Color

The use of color documents is continuing to rise in almost every industry. Therefore, you are probably looking for ways to reduce their color output costs. Fortunately, there are several smart ways that you can enjoy the benefits of color printing.

Tip 1: Avoid Ink Jet Printers

Color ink jet printers are often bundled with the purchase of a PC. Therefore, it is easy to accumulate them without actually purchasing them. Unfortunately, they are actually the most expensive color output devices to operate when running full-color documents longer than 1-2 pages.

Tip 2:  Eliminate Unnecessary Background Color

Documents with solid color backgrounds use a considerable amount of toner and take more time to process, slowing down the printing time. This can cause costs to skyrocket.

You can increase productivity and reduce costs by using bright colors on a white background. While a colorful background may look good on your computer screen, that same image will actually look more professional when printed with a white background. continue reading...

A study conducted by the University of Minnesota found that the use of graphics increased the persuasiveness of a message by 47%. This is due to the fact that color graphics help people learn faster and then retain what they learned. Therefore, it is a very logical step to send out proposals and marketing materials in color.

When using color, it is crucial to use it effectively. If the graphics are related to your message then it will actually become more of a distraction than a teaching aid.

Here are some ideas to consider when creating a color proposal:

Include the Client’s Logo. By adding the customer’s logo, the proposal will automatically feel more personalized and custom. However, make sure your logo is not sized larger than the client's logo.

Incorporate the Client's Colors. By replicating the client’s colors throughout the proposal, you can easily create a sense of familiarity. As the client looks at the proposal it will feel very comfortable.

Use High Quality Graphics. When adding photos or clipart be careful not to stretch or skew the image. You don’t want the graphics to come out pixelated or blurry. continue reading...

In a tight economy, it is hard to justify spending a bunch of money on high-end advertising that may or may not bring profitable results. However, you need to continue to increase your business, so what are you options?

Your most valuable resource is your list of current clients. Clients who have already purchased a service or product from you are much more likely to  purchase again. It is important to ensure your current clients are aware of all the products and services you offer.

A cost-effective way to keep your clients informed of upcoming promotions is through color statement stuffers. If you are already mailing a statement to a client, you might as well include additional information about new products or promotions.

With easy color output in many multifunction devices, you can create color inserts that double as marketing materials for mere pennies. continue reading...

Color helps you communicate more effectively with your customers, and it also helps you communicate more effectively internally.

Color Improves Customer Communication

Did you know that color invoices get paid faster, reducing collection time? Color marketing materials and proposals command attention. Color newsletters and publications keep your clients informed of your new offerings.

Color Improves Internal Communication

Did you know that training materials are more effective in color? Spreadsheets and financial reports are more understandable in color – and color even helps to reduce errors when working with reports. Key memos and internal flyers capture attention in color. continue reading...

In living color
When was the last time you watched television on a black-and-white set? Or perused a black-and-white Website? There’s no getting around it: We live in a color world, and color has a tremendous impact on the way we think and feel about almost every aspect of our lives. This paper will explore what makes color such an important component of communication, why more and more organizations are increasingly incorporating color output into their everyday operations, and how color can dramatically improve the effectiveness of communications—from seemingly minor memos to major sales presentations—in virtually any organization.

The power of color
Consider just a few examples of the powerful impact of color in everyday life.
> When you’re driving on a highway and you see a large orange sign with black lettering on the roadside ahead, what does that tell you? Even if you’re too far away to read the text, you know to be on the alert for construction and related road hazards. That’s just one example of the ways in which color can be used to communicate important practical information to entire societies. continue reading...

Color printing has been around for years, but until recently, it was not that widely used in everyday office environments.
According to industry observers at CAP Ventures, this may be because color printers have traditionally been perceived as too
expensive and complex to be of much value for everyday usage.1 However, now that color devices are becoming more affordable and functional, that’s changing. Even so, it’s still entirely possible to spend too much on color—by failing to carefully match needs to capabilities. As Don Jones points out in The Definitive Guide to Office Color Printing, many organizations don’t understand the range of options available to them for using color; as a result, they “often implement overly expensive solutions for everyday use.”2 This planner is designed to help you align printing requirements with devices in order to get just what you need in color printing—no more, and no less.

Think about it: Consider the ways in which you want to use color printing for everyday office document.

Act on it: Determine the criteria to apply to be sure that the devices you buy are appropriate for your needs.

Work with it: Evaluate how well the devices you are considering match your selection criteria. continue reading...

The right color printing solution can reduce
costs and improve efficiency in a variety of
printing and imaging environments. The
following scenario describes how one
organization is using HP color printers to
bring a key printing function in-house—and
dramatically cut costs and increase efficiency.

Scenario for Improvement

The organization: Professional sports team

The situation: Need for an alternative to outsourcing of
season-ticket printing

The problems: High printing costs, slow turnarounds,
limited ability to accommodate change

The solution: HP Color LaserJet 9500 printers

The results: 54 percent reduction in ticket printing costs,
as well as faster delivery and increased flexibility continue reading...

Organizations that are incorporating color into their printing and imaging environments would like to be able to control access to color printing in order to maximize the return on their investments in color. This doesn’t simply mean limiting access to color, or placing controls on who uses color and who does not, although there is certainly value for some organizations in being able to do just that. But controlling access to color also means being able to monitor how color is used and to track usage by a variety of criteria, in order to make informed decisions that affect operational efficiency. And for some organizations, controlling access to color may also mean accurately determining color usage in order to bill clients or internal users for their usage. Applying color access controls in any or all of these ways enables organizations to use color as effectively and cost-efficiently as possible. continue reading...

Organizations that are incorporating color into their printing and imaging environments would like to be able to control access to color printing in order to maximize the return on their investments in color. This doesn’t simply mean limiting access to color, or placing controls on who uses color and who does not, although there is certainly value for some organizations in being able to do just that. But controlling access to color also means being able to monitor how color is used and to track usage by a variety of criteria, in order to make informed decisions that affect operational efficiency. And for some organizations, controlling access to color may also mean accurately determining color usage in order to bill clients or internal users for their usage. Applying color access controls in any or all of these ways enables organizations to use color as effectively and cost-efficiently as possible. continue reading...

Organizations that are incorporating color into their printing and imaging environments would like to be able to control access to color printing in order to maximize the return on their investments in color. This doesn’t simply mean limiting access to color, or placing controls on who uses color and who does not, although there is certainly value for some organizations in being able to do just that. But controlling access to color also means being able to monitor how color is used and to track usage by a variety of criteria, in order to make informed decisions that affect operational efficiency. And for some organizations, controlling access to color may also mean accurately determining color usage in order to bill clients or internal users for their usage. Applying color access controls in any or all of these ways enables organizations to use color as effectively and cost-efficiently as possible. continue reading...