• No Comments

  • admin

  • Mar 24, 2020

As you are no doubt aware, the NZ Govt has ordered a lockdown of all non-essential businesses.

We are unable to print or dispatch items until the lockdown lifts. The Positive Signs + Print team are working remotely from their homes, and are checking emails regularly. So any orders placed that require design work will still progress, up until the printing stage.

This is an unprecedented time filled with uncertainty for everyone. Please continue to support small businesses, be patient with each other, and look after yourself.

Amanda + Ruth

Read More

  • No Comments

  • admin

  • Mar 19, 2020
I am sure you are also feeling increasing anxiety watching the news and hearing about how Covid-19 is affecting our country and the wider world. We have spent the last couple of days putting plans in place to prepare and minimise disruption as much as possible.
Covid-19 Signage
We have had a flurry of clients after Covid-19 signage, so we’ve put together an A4 notice that you are able to print yourself and pop at your premise’s front door. Download it here, free of charge. I hope this helps with your own Covid-19 preparations! We are, of course, happy to help with printing/laminating copies of this notice – just let me know (A4 are $3+gst each, A3 are $5+gst each, reducing if you need multiple copies).
In person visits to Positive Signs + Prints
If you or any of your close contacts have any symptoms (listed on the official website), please refrain from visiting. We are happy to help you via phone (03 489 3925) or email (print@positivesigns.co.nz)
Collecting printing & signs
To minimise contact, we have shifted our collection point for pick ups to our front reception desk (at the top of the stairs). Just inside the bottom door is hand sanitizer – please use this when entering for extra protection.
Working offsite
In the coming days we will each be taking turns trialling working offsite, so if/when quarantines are put in place, we can continue (some) business as usual. The best way to get in touch with us will be via email or phone.
Please take care of yourself, and each other.

Read More

  • No Comments

  • admin

  • Mar 13, 2020

In the printing world, understanding what is bleed is crucial. Yes, it’s yet another weird piece of vocabulary to go alongside other printing terms like jogging, vectors, jpeg and CMYK. But as it is something crucial which will affect the outcome of your printing job, we’re making our job to explain it to you.

What is Bleed?

Bleed, print bleed or bleed printing is all about the ink that goes to the edge of the paper during printing. During the printing process, paper movement and design inconsistencies can occur. This means having a bleed is essential to avoid your print job being misshapen or cut off.

Let’s look at what is bleed another way:

You’re having business cards printed. Your graphic designer has created a print file for you and you’ve been asked to check if there is a bleed included. This is important because your business cards are printed as a large sheet and then trimmed down to size.

A bleed is usually around two to five mm from where you want the cut to be made (outside of the design). It’s best to confirm what bleed we’ll require, as different jobs need different bleeds.

Because the file includes a bleed, the margin makes your print job slightly bigger when printing, but after trimming this will be sorted.

If you had an image or colour that you wanted to go to the edge of each card, and you didn’t have a bleed, you could end up with a small white edge. If you had a bleed, you wouldn’t get this, as, during the printing, the colour would have gone outside of the actual design. This means when trimmed, there would be no white line.

Understanding More About What is Bleed & Why It’s Important

The amount of bleed required will depend on the printing method used, the size of the paper and how the image is sent to the printer. Don’t stress about this though, as we can tell you exactly what you will need!

In conclusion, bleed is when the colours and images of your artwork continue beyond the edge of the actual design, or the actual size you want your print job to be. During the trimming process, your document will not have any white lines around the edges because there was still colour where the print job cut lines are.

If you need any further help understanding about bleed, or how to add it to your image, please feel free to contact our team today.

Read More

  • No Comments

  • admin

  • Feb 5, 2020

Your vinyl decal/sticker will look its best if it’s put on correctly. As well as saving the pain of bubbles, you’ll ensure that your sticker, well, sticks!

We’ve recorded a quick video walking you through the steps here:

STEP 1

Clean the area thoroughly. We use diluted IPA – isopropyl alcohol. You can use soap and water, just let the area dry thoroughly. Do not use a glass cleaner because it leaves a residue behind.

STEP 2

Line up where you want your decal to go, using masking tape to secure the decal into position. Once it is in position, move all the tape to one side of the decal, so you’ve got a free edge. This is the side you will be putting down first.

STEP 3

On the loose side of your decal, peel the transfer tape (with decal attached) away from the backing paper. Cut the backing paper through the centre.

Rub a squeegee (or bank card card!) firmly across the sticker through the clear transfer tape to prepare it for application. This ensures the sticker will cling to the transfer tape and removes any air bubbles that may have formed.

STEP 4

Slowly lower the decal onto the surface and rub from the centre outwards firmly with a squeegee or credit card.

Remove the tape from the remaining loose side, and repeat.

STEP 5

Slowly peel the clear transfer tape off at an angle.

Read More

  • No Comments

  • admin

  • Nov 23, 2019

Window signwriting is a must-have form of branding for most businesses. Displayed on shop fronts, interior windows or dividers and on vehicles. Here at Positive Signs, window signwriting is one of the specialist services we provide to businesses in and around the Mosgiel area. Today we’re happy to share with you our window signwriting process.

What is Window Signwriting?

Signwriting on shop, office or vehicle windows is a highly effective form of advertising. Used as an eyecatching display to draw shoppers in, a privacy screen, stating open hours and helping customers find your premises easily. Big or small, single colour or photo graphics, sign-written windows can completely cover a window or simply consist of your logo. It’s up to you.

At Positive Signs, we offer several different signwriting options for our clients:

  1. Solid digitally printed vinyl: Permanent full-colour photo-quality graphics on solid vinyl – the most popular choice for window graphics.
  2. Cut coloured vinyl graphics: Durable & economical, perfect for text, simple logos and designs, and opening hours.
  3. Window Frosting: We can print images or your logo onto the frosting or cut your logo out of the solid see-through, creating hollow seethrough sections. These can be used as a screen to create privacy or reduce direct sunlight
  4. Clear Digital Prints: Using a clear vinyl that creates a transparent subtle form of advertising, leaving the opportunity for your clientele to see through.
  5. One way vision: This is a perforated film that we print onto which allows you to see clearly through the back of this film. This allows you to advertise your business on glass, while still being able to see out of your window.
  6. All of the above! Some incredible designs can be produced with a mix of different materials.

We’re always happy to chat about what we do and help you to make the right choice for your business. Get in touch with us today.

Positive Sign’s Window Signwriting Process

When our signwriting services are requested by a client, there’s a lot our team needs to do…

  • Site visit and discussion – we’ll come to your site and take photos of the area you want sign-written. We talk about what you want to achieve, offering suggestions if required. Measurements are taken of the area and we leave your site 100% clear of what your requirements are.
  • Design process – back in the office, we bring your sign to life, using all of the information we’ve learnt about you and your business. We create a digital proof of what your sign will look like and send it, along with a quote, to you for your consideration. You can ask for us to make changes, and once the quote is accepted, it’s time for us to begin manufacturing your signage.
  • Signage manufacturing and installation – we now create your business’ signage inhouse. Once ready, we arrange with you a time for us to install it on site. We’ll let you know how to care for it, including cleaning if required.

If you’re thinking about having window signwriting installed at your place of business, let’s chat. Get in touch with us today to discuss exactly how we can help your business get noticed.

Read More

  • No Comments

  • admin

  • Nov 5, 2019

Getting some printing done and wondering about what paper sizes you’ll need? Most of us are familiar with A4 paper, it being the standard printer paper in New Zealand. However, as a printing company, we use many other paper sizes on a daily basis too. To help you choose the right paper sizes for your printing job, we’ve put together this handy and informative guide.

Guide to Paper Sizes for Printing

A4 paper is a part of the A series of paper sizes, which is commonly used throughout NZ and by our Mosgiel printing company. Defined by the ISO 216 standard, the A-series paper size consists of 13 specific paper sizes:

  • 4A0 – 1682 x 2378 mm*
  • 2A0 – 1189 x 1682 mm*
  • A0 – 841 x 1189 mm*
  • A1 – 594 x 841 mm
  • A2 – 420 x 594 mm
  • A3 – 297 x 420 mm
  • A4 – 210 x 297 mm
  • A5 – 148 x 210 mm
  • A6 – 105 x 148 mm
  • A7 – 74 x 105 mm
  • A8 – 52 x 74 mm
  • A9 – 37 x 52 mm
  • A10 – 26 x 37 mm

The A paper size standard ISO 216 has some specific requirements or tolerances when it comes to its sizes, but a general guide is that for each size below A0, the one below is half the size of the one above. For example, A5 is half the size of A4.

To clear up confusion, when we talk about paper sizes, we are also referring to card. That means you can have any of the A series printed as long as card in your required size can be sourced* (and we’ll try our hardest to do so).

Of special note is that we can print card on our digital press to size SRA3. SRA, which stands for Supplementary Raw Format A, is untrimmed raw paper is used for commercial printing. As it is slightly larger than the A series format, it allows the ink to bleed to the edge of the paper, before being cut to match the A format. We will be talking about bleed in a future article What is Bleed if you’d like to know more about ink bleed and how it affects the files you send us.

How big can Positive Signs print?

We have a brand new Xerox C9070 Production Printer which can print up to 330x660mm and a wide format Roland inkjet printer which prints up to 720mm in width – to whatever length required. The printer we use and the material/stock selected will depend on the specific requirements of your job, so you’re best to discuss with us what you would like.

For super-large jobs (the 4A0, 2A0 and A0 sizes indicated with a * above) we can arrange specialty printing for you.

What happens if I want to print something that is a different size?

You might notice that our list above doesn’t have one of the most common pieces of card that grace the desk of millions of workers… business cards. Or what about the rack cards that people commonly use for marketing? Greeting cards? Comp slips? No stress guys, we’ve got you covered. We ‘gang up’ as many smaller pieces onto your selected SRA3 card as possible, print them, then trim them to the size you require.

For more assistance with identifying the correct paper sizes for your printing job, get in touch with us! Or feel free to pop into our Mosgiel printing store for a chat.

Read More

  • No Comments

  • admin

  • Oct 18, 2019

You’re getting graphics designed or have been asked to produce files ready for printing. Which file format should you choose: raster or vector?  As Dunedin printers and signwriters, we’re here to share our wisdom on the differences between raster and vector files, to help you decide.

Choosing Between Raster or Vector Image Files

There are two types of graphic image files: vector and raster. Let’s look at the key differences between each of them.

Vector images:

  • made with many different little lines and curves, joined together to create a picture
  • designed using many mathematical calculations or paths
  • always looks smooth when enlarged
  • best suited to graphics that are created, such as logos, letterheads and fonts
  • flexible and easy to resize
  • have smaller file sizes
  • common formats include AI, EPS, SVG and PDF
  • can be edited in software such as Illustrator, CorelDraw and InkScape
  • must be rasterized before using on the web, except for SVGs

Raster images:

  • made with pixels, not lines
  • each pixel has its own colour
  • best suited for scanned artwork, detailed graphics or digitised photographs
  • when enlarged, they look jagged and rough, as the individual pixels become visible
  • not easily editable or resized
  • have large file sizes
  • available in common formats of TIFF, GIF, PCX, BMP and JPEG
  • slower to display and print
  • are also known as bitmaps
  • are edited in software such as Photoshop and GIMP
  • the higher the number of pixels per inch, the better quality of the image

When choosing between raster or vector files, the ultimate decision rests with the graphic itself. If it is a digital photo, then raster is what is is. But for a created graphic – such as a logo or font – then a vector file is what you ultimately need.

Will Your Print Job Need a Raster or Vector Image?

In order to do your print job, we’re going to need the image files from you. The file type we need will depend on the job you are having printed and the finish you require. We are able to convert vector images into raster images – but not the other way around – so if in doubt, just get in touch and ask.

Will Your Sign Job Need a Raster or Vector Image?

Most likely, yes, we will need a vector image for a sign job. That’s because signs are usually big – and vector images will give you a better quality result at size. If you don’t have a vector image (i.e. you’ve typed something up in Microsoft Word and want that on a sign) that’s okay, we can create a file that’ll work for what you need. Flick us an email with your requirements or call in and we can discuss what you need.

Read More

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

    Archives

    Categories

    Meta