Printing Insights USA Blog ( News and Tips )

Pompano Beach’s Premier Printing Company for Color Copies, Banners, Posters and More

Pompano Beach Design and Print | Signs and Banners | ColorCopiesUSA

There is a business boom happening in Pompano Beach. The median household income was $41,321 in 2015, which represents a 1.94% growth over 2016 and it’s still climbing here in 2017. You probably see the posters on all the new stores on Federal Highway. Why are people flocking to Pompano?

Locally known as the “Heart of the Gold Coast,” we are widely known for fantastic fishing as well as being a haven for scuba divers because of the living coral reef right offshore. The thousand-foot long fishing pier with its family-friendly picnic grounds, barbecue grills and play areas also attracts people to the area with birthdays, weddings and other special events happening every weekend.

How do people find out about these events? Facebook comes to mind but there is nothing like printed flyers and color copies to also help get the word out when you have events like the Seafood Festival (April) to the Pompano Beach Fishing Rodeo (May) and finally the Holiday Boat Parade down the Intracranial that caps the year.

Also in Pompano Beach there’s a very strong business sector, from restaurants to construction companies with endless printing needs from flyers, menus, catalogues, and t-shirts to large format design and printing like signs, banners and posters. Color Copies USA, a national online print shop, is able to serve all of Pompano’s business printing, both online and locally with the shop in Oakland Park, just 10 short minutes away from Pompano Beach for businesses and individuals looking for a friendly discount digital or local printer.

Steps for Using Clear Copies USA for Your Next Printing Projects

• Call for a free consultation so we can customize your printing needs and the best way to accomplish them quickly and affordably.
• Make sure you plan ahead. Give yourself plenty of lead time before holidays or special events to avoid rushing to the finish line. We want your projects end up ahead of schedule.
• Don’t hesitate to ask us for our competitive quotes. Clear Copies USA guarantees the best price quotations, but feel free to shop around (you’ll see what we mean).
• And don’t miss all the testimonials from our happy customers that we’re so proud to serve.

Last but not least… call or place your order online with Clear Copies USA today.

Special Event Upcoming?

Bring Your Event to Life with Dynamic Posters and Banners!!

Hosting a special event provides you with the opportunity to interact with your customers and employees in a different way. While the business might be at the heart of the conversations, you also get to interact in a more social manner. From the location to the food, each detail has required your attention. Choosing to add posters to your event can make it even more successful.

Identifying Location: Retractable Banners or Posters

You’ve probably been to at least one event where you could not find the entrance. You may have awkwardly wandered around for several minutes until someone pointed you in the right direction. If the event had only had a retractable banner or poster, you probably would not have become lost. While guests eventually forgive a lack of direction at the beginning, you want them to enter the event on a positive note. Choosing signage to direct them to where to go is a wise decision. This step is particularly useful if the celebration space has multiple entrances or is housed in a building with multiple events occurring at the same time.

Product and Service Identification: Logo Promo and Posters

If you’re offering products and services at your event, then you want to have some indoor posters that clearly demonstrates where they are. For example, maybe you are playing host to a bridal showcase. Guests probably don’t want to walk up to businesses only to ask where their competitors’ stands are located. You can select posters and logo promotional products that fit with the formality of the event so that guests can enjoy the ambiance and still find where it is that they want to go.

Printing Seating Information: Color Copies

Some events have formal seating arrangements, and you want to present that information in a clear manner. An indoor poster near the entrance can help to convey those details. Instead of having guests who accidentally sit down in the wrong seat, they can immediately see that their seats have already been chosen. Guests are often eager to find out with whom they will be sitting, so a poster delineating the seating arrangements also allows them to absorb that information.

Theme and Ambiance

If you have selected a particular theme for the celebration, you want to ensure that it is infused into the affair. For example, some hosts discuss a theme and include it on the invitations, but when the guests arrive, they discover that no elements of the theme have been included in the decor itself. Working to bring these details into the decor of the event shows that you are dedicated to it. Chances are that you want guests to attend future events, and they are more likely to do so if they have a favorable impression of this one.

special event poster

Schedule of Events

You might be hosting a celebration where different performers will appear at various times, or you might need to convey a schedule of events to the guests. In any case, a poster allows you to do with great ease. Instead of wasting paper by passing out a small brochure to every guest, you can put all of it onto one poster. If you are having many guests or the room is very large, you could consider a couple of posters. Doing so will still help you to be kind to the environment and to convey your point.

When you’re thinking about the details of the event, you might not immediately consider posters signs and banners. However, after evaluating all the ways in which they can help, you may see the need to have at least a few of them printed especially for your event. And if you happen to need help, the online printing experts at ColorCopiesUSA are only a phone call away!

5 Helpful Tips for Promoting Your School or Family Reunion

Whether you are planning a high school reunion or family reunion, you want it to be an event to be remembered. If your reunion is a success, your classmates or families will look forward to the next one. Before you start making firm plans for your next reunion, consider the following five tips for promoting your college, high school or family reunion.

Start Early

The purpose of a reunion is to get people together who don’t see each other that often. If you want people to show up, give them a “heads-up” by sending a “Save-the-date” card. To get this going, find a printer who can help you with all of your printing needs from invitations to banners and decorations. An online printer is the perfect for reunion printing needs. Color Copies USA can help you design a colorful “Save-the-Date” post card that an individual can attach to his or refrigerator with a magnet as a reminder.

Generate Excitement with Your Marketing Materials

Think about it. What would excite you more–would you rather receive an invitation on plain paper or one with a dynamic design using ‘spot UV’ to give it sheen and a 3D effect? The more engaging invitation will generate more interest and excitement because it gives you the feeling that you don’t want to miss this event! Image is everything and an online printer can help you develop the perfect invitation or marketing piece that will have your invitees ready to RSVP as soon as they receive it in the mail! ColorcopiesUSA.com can design and print pieces that will generate interest in your event.

Set up a Website or Social Media Page

There are lots of companies that offer free websites, making it possible for you to give your event a presence on the web. You can also create a social media page that allows family members and friends to follow the progress of event planning. This is a good strategy for answering questions and reminding invitees of the event.

Offer Flexible Payment Options

If your reunion will be an event that requires a hotel stay or other “pricey” activities, it might be wise to start early enough and set up a payment option that allows your attendees to make payments over time rather than paying a lump sum. This will help individuals who may have tight budgets.

Create Lasting Memories with Take-home Items

Many people enjoy sporting their reunion T-shirts long after the event. Why not have a design contest and let your classmates or family choose the winning design? Once you the design is chosen, you have it printed easily by uploading your design to Color CopiesUSA.com T-shirt order center. Color Copies USA.com can also help you with other printing needs such as mugs, key chains, tote bags and other memorabilia that your guests will cherish for years.

Make Your Printing Project ‘POP’ with These 6 Printing Ideas

Six Printing Techniques That Will Make Your Print Project Stand Out

Printing Techniques

Do you remember the good old days when the most exciting thing you could do to make your printing stand out was to print in color? Printing technologies have evolved over the last 20 years to create commercial presses that are faster and reproduce more sophisticated graphics. Whether it’s a fancy wedding card or a textured business card, 21st century techniques give us wonderful printing ideas to make our projects ‘pop’ and help us to communicate in ways never imagined before!

Printing techniques have also led to the rise of creative industries such as 3D printing, advanced graphic design, press printing, and photo printing just to mention a few. If you are looking for ideas for an eye-opening new business card to make your new prospects say ‘WOW!’ or a slick new way to package your product, there are many amazing new ideas to select from. Let’s discuss some of these printing techniques and ideas that you can rely on to make your print project stand out.

Six printing techniques that are cheaper and easier than ever to use on your project include:

1. Embossing
2. Spot UV – Flat or Raised
3. Foil Stamping
4. Feather Signs
5. Die Cutting
6. Varnishing and Soft Touch Matte Lamination

1. Embossing

This technique of printing has a different technique called debossing. This method of printing involves a press, a metal plate, and a counter. Once a plate is made, it is put on the press and the paper that is to be printed on is laid in between the plate and the counter. Pressure is applied to the counter pushing the paper into the plate to achieve an extrusion. Security features on documents such as official seals use this technique to make impressions on paper.

In debossing, the opposite happens on the paper. The paper achieves print impression in the form of an intrusion or depression. To achieve the best print results when using this method, we need to have sufficient spacing between characters.

2. Spot UV – 3D Spot Raised UV

Whenever we hand someone a product catalog or a business card we expect them to last longer in their hands so that they can achieve their marketing purposes. Spot UV is a post-printing coating technique that adds extra shine and protection to a print job. The technology uses UV light to add the varnish that coats a printed cardstock or plain paper.

Spot UV the varnish is commonly used to cover full-color paper items, locking in their color and making the print work shine. Spot UV also acts to protect the print job from damage by moisture or dust scratches. Magazine cover pages, business cards, wedding cards and event tickets are some of the materials that require Spot UV printing.

3D Spot Raised UV applications the amount of varnish applied is physically visible. It is usually about 50 microns thick and your naked eye will see it, and your touch will feel it. This application is mostly used to enhance embellishing of the piece. The positive visual effect on business cards is amazing!

3. Foil Stamping Innovation

Typical printing techniques are not able to achieve a silver or gold finish. Silver or gold print jobs are unique because they have that memorable ‘gilded’ or ‘shiny’ property that evokes precious metal. Foil stamping can be used to make silver or gold prints. This technique can only print vector images or outlined fonts. This method is preferred when printing invitation cards and covers of books.

NEW IN THE INDUSTRY: Since about 1 year ago there is a digital technique that permits to apply foil stamping on the fly, without the need of a die. You can now order a set of business cards with foil stamping without the requirement of producing a metal die, which creates endless opportunities for your invitations, business cards and other marketing pieces

4. Feather Signs

In case a print project is for outdoor use, a preferable method of printing would be feather signs. Feather signs are large cloth-like print jobs that are preferred for the outdoors. A large format printer is used to add text and images on printable vinyl materials.

5. Die Cutting and Laser Cutting

Die to cut is the process of chipping off irregular shapes in cardstocks or paperboards through the use of dies. The technique creates print impressions on paper by extracting shapes from the stock. To use this method one can make unique dies or use custom dies such as a square with two rounded corners.

6. Varnishing and Soft Touch Matte Lamination

Varnishing, like Spot UV, is also a post-print technique that can be used in making a print project stand out. The method uses a liquid called varnish to achieve a glossy, matte shine or silky on a printed cardstock. When the varnish coats the entire area of the print job, that type of varnishing is known as flood varnishing. This technique can also let you highlight specific areas of your print project.

An alternative to varnishing is the use of hot-applied matte lamination, suede finishing that everyone loves. 3D raised UV contrasts so nicely with the suede finishing that makes one of the most elegant combinations that you can currently get.

All these printing techniques can be used to make your print project unique and attractive. In combination, they can really make your project stand out from the crowd. Applying these 6printing ideas will let your imagination soar and your printing project ‘POP’!

Super Bowl Party – Do and Don’ts

Written for ColorCopiesUSA.com by Steve Wright, experienced sports and travel writer.

Super Bowl parties are fun and everyone should make a point of going to one. It is the only game of the NFL season that everyone wants to watch. To that end maybe you want to throw a Super Bowl party but are unsure of how to go about making yours the best on the block. If so, follow this handy guide to party greatness!

1 – Do – Decorate the house

Decorating for other types of party (birthday, Christmas, etc.) comes as standard, so why not go all the way and do the same for your Super Bowl party. Get some banners printed out. Or better yet, get some removable wall coverings with your pictures! Cover the table in the logo of the NFL or the team you want to win the game. Maybe even find some lights or light bulbs in team colors to really set the atmosphere. The limits here are only what your mind allows and a great set up in terms of decoration will really set your party apart from the crowd. #decorate-for-super-bowl-party

example of wall decoration, Super Bowl Party — Removable wall decorations add so much flavor to the football party

2 – Don’t – Try to provide all the food

If you have 30 or 40 people coming over and you are trying to be the sole provider of food then you are crazy. This is one of those occasions where it just doesn’t matter if all the courses on the menu are perfect compliments for one another. Get the word out and get those friends to bring snack food, sides, and (obviously) drinks, so that it takes a little of the burden (and cost) off of hosting.

Alternatively cater in Chipotle. Then everyone wins.

food organized to look like a football field — Decorations for food trays can be so original!

3 – Do – Create some friendly competition

One of the few issues with the Super Bowl is that people are not necessarily invested in the two teams involved. If you are a Kansas City Chiefs fan for example the matchup between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons means nothing. Maybe change that by printing out some t-shirts for your guests to wear and have a little prize in mind for those wearing the winning team’s colors at the end of the game.

4 – Don’t – Run out of ice

Seriously, this happens at every single Super Bowl party. The theory that I am running with is that because it is always so cold outside people just assume ice will not be needed. If you have a lot of people over then they will make lots of drinks. It is an indisputable fact. If you think you have enough ice then walk away from the computer, get in the car, and go and buy a couple more bags. Now you are good.

5 – Do – Invite the right amount of people

There is literally nothing worse than going to a party like this and one of things happening. Firstly, there are too many people for the space involved and there is nowhere to sit and watch the game. Secondly, the only people there are you and the host. Neither is good. Hit the middle ground and base it on house size and number of TVs available.

6 – Don’t – Talk over the half-time show/commercials

I get it. Lady Gaga is just not your thing. This is understandable (though it must be said that the girl has proven to be money on the biggest stages). You also don’t care about the dumb commercials. You are all about the football.

While this is fine, there are literally going to be people at the party that only care about what Lady Gaga sings and what the cute puppies are doing on the Doritos TV spot. Let those people have their Super Bowl moments, though if you and the other football nuts at the party need to create a drinking game around these parts of the broadcasts then that’s ok too.

7 – Do – Make people change if they come in a rival jersey

We get it, you hate the Patriots. That though does not mean it is ok to show up to a Super Bowl party wearing a Bills/Jets/Colts/Steelers shirt. Nor is it ok to turn up in the jersey of a neutral team, such as the Cleveland Browns (there is no one more neutral than the Browns). As host you can deal with this how you like, but a good way is to have a few newly printed T-shirts on hand with a few words of your choice showing just what a bad decision it was to turn up in other NFL gear. Let your imagination run with this one…

8 – Don’t – Forget to clean your house

This is supposed to be a party. There will be people coming to your crib that have never been there before. The first impression you want to give to those people is not that you are living the life of a college frat boy. Obviously there likelihood is that the house is going to get a little messy as the party proceeded (fix that with table covers), but the initially impression must be great.

Just try not to think about the post-party cleanup as you get ready to host.

9 – Do – Confiscate all cell phones

This serves a couple of important purposes:

1 – It stops people from ruining the flow of conversation by texting people at other parties all night long.

2 – It stops guests posting on social media for the duration of the game. Given how many Americans take the Monday following the Super Bowl off work for “medical reasons” then plausible deniability about their actions from the night before is important. This is less possible if you are checking in on Facebook every 20 minutes in growing states on intoxication.

10 – Don’t – Let anyone with face paint into the house

unless they are under the age of 16. Just send them home and remind them that an adult with a face covered in corn starch and food coloring is not ok.
Ever.

So there we have the keys to throwing a great Super Bowl Party. Yes, making all this happen takes a little bit of planning, but as you see your guests enjoying your fully decorated house and you realize you didn.t have to pay for all the chips and salsa being eaten, then it will all be worth it.

The Party Planning Printing Ideas Checklist

Planning a party? Need some ideas? No matter what type of celebration you are having, custom printing some key items will help make your party a smashing success! By ordering professionally printed products, such as invitations, banners, signs, party gifts and thank you cards, you save the time and effort it would take to make things by hand or print them yourself. Custom printed items nearly always look better too. Save time and add those special touches that will make your party more memorable.
Here’s a simple party printing ideas checklist of printed pieces that will help make it a fun affair, whether it’s a surprise birthday party for a loved one, a reunion for family or friends, a corporate holiday office party, or any type of gathering where you want to impress the guests.

Invitations, Banners, Signs, Party Gifts, Thank You Cards and more…

Invitations– Even in a day of e-vites and online RSVPs, it is still in good form to have physical invitations to announce special events. Create postcards to hand out at the office or at school. Here’s an idea – mail out your invites instead of emailing them. Everyone loves to receive the ‘good’ type of mail. They are cheaper to mail than you might think as well ( if the invites need to be sent out, rather than passed out ). Sending an invite always ads that personalized touch that impresses would-be guests. Use a fun photo of the guest of honor, or create a custom design that reflects the significance of the day.
Banners– Make a few custom vinyl banners and posters to hang up around the party area. Use colors that coordinate with the theme of the celebration, and choose lettering that conveys your special message about the event. This could be words of encouragement or congratulations, depending on the occasion. Think “Welcome Home” for a returning vet, “Happy 50 th ” for the golden anniversary for your parents or “Congratulations Graduate!” for your high schooler who just passed her SAT’s and is about to graduate.
Signs– Make signs to hang outside of the event, to guide people into it. If it is in a harder to find location than usual, create a few extras to offer directions and place them at common intervals on the way to the party. Signs also make surprise parties, bar mitzvahs and birthday parties that much more special. Think of how excited your child will be to see a bigger than life size sign saying ‘Welcome to Emily’s Birthday Party!!’ – she’ll remember it always!
Party Gifts– Give guests a special custom memento to take home with them. This could be as simple as a colorful pen and fun graphic notepad, to as elaborate as a custom calendar with personal pictures. Give everyone a custom t-shirt, hat, or tote bag to wear for the event. Other ideas include journals, coffee cups, barware, or pet accessories such as collars or tags.
Thank You Cards– Follow up any great celebration with thank you notes to everyone who attends. This is especially important if you held the event to raise awareness for a cause or gifts of any kind were received from guests.
You can even print custom wrapping paper for your gifts – just ask our friendly and creative printing specialists about this and other party ideas.

Every product we mention above can be customized to your specifications. Create the perfect ambiance to celebrate a special occasion with loved ones or a fun environment to hold a business event. At ColorCopiesUSA, your friendly printing specialist will help make sure you can check off your custom printing needs all at once, and move on to the other party planning tasks on your list. Call us today at (877) 421-0668 or click here and let us know all about your special event – we’ll make it that much more special!!

“The Profit” Host Finds Signage to be Key in Remodeling

It’s Friday night, the night where I catch-up with TV programs such as The Shark Tank and The Profit.

Shark Tank

The Shark Tank always makes me smile at some point when I recognize one of those aha moments happening. The show immediately connects me to so many of our clients, working with so much passion and creativity on their projects using print signs and digital signage to make their ideas a reality. We (I mean the team at ColorCopiesUSA) often feel that we are part of the business creative world and that makes us feel so proud!

The episode of The Profit that I watched tonight was about remodeling a store located in the Chelsea Market in New York. Marcus Lemonis, the host and investor in that show was trying to unclutter the store and make it easier for the store’s clients to find the product they are looking for.

The work done during the remodeling was significant, but the directional signs, those signs that help the clients find their way in the store, were the ones that seemed to make the biggest difference in the before-after comparison

Directional signs can transform a “bad location” into prime location! Smart and appealing messages drive clients to find their way.

Have a great weekend!

Business Yard Signs: They are all over the place!

– Did you just say “Yard Signs”?

Yes I did! I fact I’ve been looking and talking about yard signs a lot lately. You know, it’s the election cycle that brings lots of those in front of your face…. everywhere….. but they are there all the time!

Why are business yard signs used all year round?
For just one simple reason. Yard signs drive people into taking action. Like it or not, all of us look at them when they are out there.
Don’t get me wrong; when there are 10 of those at a corner promoting 10 different candidates… forget it. That’s too much clutter.
But when used wisely, yard sign can make your business feel it.

When I say “your business will feel the effect of yard signs” I mean that even when you put out a yard sign to promote a garage sale or something like that, what’s behind that, is in reality some sort of business transaction that you expect to happen…..

What is a Yard Sign?

Yard signs are also known as lawn signs, bandit signs, placards or road signs. These are small advertising signs that, are placed on the lawn so that people or vehicles circulating will see the advertising pieces.

picture showing dozens of yard signs and lawn signs — Dozens of yard signs and lawn signs saturating the message. Credit to the Tennessee Beacon Center

This year we’ve seen a tooonnnn of yard signs that express support for one or another of the political candidates running for office, judges running for benches and local representatives such as city councils.

picture of yard signs with creative messages and graphics — Business Yard Signs can be creative and unique.

What are Yard Signs made of?

Yard signs are made out a plastic material called coroplast,which is a plastic sheet that is hollow. Because of the constructive method, it is very strong. The plastic walls that links both faces of the board give to it an incredible mechanical resistance and strength.

The small pipes that are created in the sheet are usually called “flutes”. Since the yard signs are usually kept in place by inserting a metal H stake in the flutes, it is always important to understand if the sign that you need requires vertical or horizontal flutes

H metal stake to hold a coroplast yard sign — The metal stakes fit in the flutes on one end, and are pushed into the ground (usually by pushing with the foot) on the other end

picture showing a coroplast sheet explaining how it is made and why it is so strong — Whether a 4mm or a 10mm board, the structure remains the same and you can see how its built

How do yard signs get printed?

There are three methods that are the most popular or maybe four if you will consider hand writing.

Vinyl letters cut and adhered
Printing on vinyl film in a poster-size-large- format printer and laminating it to the coroplast
Directly printing on the coroplast on what’s called a “flat bed” printer.

Which are the Typical Sizes of Yard Signs?

The most popular sizes are 18″x24″ and 12″x18″

During the political periods, you can see larger signs made out of coroplast. In those examples, the sign company will build a custom wood structure and the coroplast will get stapled or screwed to it.

“Shapes or business yard signs”

These are usually rectangular, although they can be made in any custom shape, thanks to the use of sophisticated router cutters.

We look forward to hearing your comments!
Till next time!

Halloween Spirit with Creative Labels

Tic Tac, Tic Tac…..

The clock is ticking and we are just a few days away of Halloween, which probably means that most of you are putting together the best ideas and best decorations for Halloween.

Halloween celebration and the marketing related to the day are big here!

I don’t know how Halloween is celebrated within your community (In fact I would like to hear from you!), but my experience in this area, South Florida, is that children and their families have a ton of fun when planning for this day. Even those adults with adult children get ready.

Going to the candy store, buying candy containers and putting together a nice decoration of the homes and the yard are a part of a tradition here that cannot be skipped.

Even HOAs will “rule” on how to celebrate and create the safest conditions for the comunities as a whole.

If we were to talk about how businesses celebrate, that’s a whole category in itself. We’ve seen greeting cards, scary flyers, postcards and even surprise gifts as part of the celebration.

But what caught our attention were the labels! It used to be that printed labels would have regular shapes, such as either square or round. The fact that we can now provide them in any shape or size or color creates a wave of creativity that we had not seen!

Examples of creative labels for Halloween.

This is a great example of a creative label. In this case the creation is by Mark Chipkin and the size of the label is 2.25″x4″, which makes it ideal to be stuck on a chocolate bar, on the front of the plastic bag that you might be using to put the pack of candies together.

Here is another great example on how to make the Halloween night even more fan, and take an extra pleasure when getting the stuff together.

2″x2″ Halloween label

This other example Brianna wants to make her community so much more open and friendly, came up with this idea where she created so many Halloween related cliparts which were placed as part of the giveaways.
This is a great example of how to build community and have fun!

friendly halloween label — Make your community friendlier by getting to know each other

Share with us what is special about Halloween for you

Till next post!

Why Print Still Matters

Hi there everybody!
We are inaugurating this blog. We communicate the news here. The first post will try to explain why print still matters.

When we talk about business marketing platforms, we never can forget good old-fashioned print. Despite many business owners opt to replace paper advertisements with online media, social media marketing campaigns, and other innovative digital renditions, the best solution appears when we use a combination of print and digital advertising.

Print is their main selling tool:

Fact-filled catalogs for the bookshelf
Posters for the walls
Brochures for the racks
Photo-filled booklets for the students
Branded surveys and sign-in sheets
Forms, info sheets and marketing materials for the high school counselors.

The Advantages of Print Advertising

You know, when you read a book, the “book” object still has some magic. It is not the same thing to read it on a digital device. This analogy can be used to understand the actual power of an advertisment. Besides, digital media’s immense amount of accessibility leads to distractions such as popup and sidebar ads tailored specifically to your personal needs using your search history. Many people find these ads intrusive and irritating—almost an invasion of privacy.

Print advertisements not only enable your company to reach a non-digital audience, but they also give consumers a positive impression of your brand. Print is currently trendy in millennial circles, as are most “old school” practices.

Colorful, classy, clever, compelling print.

In fact, when students inevitably ask about campus life, the recruiters keep the focus tight. No mention of photos, Instagram or Pinterest. No pointing to videos on Periscope, Blab or YouTube. Nope. No digital distractions. Recruiters from several Universities tells that colorful brochures allow to create a direct message to the future students. “Take a few for your parents and friends” they say.