.com.) You may contact them via email at [email protected]. Help CorelDRAW ® BOOKSTORE BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 21 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® INSIDE ENGRAVING By John McDaniel Apply ► Har dwar e Desi gn: Bear i ngs, Par t 2 Individual machine components work together to produce the engraved products we sell. These components include Motors, the Drive Unit, Guide Rai l s, Encoders, Tachometers (Speed Control ), Bearings, Spindles, Material Hold Down, and the Electronic Interface. Many engineering techniques are used in different machines to accomplish a similar result. The differences between these techniques determine the machine’s Accuracy, Reliability, Serviceability, and Obsolescence. The quality and accuracy of machine components, properly chosen during the design of the machine, have a direct effect on the reliability of our machine, and the quality of our products. In past articles, we’ve discussed Motors, the Drive Unit, Guide Rails, Encoders, and touched on Bearings. This time we’ll conclude our look at bearings and their application in spindles that are used in mechanical engraving machines. Parts Move on Bearings As we pointed out last time, every part that moves in an engraving machine moves on a bearing. Bearings are in the motors; they attach the table or gantry to the lead screws. They allow the gantry or table to move on the rails. They attach the Z platform to the frame. In mechanical engravers, they are contained within the spindle, and allow the cutting tool to rotate. The type and quality of bearings used in a machine’s design have a tremendous impact on the type of work the machine is capable of; and the quality of work the machine will produce. For mechanical engraving equipment, lightweight bearings will not stand up under the loads produced in deep 3D cutting or in shallow cutting of some materials. In laser engraving equipment, transport bearings keep the laser beam properly positioned. Sloppy bearings will always produce sloppy work. In previous articles, we’ve discussed the lead screw and lead screw nut, lead screw bearings, and rail bearings. The last remaining area for discussion of bearings is the spindle. Spindle Bearings In a mechanical engraver, the cutting tool must be free to rotate without wobble; while at the same time, it must not be able to move in an axial direction. Cutting tool wobble is referred to as run-out, and axial movement is movement in the direction of the axis of a shaft. (See Picture 1) Largely, the bearings used in a spindle’s design determine how well it can perform its functions and overcome natural mechanical forces exerted during cutting. Rotational Movement The frst and primary motion of a spindle is rotational. Every spindle is equipped with some type of radial bearing (picture 2), which permits shaft rotation in a stationary fxture. The radial bearing must permit the cutting tool to rotate on the exact center of the shaft. If it doesn’t, and the cutter wobbles, it will produce little donut-shaped movements, which will at least, widen the cut path, and at worst, produce visible irregularities. Radial bearings can be sleeve or ball bearings. Sleeve bearings are less expensive to implement, but will wear over time and produce run-out. Ball bearings provide superior wear and tighter tolerances. An ABEC number grades ball bearings in quality; ABEC stands for Annular Bearing Engineers Committee. ABEC-1 is standard; ABEC-3 is a precision bearing and has less looseness and run-out than ABEC-1. ABEC-3, -7, and -9 progressively decrease looseness and run- out, and increase their degree of precision as the dash number increases. BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 22 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® InSIDE EnGRAvInG Axial Movement Another motion the spindle’s cutting tool is subject to is plunging into the material. This motion creates an upward push on the cutter. If the cutter is loose in the shaft, it will simply move up and not cut into the material. In addition, if the cutter were a spiral futed end mill, once it began cutting, it would tend to pull itself down into the material. In either case, the depth of cut would not be consistent. Standard radial bearings are not designed to resist axial movement. No matter how precise the bearing, all radial bearings will allow some axial movement. There is a special class of bearings, known as thrust bearings (picture 3), which do resist axial movement. Thrust bearings can be as simple as brass-washers, wave-washers; or as sophisticated as angular contact ball bearings. All are designed to resist axial movement. Many spindles are produced without any form of thrust bearings. They rely on the resistance of the radial bearings for thrust movements. This design is acceptable for very light duty engraving. Some spindle designs incorporate brass washers or wave washers to resist thrust movement. These designs, although an improvement, are not much better; they should only be considered for light to medium work. The most rugged designs will incorporate angular contact ball bearings. Angular contact means that the bearing race is offset on an angle. An angular contact ball bearing will resist axial movement in one direction. They are designed to be used in pairs, one to resist movement in one direction, the other to resist movement in the opposite direction. The bearing pairs are “preloaded”, that is locked together on the spindle shaft, thereby resisting axial movement in either direction. Conclusion The most critical bearing in a spindle’s design is the radial bearing(s). In any engraving application, a poor quality radial bearing will produce run-out, which in turn can affect engraving quality. As far as thrust bearings are concerned, if your primary application is diamond drag, and you are using a spring- loaded tool; or if you’re using a nosecone that rides on the material’s surface, then you shouldn’t be too concerned about minor axial movement. On the other hand, quality thrust bearings are vital if your work requires precisely controlling cutting depths. As with any design feature, it is important to decide the type of work your machine will be required to perform. Spindle designs that incorporate high quality, heavy- duty bearings will generally cost more. In fact, precision spindles can cost more than some entire engraving machines. However, if performance, quality, and versatility are requirements, they’re worth every penny. Next time we’ll conclude our look at spindles, and focus on tool holding methods. Judy and John McDaniel are owners of JHM Marketing and CorelDRAW ® help, Inc. They provide consulting and training services for the industry. Currently they are both Corel Training Partners and offer private and group training seminars. They also offer one-on-one application support consulting through CASS, an email subscription service. (For more information, please visit www.CorelDRAWhelp.com.) They can be reached via email, at [email protected]. CDH BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 23 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® GETTING AHEAD By Deborah Sexton Grow Auto Digitizing: Is it Right for You? ► A look at the pros and cons of automatic digitizing software. E veryone loves the fantasy of simply pressing a button to complete a task, no matter its complexity. Imagine quickly cleaning your messy offce by just hitting a button. Or fnishing all of your incomplete orders at the touch of a button. Or digitizing designs with the press of a button. Good news: You really can convert artwork into an embroidery-ready design with just a few button presses, thanks to auto digitizing software. However, you must have a realistic understanding of the strengths and limitations of the technology if you want to get the most out of it instead of getting distracted by fantasies, suppliers say. “Many people get the impression that they just scan in the design, and there’s nothing more that needs to be done,” says Toby Diamond, software support specialist, Brother, Bridgewater, N.J . “That’s not the case.” Beyond the Fantasy Basically, auto digitizing software’s “magic” is that it converts artwork into embroidery with only limited user input. This type of program, which generally is part of a larger embroidery design software package, also can do lettering using any True Type font from your computer. “The software does all the thinking and heavy lifting,”explains Preeti Suri, director, marketing services, Pulse Microsystems, Mississauga, Ontario. “It automatically applies stitches to segments based on mathematical algorithms.” However, the seemingly straightforward promise of auto digitizing software — converting graphics into embroidery-ready digitizing — is sometimes either misrepresented or misunderstood. “You have to make sure you understand what you’re getting,” says J osh Orosco, support manager and education director, Pantograms, Tampa, Fla. “It’s not going to take care of all your digitizing needs.” Adds Suri: “Some companies give people a false belief that they can magically transform artwork into embroidery with just the click of a button. No technology available today can create stellar designs from artwork in a completely hands-free, automated way,” she says. “Technology cannot substitute for the skill and experience of a digitizer — but it can come close in some cases, depending on the artwork.” “It does speed up the process, but it will never replace the quality of manual digitizing,” notes DJ Anderson, director, Floriani Embroidery, Knoxville, Tenn. “However, some elements convert properly and you can use it along with manual digitizing.” What’s most important to understand about auto digitizing software is that it doesn’t magically eliminate the variables involved in embroidery, including type of fabric, artwork size and quality, and stitch density—but that it’s still a useful tool, if used for the right applications. “In the absence of human judgment and input, an automatic digitizing tool can only follow its basic written instructions,” says J oe Wirsing, sales manager, Compucon, Greensboro, N.C. “It requires intelligent human evaluations for decisions such as the best sequence for sewing color blocks, ideal placement of the frst/last stitch locations for each color, or efficient routing from one block of color to the next.” Some auto digitizing programs will let you choose from a limited selection of fabrics that the design will be sewn on. But even if it has a piqué knit selection, for example, there are many varieties of piqué knits that will require digitizing adjustments that the program can not automatically compensate for. Photo courtesy of Wilcom, Norcross, Ga. BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 24 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® GEttInG AHEAD ► Charuta Maranthe, product manager, Wilcom DecoStudio and EmbroideryStudio, Wilcom, Norcross, Ga., agrees. “You still need to understand what makes embroidery-friendly artwork and adjust your designs before converting to embroidery.” At Its Best Which applications make the most sense, then for auto digitizing software? Suppliers say that it’s ideal for simple, clean artwork with a minimum of colors, often requiring only a minimum of adjustments. “It works well for smaller orders,” Diamond says, “as well as simple designs like letterman’s jacket logos and block or script lettering.” The software lends itself well to simple designs and bolder shapes, as well as fll stitches and satin stitches, Diamond says. Higher-end auto digitizing software also works well with small lettering. An educat i onal t ool . Auto digitizing software also can serve as a learning tool, industry veterans say. “I wouldn’t consider it a digitizing lesson, but it might tell you on a small shape that you shouldn’t use silk, for example,” Diamond says. “You can get up to speed a lot quicker and it’s a less daunting way to start embroidery. It doesn’t replace human creativity or judgment, but is a tool to improve productivity or to help beginners create embroidery designs with little or no experience,” Maranthe says. “Start with the auto digitizing, and when you’re ready, you can learn more advanced, feature-rich programs. However, some suppliers say that auto digitizing software is a less-than-ideal way to learn digitizing. “It helps you get a leg up while you’re learning how to digitize, but your time is better spent with a full-featured program,” Orosco says. “There’s only one way to learn to digitize, and that’s to sit down and do it.” A starting point. The software can be extremely helpful in digitizing a design that users can then edit to create a fnal design. “you can’t tweak density or underlay or add pull compensation but you can do basic editing,” Orosco says. “Professionals can speed up their digitizing time by using the automatic conversion to stitches as a starting point,” Maranthe suggests. “Then they simply edit and add more creativity to it using manual digitizing tools.” J ust be sure that you’re aware of the true extent to which you can edit designs using auto digitizing software. “You can’t edit your way to paradise,” Wirsing says. “But you can edit your way to an improvement.” Small orders. “Auto digitizing software is great if you don’t want to wait for turnaround on digitizing, or you don’t want the expense of sending it out for just one or two pieces,” Diamond says. Est i mat es. For complex designs, auto digitizing software can be helpful as a stitch estimator, suppliers say. “Embroiderers can use the program to estimate the number of stitches the fnal design will have,” Suri says. “This saves them a lot of time and effort, as they don’t have to digitize the design frst — and the estimates are quite accurate for the purpose of quoting.” Adds Wirsing: “In two minutes, you can have an idea of the design’s stitch count. Auto digitizing is a very quick way to get an overview of the count for pricing purposes.” Best Results Users who get the most satisfaction from their auto digitizing software are those who understand where it shines, and where it’s less than optimal. For instance, it does well at digitizing artwork in the most effcient manner possible. For example, the software might not put an even number of points on both sides of a column in a satin stitch, requiring the user to make manual adjustments. However, such limitations Shopping for Software According to some industry veterans, many auto digitizing programs offer comparable features, so shoppers should focus more on the entire digitizing package rather than just the auto digitizing module. However, others frmly disagree: “There is a wide spectrum of quality that you’ll achieve in different auto digitizing packages; they are not all created equal,” says Charuta Maranthe, product manager, Wilcom DecoStudio and EmbroideryStudio, Wilcom, Norcross, Ga. “The quality of the stitchout is the real test.” According to Maranthe, questions to consider when choosing an auto-digitizing program include: • Does it maintain individual objects and layers so you can move them and adjust them independently? • Does it factor in the underlay, pull compensation, and stitch densities to suit the fabric you will be stitching the design on? • Does it automatically create appliqué from your artwork? • Does it stitch well? “ Auto digitizing doesn’t replace human creativity or judgment, but is a tool to improve productivity or to help beginners create embroidery designs with little or no experience,” says Charuta Maranthe, product manager, Wilcom. Photo courtesy of Wilcom, Norcross, Ga. BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 25 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® GEttInG AHEAD may be less of an issue for smaller shops, Diamond says. “If you’re doing one piece, you may not care about sewing ineffciencies.” You’ll also get higher-quality results by starting with higher-quality artwork, Maranthe says. “If you use a scanned-in blurry image, you will not get a good result compared with a clean vector image,” she says. “Rubbish in, rubbish out, so to speak.” Finally, stick with simple, solid color, shapes, text and logos, Maranthe says. “Depending on the sophistication of the software, you can get great results with more complex designs also.” By understanding these limitations and strengths, you’ll be able to make a better-informed decision about how auto digitizing software may be able to help your shop. Deborah Sexton, former editor of Impressions Magazine, has been in the apparel graphics industry since 1981. She currently does marketing and public relations for apparel graphics companies. She can be reached at dsexton@ sbcglobal.net. The pur pose of an aut o di gi t i zi ng pr ogr am i s t o scan i n artwork and have the program automati cal l y conver t i t t o st i t ches. It cannot replace the sewing qual i t y and ef f i ci ency of manual digitizing, but may be useful for simple shapes and lettering. Photo courtesy of Pul se Mi cr osyst ems, Mississauga, Ontario. What an auto digitizing program shoul d not be expect ed t o do is replace an experienced digitizer. Sophisticated designs such as t hi s one can onl y be cr eat ed by usi ng a f ul l - f eat ur ed manual di gi t i zi ng program. Photo courtesy of RNK Distributing, Knoxville, Tenn. CDH Share CorelDRAW® Tips In recent surveys, readers of this magazine have said they’d like to have more tips on CorelDRAW, and they’d like to know how other people are using the program for different projects. So we invite you to submit examples of artwork you’ve created, along with a description of how you did it, and your bio with a photo. We are looking for everything from brochures and flyers to sign and t-shirt artwork. To share your tips, just send an email to the editor at editor@coreldrawhelp. com . Thanks much! BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 26 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® SPONSORS: MAGAZINE Click these Logo-Links to go directly to sponsor websites These are the proud sponsors of CorelDRAWHelp magazine. Be sure to thank these companies for bringing you this magazine free of charge. SPONSORS IN THE NEWS This month, our sponsors have been making these headlines: SPONSORS: TOUR Click these Logo-Links to go directly to sponsor websites Visit the CorelDRAW Digital Help Tour! Great Dane Graphics has four new Kids Theme Stock Art Imprintables Warehouse has new blog on heat transfers Johnson Plastics offers ChromaLuxe Clear Stahls ID releases new CAD-PRTINZ Zebra Fill BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 27 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® The Association of CorelDRAW ® Professionals is The Education & Business Resource for CorelDRAW Users Worldwide. Its goal is to help: 1) IMPROVE your CorelDRAW skills, and 2) MAKE MONEY with those skills! You can participate in ACDRP services in four ways: THE WORLD’S ONLY ASSOCIATION FOR CORELDRAW ® USERS INVITES YOU TO MAKE MORE MONEY WITH CORELDRAW! CorelDRAWHelp E-News is a free digital newsletter delivered to you twice a month focused on Industry news via the Graphics news Wire, links to valuable resources, and a complete educa- tion and show Calendar. S CorelDRAWHelp, the Entrepreneurial magazine for CorelDRAW users, features in-depth content on:  How to Use CorelDRAW -- tips, tricks, advanced ar t wor k, success st or i es, i nt er vi ews, and mor e.  How to Apply CorelDRAW -- for graphic production processes such as embroidery, engraving, heat printing, laser, promo products, printing, sandblasting, signmaking, sublimation, and screenprinting.  How to Proft from CorelDRAW -- Product news, business columns, reviews, profles, and advertising with live links. SUBSCRIBE -- NO CHARGE JOIN -- $60 PER YEAR All users of CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite are qualifed to subscribe free to CorelDRAWHelpmagazine (PDF format) and CorelDRAWHelp E-News.  Subscription to CorelDRAWHelp & CorelDRAWHelp E-News  TTF Newsletter. Subscription to the monthly Tips, Templates &Fixtures newsletter only available to members.  GSG Basic Listing. You can list your services in the Graphic Services Guide in one category as part of membership (a $25 value).  Access to QuickLearn. A keyword searchable database of 100s of articles on CorelDRAW, graphics production, and business. All users of CorelDRAW® are invited to join the Association and take advantage of exclusive content, discounts, and profes- sional recognition. ACDRP membership includes: TTF QuickLearn QuickTNT Archives BASIC GSG LISTING -- $25 PER YR the Graphic Services Guide is the Industry Yellow Pages for Services and Finished Goods. GSG is promoted in all our publi- cations and our website to the world of CorelDRAW users. Your listing gives you the opportunity to promote your services (in any of 40 categories) to other CorelDRAW users. the basic listing includes:  your company description  email link, and  listing in one category. Additional service categories are $10 each per year. the Enhanced GSGlisting is for companies that want to list in two categories and add a photo or logo. ENHANCED GSG LISTING -- $50/$75 PER YR Classifeds  Access to QuickTnT. A growing database of CorelDRAW tips for understanding the fne points of the program, and templates that can be downloaded to speed up your production.  Access to Archives. Past issues of CorelDRAWHelpare available to members with live links.  Bookstore Discounts. Members receive a 10% discount on all products in the Corel- DRAWHelpbookstore.  Professional Recognition. Use of the ACDRP logo for professional identifcation on business cards, websites, and letterhead. You also receive a membership certifcate.  Classified Ads. Members can place one classifed ad per year at no charge with photo, and run it till the item is sold! (a $35 value) HOW TO PARTICIPATE  To Subscribe (no charge)  To J oin ($60/yr)  To List in the Graphic Services Guide ($25 Basic $50/$75 Enhanced, or $120/145 for Multi-Service) CorelDRAW®is a registered trademark of Corel Corp., and is used with permission. Visit www.coreldrawhelp.com and click on the appropriate links. 800-276-8428 the Multi-Service GSGlisting allows you to list up to 40 differ- ent service categories with detailed descriptions and add a photo or logo. MULTI-SERVICE GSG LISTING -- $120/$145 PER YR BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 28 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® MARKETING SECRETS By Donna M. Gray, CRM Grow ► St ayi ng Shar p i n Summer ’s Sl ump Donna Gray’s 2nd book, It’s All Relative! Surviving & Thriving in a Family Busi- ness, was published in September 2007. It describes her quest to identify the keys to success for small business, and family businesses in particular. She inter- viewed top businesses nationwide and dis- covered fve common qualities implemented by successful business owners. Check it out at the CorelDRAWPro Bookstore, www.corel- drawpro.com/AllBookstore.htm It doesn’t take a genius to recognize the symptoms… the summer slump has arrived. Customers are either on vacation or just looking…but not ready to order products for their fall projects. Business friends are complaining to one another about how slow things are. Those that use our kinds of products and services are not in a hurry to buy. Staying sharp during the summer slump is diffcult in ordinary years. This year, with a diffcult economy, it’s downright painful for some. It’s affecting every business, in every industry. It’s a challenge for most every company to get customers to sign on the dotted line. But even with all the whining and complaining about how bad it is…I’m still seeing those who are holding their own. New ways to sell There’s no doubt that times are tough. Companies and organizations are cutting back on their spending. Cities, counties and states are tightening their belts. Decision makers are holding off on making buying plans. So companies have to look for and fnd new ways to increase productivity and make more money. Selling, in this diffcult economy, requires a different approach than the way many of us grew our businesses. Remember the old sell the sizzle not the steak advertising rule? Well, value and benefts (the sizzle) are now important pieces of our selling tool box. Our industry’s sizzle is sometimes appreciation and applause. Sometimes our sizzle is ideas. Sometimes it’s our ability to take that idea and turn it into a whole program. Sometimes it’s all of the above and more. New stories for our products J uly is historically a slow month in our trade except, maybe, for those who are big into summer sports awards. Some of us have time to create some sizzle to sell. I’ve heard that when things are slow, it’s time to create a new story for each of our products and services…that means writing down all the benefts, the points that stand out, the things that make us unique. Mary Kay Plantes, in her new book, Beyond Price, explains why we should not consider our products and services to be commodities. Companies should work to differentiate themselves from the competition; however, selling in this economy does not mean we should make ourselves different by giving away the store. Giving away profts with the hope that we will make it up in volume is not the answer for how to get more business. Companies, all over the world, spend millions of dollars telling their team what to say, but much less than that on educating them about the company’s history, its mission, and about the value of their product or service. None of us should assume that everyone has the same knowledge of what our company is about. Summer’s slump is a good time to train and share. It’s also a great time to get team members ideas on new products, ways to improve production techniques, and their input on prospective customers. Team members, because they can see the forest for the trees, have good input on ways to: • Find new product ideas for customers. • Find ways to increase customer contacts. Even when we have all the business we can handle, we need to keep that customer contact going strong. • Develop ideas for special customer events. • Find products to use as leave behinds at customer visits. • Find information we can pass on that will be valuable to customers and prospects. • Plan unique ways to follow up after a sales call. • Develop questions to ask at after sal e opportunities. BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 29 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® MARkEtInG SECREtS Get back to basics Because the selling / buying environment is not the same as it was a couple years ago, it’s time to get back to basics. Staying sharp in summer’s slump includes basics like: • Choose where we spend time prospecting. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to waste time chasing business that we really don’t want just to make a sale. It’s better to concentrate on romancing existing clients or to dig deeper into those accounts. Remember 80% of good business comes from 20% of our customers. • Find ways to get our offerings to the top of the customer’s priority list. Since many clients are waiting and seeing, fnd ways to show them the beneft of placing their order and getting it off their to-do list. • Plan and practice for the objections. Avoid being negative. • Look for and present exciting new product ideas for the coming season. • Draft some good questions to ask customers. Good questions and good listening skills often get the sale we’re looking for. • Communicate with prospects. Create proposals. Follow up with details. • Find ways to make it easy for customers to buy. If you don’t already take credit cards, get a program in place. • Ask for referrals. • Don’t get discouraged. “This too shall pass.” Time for R&D Summer’s slump will fade away, however, while we’re in the middle of a slow time why not invest in research and development? This is a great time to go through all last year’s industry information with an eye to fnding new vendors, new product ideas, and reading about all the changes that took place in the industry when we were too busy to look. This is a good time to do research on how good your support team of accountants, attorneys, bankers, attorneys and insurance companies are doing for your company. Are they on top of your needs? Are they looking for ways to help your company succeed? Are they introducing your business to their contacts? Have you asked them to introduce your company to their connections? Typically, J uly and August are our company’s time to make sure we’re getting our money’s worth from our support team. That’s when we get our insurance (both business operating and health) renewal rates. That means we really look at what we’re getting and, if necessary, negotiate for something better…or make necessary changes. There’s never really time to give this a good R&D look during busy season. Fill the pipeline Summer’s slump is also a good time to develop some sharp marketing ideas for fall and winter. During the slow times, we want to keep our marketing functions going strong so we can keep the pipeline flled for the coming months. It’s also a good time to connect with other area business people to keep tabs on how the local market is surviving, thriving, or making it through. Connecting with fellow business people is a good way to increase the company’s visibility within the business community. Working to be sharp through summer’s slump will get results. Use this time to connect with industry peers. While we’re all competitors…we’re all professionals… and professionals help each other succeed. Staying sharp requires us to have a focus on exactly what we expect for a bottom line at the end of summer. It’s time to get savvy. Use this time to develop world class sales skills. Create a new marketing plan that will get your company’s foot in the doors that have been closed. Refuse to participate in tough times. Get tough and get going. Summer’s slump doesn’t bother those who stay sharp. Donna Gray is the president of Total Awards, Promotions, & Gift (aka AwardsMall.com) in Madison, Wis. She and her husband Dave have run their full service awards and personalization business since1977. She has presented seminars nationwide, won awards as Business Woman of the Year, Retail Marketer of the Year, and Sam Walton Business Leadership Award. She is also the author of two books on family business, It’s Al l Rel ati ve! Surviving & Thriving in A Family Business (2007), and Never Quit: The Ups & Downs of Running a Family Business (2004). She has earned professional credentials as a Certifed Recognition Master. She can be reached by email at [email protected]. CDH PUT YOUR ART ON THE COVER You are invited to submit your artwork for the cover of future issues of CorelDRAWHelp! Each issue will highlight the artwork of one selected CorelDRAW user. (www.coreldrawpro.com/ coverart.htm) There will also be a short About the Cover article on the inside that identifies you as the artist, and describes briefly how you created it. Your contact information will be listed so others in the CorelDRAW community can contact you for more details or just to congratulate you! BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 30 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® PRODUCT FOCUS Opportunity To request information from any of the suppliers in the Product Focus, simply click here on INFO REQUEST. It will open an electronic request card, which you can minimize at the bottom of the page and then check when you want more info. Embr oi der y Pr oduc t s IMPRINTABLES WAREHOUSE HAS POLY-TWILL BACKING FOR EMBLEMS AND MORE Poly-Twill™ is a 100% polyester twill material with a thermal-adhesive backing from Imprintables Warehouse of Masontown, PA, that can be used to make emblems, patches, appliqués, letters, and numbers. It works on 100% cotton, 100% polyester, poly/cotton blends, feece, nylon, and polyester knits. Poly-Twill comes in 20 of the most popular athletic and fashion colors including metallic gold and silver. Imprintables Warehouse also sells 100% polyester embroidery thread for sewing the emblems down. Poly-Twill is a great way to keep stitch counts low by using the twill as a background for designs instead of stitches. Imprintables Warehouse is a full-service distributor of equipment and supplies to create a wide range of heat-applied graphics including digital inkjet and laser transfers, digital cutters, digital cutting software, heat- applied materials, and heat presses. For more information, contact the company at 800-347-0068 fax: 724-583-0426; e-mail: [email protected]; or visit www.imprintables.com. COTSWOLD OFFERS FUSIBLE DIAGONAL MESH Diagonal No Show Nylon Mesh, offered by Cotswold Industries of New York, NY, which is specifcally designed to be used with light-colored fabrics where traditional stabilizer shows through the front of the shirt, is now available in a fusible version. By fusing the stabilizer to the garment, it prevents the fabric from shifting or stretching in the hoop, which can affect registration. Another advantage of the fusible version of this versatile stabilizer is that you can avoid using messy adhesive sprays for the same purpose. Overspray often lands on fabric, the machine, and needles, leaving gummy residue that attracts dust and lint and can affect the performance of the embroidery machine. Fusible Diagonal Mesh is made with a specially formulated low-melt adhesive. It bonds at only 260 degrees F, which ensures it will not scorch or shrink the fabric. When an embroidery is fnished, the edges can be re-fused and the excess can be trimmed. In addition to being an ideal support for left chest logos on polo shirts made of piqué knit, jersey, or micro mesh, it’s also great for T-shirts, infant items, and all types of micro-fber performance wear. Its super softness makes it ideal as a covering to use over stitching that may feel scratchy next to the skin. It also drapes very well and is almost invisible from the front. One layer of Diagonal Fusible Mesh supports between 10,000 and 12,000 stitches in a moderately dense design. If you need support for a higher stitch count, an additional layer of tearaway works well. Diagonal Fusible Mesh comes in 15-inch width by 25 yards and 100 yards; 20-inch width by 25 yards, 50 yards and 100 yards, and 30-inch width by 50 yards. All stabilizers can be custom cut upon request. MARATHON AMERICA OFFERS THERMAL STICK Turn your embroidery designs into appliqués or patches with Thermal Stick, a brand-new, unique, pressure-sensitive, fusible stabilizer offered by Marathon America of Carrollton, TX. Thermal Stick’s specially formulated adhesive keeps the stabilizer frmly in place while embroidering, but at the same time makes it easy to reposition multiple pieces as necessary. It also won’t gum up your needles causing thread breaks, needle breaks, or damage to garments. It is machine washable and dry-cleanable. With Thermal Stick you can make emblems that can be applied to jackets, jeans, tote bags, sweat shirts, and more. Once heat is applied, Thermal Stick creates a permanent bond with almost any fabric. Thermal Stick comes in a range of the most popular quantities and sizes. A 40-inch roll comes in 25 yards, 50 yards, and 100 yards. A 20-inch roll comes in 25 yards, 50 yards, and 100 yards. Precut squares in an 8-inch by 8-inch size are available in packages of 250 sheets. ► BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 31 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® PRODUCT FOCUS Opportunity HIRSCH OFFERS THE VERSATILE THIRD HAND AIR CAP FRAMING SYSTEM With The Third Hand from Hirsch International of Hauppauge, NY, you can hoop caps quickly, easily, and perfectly every time. The Third Hand is an air-driven hat and cap framing system designed by contract embroidery shop Campus Chalet. The device can be used anywhere. It can be attached to an embroidery machine or to a table to create an instant, convenient, cap-hooping station. It eliminates back strain and reduces stress on the hands due to the normal stretching and pulling needed with traditional cap hooping systems. Another beneft of The Third Hand is that it hoops caps tighter and more accurately, which eliminates loss of registration and results in higher quality embroidery overall. Help eliminate worker’s compensation costs and improve your cap embroidery with The Third Hand. Hirsch International offers a full line of embroidery, screen printing and textile laser equipment, accessories, and supplies. It has 25 locations throughout the United States, more than 50 technicians in the field, and 80 plus customer service operators providing phone support. AMERICAN EMBROIDERY SUPPLY OFFERS SUPER BRITE POLYESTER THREAD For a durable thread with a super bright shine, Super Brite Polyester®from American Embroidery Supply in Columbus, GA, has a high tensile strength with a sheen similar to rayon. The thread is 120 denier two-ply 40 weight thread that is designed to work with an 11.75 needle. It’s bleach resistant so it can be used for uniforms that will go through industrial laundering as well as hold up to everyday wear and tear. Thread colors can be matched to 450 Pantone®licensed colors so you can accommodate logo colors for any client. It comes in two sizes: a king-size spool that contains 5,500 yards and a mini-king spool that holds 1,000 meters of thread. All online orders are shipped the same or next business day. Detailed instructions on how to use many of the specialty stabilizers are available on the Web site. BROOKS INDUSTRIES OFFERS DIAGONAL NO-SHOW NYLON MESH Diagonal No Show Nylon Mesh offered by Brooks Industries of Vernon, CA, is specifcally designed to be used with light-colored fabrics where traditional stabilizer shows through the front of the shirt. It is ideal for left chest logos on polo shirts made of piqué knit, jersey, or micro mesh. Other uses include T-shirts, infant items, and all types of micro- fiber performance wear. Its super softness makes it ideal as a covering to use over stitching that may feel scratchy next to the skin. It also drapes very well and is almost invisible from the front. What is unique about Diagonal No Show Nylon Mesh is its construction. It’s made of nylon mesh with a diagonal embossed pattern, which makes it more directionally stable. This allows it to hold more stitches per single layer than traditional perpendicular patterned mesh. The result is tighter registration and more defnition per layer. It also can easily support higher stitch counts by adding a mid-weight tearaway as a sandwich layer. DALCO ATHLETIC HAS LETTER PLACEMENT ADHESIVE SPRAYS Adhesive sprays can make the job of appliqué placement easier and faster. They help keep fabric in place while it’s being tacked down and fnished. Dalco Athletic of Dallas, TX, offers two adhesive sprays for embroiderers. The AADH Letter Placement Adhesive Spray is designed for temporary appliqué placement. It’s ideal for sewing, quilting, embroidery, appliqué, and craft projects. To use, simply apply a light coat on the back side of the fabric. It can be repositioned and it contains no ozone-depleting chemicals. The MSA 1000 Madeira Letter Placement Adhesive Spray is clear, repositionable, and non-staining. It has a pleasant fresh lemon scent and a quick tack. It is ideal for any type of appliqué work, and the spray does not build up on needles or machine parts. It also does not contain any CFCs or corrosive chemicals that could harm your equipment. Dalco Athletic offers a full line of official’s uniforms and accessories as well as die-cut, water-jet cut, and kiss-cut letters, numbers, shapes, and mascots in a range of materials for creating team and spirit wear. They also offer roll materials to cut your own. To request information from any of the suppliers in the Product Focus, simply click here on INFO REQUEST. It will open an electronic request card, which you can minimize at the bottom of the page and then check when you want more info. BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 32 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® GRAPHICS NEWS NETWORK All these news and information products and services are part of the Graphics News Network, developed for ACDRP. The goal is “All the News, All the Time — For the World of Graphics.” GRAPHICS NewsWire the Graphics News Wire is the always live, always updated source for graphics news — products, equipment, technology, and more. Make it (CorelDRAWPro.com/ newsPage.htm) your home page or favorite to gain access to:  breaking news, updated regularly.  new Classifed Ads  new Job Announcements  Supplier Specials All news is related to graphic products! QuickSource TM The Industry’s Most Comprehensive & Easy-To-Use Search Engine It gives you one-click access to suppliers, products, phone numbers, and live links to ACDRP Member Suppliers. It’s always up-to- date, searchable by keyword, and accessible from your desktop! Quick TnT TM The Industry’s Newest Resource for Graphics Tips & Templates Gain access to a growing library of CorelDRAW tips and templates that will make your work easier. QuickLearn TM The Industry’s Most Comprehensive and Easy-To-Use Article Library Gain access to hundreds of articles on graphi cs-rel ated and busi ness topi cs, searchable by keyword. MARKET PLACE Quality Engravable Jewelry Hand-crafted in New England GIFTS & ACCESSORIES FOR WOMEN AND MEN John E. Lepper, Inc. 800-835-3623, Fax 508-222-2732 www.jelepper.com Genuine White-tone Pewter & Gold JOIN TODAY! The world’s only association for CorelDRAW® Users! www.coreldrawpro.com/Join.htm GET LISTED TODAY! Generate new business by doing jobs for others! list your company in GSG, the Digital Yellow Pages for the industry. www.coreldrawpro.com/ListGSG.htm Sponsor the magazine with a Logo-Link for $100/month. Find out how by calling our Ad Representative J ohn McDaniel II. 541-990-6687 the entrepreneurial magazine Help CorelDRAW ® The Entrepreneurial Magazine for CorelDRAW Users CorelDRAWHelpMagazine is delivered to you once a month in PDF format. It features in-depth content that readers rave about, including articles on how to use CorelDRAW, how to apply CorelDRAW, and how to proft from CorelDRAW. Help CorelDRAW ® News, Tips, & Resources for CorelDRAW Users CorelDRAWHelp E-News is a free digital newsletter delivered to you twice a month — about the 15th and 25th. It brings you highly targeted content that you won’t fnd elsewhere, including CorelDRAW tips, extensive product news, links, and a calendar of shows and training. Help CorelDRAW ® E-News Your ad here could reach thousands of potential customers. Find out how by calling our Ad Representative J ohn McDaniel II. 541-990-6687 the entrepreneurial magazine Help CorelDRAW ® Some Things Were Meant To Be In Etched in Stone Call for a free color catalog. N&R International 1155 Allgood Rd. #13 Marietta, GA 30062 678-560-4088 Fax 678-560-1157 Importers & Wholesalers of Marble/Onyx Gifts & Accessories BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 33 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Louie Alvarez started in the industry working for one of the largest trophy shops in Central California, and then opened one of the frst retail laser engraving businesses. He has given seminars and workshops on CorelDRAW and Laser for many years, and has written for several publications. He is now with Vytek Industrial Lasers and is based in Las Vegas, NV. He can be reached at [email protected]. Dave Demoret founded Prolink Graphic Services to help people understand and proft from learning CorelDRAW. He has been in both the Flat Graphics Industry and the Decorating Graphics Industry for 30 years. He has written articles for several publications, is a Corel Training Partner, and conducts workshops nationwide and online. He is the author of several CD Instructional programs on CorelDRAW. He can be reached at 765-DO COLOR (362-6567) or [email protected] Donna Gray is the president of Total Awards, Promotions, & Gift (aka AwardsMall. com) in Madison, Wis. She and her husband Dave have run their full service awards and personalization business since 1977. She has presented seminars on a variety of topics nationwide, and has won many marketing awards. She is the author of two books on family business, and can be reached at donna. [email protected]. Bill Leek is a color consultant for JBL Graphics in Houston, TX, and has over 30 years experience in computer engineering and graphics design. He has developed several lines of color imprintable products, and does testing on a variety of products for different manufacturers. He can be reached at wfeek@jblgraphics. com or 281-970-6677. Jeff McDaniel is the owner of Creative Graphic in Philomath, Oregon. He worked as a journeyman machinist before getting into the graphic products business. Creative Graphic offers laser engraving, rotary engraving, sandblasting, sublimation, image transfers, vinyl signs, banners, screen printing, and promotional products. Jeff routinely applies graphics to a wide variety of materials. Contact him at [email protected]. John McDaniel is the co-owner of JHM Marketing in Albany, OR, which provides consulting and training services for the industry. He worked for many years with computers in electronic data processing and pioneered the use of CorelDraw for engraving applications. He owned a retail personalized gift shop for over ten years, and writes about hardware design, software, laser engraving, sublimation, and more. He is a Corel Training Partner, and co-founder of the Association of CorelDRAW Professionals. For information on training and more, call 541-967- 4271, or write to [email protected]. Judy McDaniel is the co-owner of JHM Marketing in Albany, OR, which provides consulting and training services for the industry. Her background includes many forms of art and retail sales, as well as the operation of a retail personalized gift shop for over ten years. She is a regular columnist on sandblasting, sublimation, and diversifying business, as well as a Corel Training Partner, and co-founder of the Association of CorelDRAW Professionals. She can be reached at 541-967- 4271, fax 541-967-4272, or via email at [email protected]. David Milisock is president of Custom Graphic Technologies Inc. in Pennsylvania. He has been in the print production business since 1975, and specializes in professional support for CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite. Output includes computer-to-plate processes for all commercial digital front-end applications, as well as Postscript-compliant graphic applications. He offers technical and color management support for all RIP-driven corporate digital output systems. He can be reached at 717-509-3523 or [email protected]. Deborah Sexton, former editor of Impressions Magazine, has been in the apparel graphics industry since 1981. She currently does marketing and public relations for apparel graphics companies, and is a columnist for several industry publications.. She can be reached at [email protected]. Otis Veteto is the Western Regional Manager for the R.S. Owens & Co. Inc., manufacturer and supplier of the Elegance in Awards & Gifts line. With more than 30 years experience in the industry, he offers the “PROspective” of a veteran sales rep in reporting on ideas, people and places that he visits. Otis also presents sales and motivation seminars. He can be reached in Sacramento, CA – when not on the road – at 916-567-1867. CorelDRAW ® Help BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS July 2009 34 Click ads to go directly to advertiser’s web site. Help CorelDRAW ® by Otis Veteto Traveling Tidbits Otis Veteto is the Western Regional Manager for the R.S. Owens & Co. Inc., manufacturer and supplier of the Elegance in Awards & Gifts line. With more than 30 years experience in the industry, he offers the “PROspective” of a veteran sales rep in reporting on ideas, people and places that he visits. It’s a fun and informative column focusing on the human-interest side of the industry. Otis also presents sales and motivation seminars for industry organizations, and some of that knowledge will rub off as well. He can be reached in Sacramento, CA – when not on the road – at 916-567-1867. Las Vegas, Lone Pine, & the Next Level NBA in Las Vegas Here is something you might consider putting in your traveling plans for J uly, 2010….IF you really like NBA Basketball. What I am talking about is the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is a 1-week league in J uly, for newly drafted players, mixed with a few 1 st and 2 nd year veterans. It’s exciting, fast-paced entertainment. The prices are very reasonable, and there was no charge for parking. You also have in-out privileges, so you can watch a game, leave, and come back for another game later the same day. Some of the more notable players I had a chance to watch recently were J ason Thomson and Omri Casspi from the Kings; Stephen Curry/Clippers; the #1 draft pick Blake Griffn/Clippers, and 7’3” Hasheem Thabeet/Grizzlies. Like I said, if you really like NBA basketball, this might be a good place to visit next year in J uly… Oh yeah, the casinos are open also. Lake Mead Food & Sights And, as the saying goes “if you want a good place to eat, fnd where the locals go.” Well, in the Lake Mead area, not far from the Hoover Dam, the locals eat at the Harbor House Café, located right on the water in Horsepower Cove. Betty Gripentog owns the Las Vegas Boat Harbor at Lake Mead and runs it with the help of her children, their children, and even their children. At the Marina you can rent a boat, take a sight-seeing cruise or enjoy a nice meal. you can even feed the fsh off the pier. lake Mead is 110 miles long and in some places over 500 feet deep. Not too bad considering it’s in the desert. If you like to fsh, lake Mead has trout, striped bass, bluegill, catfsh and boasts some of the best largemouth bass in the country. Lone Pine, Calif. On the way back to Sacramento from Las Vegas I stayed overnight in Lone Pine, CA, where they have a real unique movie museum. The lone pine area has long been a favorite spot for flming both movie and television westerns. Classics like Ambush starring Hopalong Cassidy, and Charge of the Light Brigade starring Errol Flynn, was flmed there. The Rawhide series for television was flmed in the Alabama Hills around lone pine. Steve McQueen, Roy Rogers, Kirk Douglas, and too many more to mention have chased bad guys all through the hills around this little town. Lone Pine is located at the base of Mt. Whitney. An interesting tidbit: Mt. Whitney is the highest point in the contiguous United States, at 14, 496’, and it is only 90 miles from there to Death Valley, which boasts the lowest point in the contiguous United States at a spot called Badwater, which is at 282’ below sea level. If you are a western movie buff, on Oct 10-11, 2009, there is the Lone Pine Film Festival featuring bus tours into the Alabama Hills, movie stars, stuntmen, producers ad more. Check it out at www. lonepineflmfestival.org Taking it to the next level I will close with a unique birthday gift idea. Editor Mike Neer’s oldest son Matthew turned 21 this month, and Mike wanted to do something special as a birthday gift. He chartered a single engine Cessna prop airplane for a 1 hour fight over the Fresno, CA valley. To Matthew’s surprise, the pilot let him handle the take-off and landing. Talk about taking a birthday gift to the next level……hmm, maybe that’s what we all need to do with our businesses…think about how to take our marketing to the next level with some kind of unique promotion. That’s all for now. Remember to save some time for yourself and your family. And when you travel, please travel safe. BACK NEXT FULL SCREEN CONTENTS INFO SPONSORS