Paragon Press Shreveport

Perfect Presentations

Joan Romph — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:36:47 +0000

Presentation perfection can be attained if you are willing to put in the necessary time and effort.

The first key to a great presentation is preparation. Start early. The more time you allow yourself to think through your talk, the longer you’ll have to refine it.

The second key is becoming thoroughly familiar with your topic. The more you know about it, the more you’ll be ready to field questions or make intelligent asides when you’re on the spot.

Sprinkling humor throughout your talk will make the presentation more enjoyable for both you and your audience. Find an opener that will warm up your audience and grab their attention. Add appropriate jokes or anecdotes to illustrate points and hold the group’s focus. Also, keep in mind the old adage, “Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them.”

Make it a point to double and triple check your visual aids to ensure that they are accurate and appealing.

Finally, be ready to punt. Don’t be so locked in to your script on the big day that you can’t roll with the punches. Be ready to shorten or lengthen your talk, should circumstances change as the meeting progresses.

By doing the hard work ahead of time, you can relax, be real and actually have some fun as you make your presentation.

www.ParagonPress.net – Paragon Press Shreveport – #1 solutions-provider for printing, direct mail, graphic design, social media, marketing – 318.868.3351

The Power of MEMOS

Joan Romph — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:46:49 +0000

Whether they’re sent to a digital or physical in-box, memos still play an important role in the daily communications of most companies. Before you hit “send” or fill your coworkers’ in-boxes, take a moment to decide if a memo best serves your needs. If a face-to-face meeting would be quicker than sending a memo, or if you have a lot to say, then hold a short meeting instead.

If you do decide a memo will be the best course of action, here are some ways you can make sure your memos are accomplishing their goals:

• Include the date, the recipient’s name, and your name at the top of every memo you send.

• Begin with a sentence explaining the memo’s purpose.

• Keep the memo short. Use active verbs and only include information vital to understanding the meaning of the memo. If you think you’ll need to explain in greater detail what you are writing about, include a request for a meeting.

• Conclude the memo with a call for action. If you want the recipient to contact you or to save the memo, put those instructions in the memo. Even if no action is required, make sure you mention that, too.

• Save a copy of the memo for your files. This way, you will have something to refer to when someone has a response or a question about the memo.

www.ParagonPress.net – #1 in Shreveport, LA for printing, design, direct mail, marketing – 318.868.3351

ENVELOPES – Be Sure Your Mail Gets Opened!

Joan Romph — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:14:48 +0000

The post office handles nearly 200 billion pieces of mail each year. If you want your mailing to stand apart from the crowd, start with the envelope.

The envelope is much more than simply a means of sending communication. It creates a valuable first impression of your business, and also sets the expectation for the contents. Is it an invitation, a bill, business mail, or a surprise to be anticipated?

The more convincing and enticing the envelope, the more likely it is to be opened.

In addition to the design and color selection of your envelope, here are a few creative envelope ideas to ensure that your mailings get opened.

• Envelope Size. Large or oddly shaped envelopes (such as square shapes) draw more attention and get better response rates. The goal is to make it to the top of your recipient’s mail stack.

• Paper Type. The type of paper you select, together with creative design, can add a sense of quality to fit with your brand and target audience. For example, envelopes made from recycled paper depict you are environmentally conscious, while translucent envelopes provide a glimpse of your creativity.

• Windows. While windows are often used solely to show the recipient’s address, they can also be used creatively to link the envelope with the contents. Perhaps try various shapes and sizes on one or either side of the envelope.

• Envelope Teaser. Generate interest with a provocative statement. Effective teaser copy is compelling and entices the recipient to open your envelope.

www.ParagonPress.net – #1 in Shreveport, LA for printing, direct mail, graphic design, social media, marketing services. 318-868-3351

NOTEPADS – Great Marketing Tool

Joan Romph — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:29:58 +0000

Have you been looking for a creative marketing tool that can increase awareness about your business and benefit your customers at the same time? Look no further … notepads may be the perfect solution to this unique marketing challenge.

Every business dreams of having their customers promote their company. This dream can easily come true with customized notepads.

Customized notepads not only increase awareness about your business, they are a fun promotion that your customers will enjoy using.

Think about how often you use notepads to jot down notes to coworkers or family members, capture random thoughts, or even make grocery lists. Now imagine that your notepad, with your company’s logo and sales message, is being used like that several times a day, and possibly even being passed along to other people. All of those notes add up to a powerful marketing agent for your company.

So how do you determine what kind of notepad you’d like to use to represent your business?

Notepads offer a lot of creative freedom. They can vary in sizes, shapes, colors, paper textures, and graphics. Notepads can range anywhere from a typical 8-1/2” x 11” lined memo pad, to a smaller 4-1/4” x 5-1/2” scratch pad. They can be designed to portray the personality of your business, or promote a functional use, such as “To-Do List” or “Shopping List.”

If you’d like some more creative ideas on how to use notepads as a promotional tool for your business, stop by and talk with one of our customer service representatives. Not only can they show you examples of various styles of notepads, they can help you determine what kind of notepad would best promote your business.

So go ahead, write “order notepads” on your to-do list. And hopefully, before long, your customers will be jotting down notes on your company’s classy, customized notepads … thinking of your great service or product every time.

www.ParagonPress.net – #1 in Shreveport, LA for printing, direct mail, graphic design, social media, marketing services. 318-868-3351

ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR – Using Type as a Mask

Joan Romph — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:28:25 +0000

Adobe Illustrator has a wonderful assortment of tools for adding fill colors and patterns to paths and objects. However, those fill options aren’t as plentiful when it comes to adding fills to type. Workarounds for these limitations are available. One method allows you to use type as a mask to apply a gradient to your text.

Here’s how to do it:

Create a word or phrase of text.

Use the rectangle tool to create a rectangle about the size of your text. Apply a gradient fill to this rectangle.

Drag your type on top of the filled rectangle, making sure that the text is on top. (Object > Arrange > Bring to Front)

Select both pieces, the type and the rectangle.
Choose Object > Clipping Mask > Make.
Click anywhere outside your type to see the effect.

You could use this technique to create unique headlines for a newsletter, or in your company’s logo.

RECOMMENDED READING FROM AMAZON.COM

How to Do Everything with Adobe Illustrator CS

by David Karlins

REVIEW

This handy resource teaches you how to generate professional graphics for multiple media, including print and Web. Master Illustrator’s defining feature: creating and editing drawings by defining anchor points and the paths between them. Plus, the book features an art gallery displaying professional work to help illustrate the lessons and inspire you.

www.ParagonPress.net – #1 in Shreveport, LA for printing, direct mail, graphic design, social media, marketing services – 318.868.3351.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP – Work in RGB, Preview in CMYK

Joan Romph — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:24:43 +0000

While Photoshop files intended for use in full-color print jobs will ultimately need to be converted to CMYK color mode, working in RGB color mode means more filters for you to use, and a smaller file size, which allows Photoshop to operate more efficiently.

Knowing these benefits, wouldn’t it be nice to work in RGB mode, but see the effects of your work in CMYK mode?

Here’s how you can do just that in real-time.

While your image is open onscreen, go under the Window menu to Arrange, and choose New Window.
This will open another view of your existing document.
Press Command-Y (for a PC: Control-Y) to show a CMYK preview of your image, then return to your original document and edit as normal.
The changes you make in the RGB window will be updated in the CMYK window.

Your finished file will still need to be converted to CMYK mode for use in full-color print production. If you need assistance with this final step, please contact us at Paragon Press – we’ll be happy to help.

RECOMMENDED READING FROM AMAZON.COM

Adobe Photoshop CS Down & Dirty Tricks

by Scott Kelby

REVIEW

Bestselling author Scott Kelby is back with an amazing new collection of Photoshop Down and Dirty Tricks. It’s more of those eye-popping, jaw-dropping special effects that made Scott’s previous version an award-winning worldwide smash hit!

You’ll learn the most closely guarded inside secrets for creating the latest cutting-edge effects, including techniques that have never been revealed before anywhere! And the book is written so clearly, and is so easy to follow, that you’ll be able to create every one of these amazing effects yourself.

But Down and Dirty tricks is more than just a just an effects book–it’s a tips book too, because on every page Scott includes a cool tip, a quick trick, or a timesaving shortcut, making this an invaluable productivity tool too! Plus the whole book is packed with design techniques, creative ideas and stunning layouts that will help you unleash your own creativity.

www.ParagonPress.net – #1 in Shreveport, LA for printing, direct mail, graphic design, social media, marketing services. 318-868-3351

ADOBE InDesign’s Paragraph Composer

Joan Romph — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:09:48 +0000

First, a little history…

Back before computers, when type was set by hand, great care was taken to make a page of type appear “beautiful.” The typesetter would have the luxury of analyzing each line of type to make sure it didn’t create unwanted text disturbances like rivers, widows, orphans, or hyphenation problems. If an aesthetic problem was identified, it, along with any other lines of type affected by the change, could be quickly remedied.

Now, fast-forward to the computer age. Even though computers have made the job of setting type much more efficient, the software has always lacked the ability to analyze multiple lines of text in order to achieve the best aesthetic typographic result.

Enter Adobe’s InDesign, and the introduction of the Adobe’s Paragraph Composer, which has the capacity to reduce the amount of time spent on composition, and increase the consistency of hyphenation and overall letter and word spacing.

Adobe’s Paragraph Composer can consider multiple lines of text, eliminating widows, orphans and text rivers, and improving the overall quality of the body of text as you type, allowing you to approach page layout from an artistic point of view.

Preferences for Adobe InDesign’s composition engine are defined by selecting the Adobe Paragraph Composer or Adobe Single-line Composer from the InDesign Paragraph palette menu.

Choosing whether to use the Paragraph or Single-line Composer depends on what type of work you are doing. If you are working with a small amount of text, such as a headline or caption, the Single-line Composer will allow more user control. The Paragraph Composer is best suited for larger bodies of text because it was designed to consider multiple lines of text at one time, and will provide the highest-quality aesthetic results with very little hassle.

Suggested Reading from Amazon.com

InDesign In Detail

by Frank Romano and David Broudy

REVIEW

InDesign In Detail provides the most authoritative, thorough guide to InDesign for serious graphic arts professionals, including step-by-step explanations and insider’s tips for every InDesign technique needed to build sophisticated page layouts: frames, objects, graphics, type, and text.

www.ParagonPress.net – #1 in Shreveport, LA for printing, direct mail, graphic design, social media, marketing services. 318-868-3351

ADOBE ACROBAT – Dictionary on Demand

Joan Romph — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:21:28 +0000

Did you know that Adobe Acrobat (since version 6.0) provides a convenient dictionary at your disposal?

If you are connected to the Internet while working in Acrobat, you can easily look up the meaning of any word in a text object.

Here’s how:

Simply select the word you want to look up with the text tool and right-click (Windows) or control-click (Mac), then choose Look Up “selected word.” Acrobat will then launch your web browser and the meaning of the word you selected will be displayed.

www.ParagonPress.net – #1 in Shreveport, LA for printing, direct mail, graphic design, social media, marketing services. 318.868.3351

PHOTOSHOP 7.0 – Naming Layers

Joan Romph — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:27:49 +0000

Why You Should Name Your Layers

If you’ve ever created a multi-layered document in PhotoShop, you know it can become very difficult, time consuming, and frustrating to keep track of what is on which layer. That is a great reason to name your layers as you go. The following techniques will help you become a more efficient PhotoShop pro:

Naming Layers As You Go

To name a new layer as you go, hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (PC) before you click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Why You Should Name Your Layers

Renaming Layers

If you want to rename your layers after you create them, double-click directly on the layer’s name in the Layers palette and it will highlight the text so you can type a new name. (If you double-click anywhere else besides the name, it will bring up the Blending Options in the Layer Style dialog.)

Save Time in 7.0

This way of naming layers directly in the palette is new in PhotoShop 7.0. In version 6, you had to hold the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (PC) when you double-clicked and it would bring up the Layer Properties dialog where you could rename the layer. This minor change is a big timesaver.

www.ParagonPress.net – #1 in Shreveport, LA for printing, direct mail, graphic design, social media, marketing services. 318-868-3351.

Fixing a Problem Photo

Joan Romph — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:24:12 +0000

…by blurring the background, yet keeping the grain.

You can remove distracting detail from an image or focus attention on the subject by isolating the subject and keeping it in focus as you blur other parts of the picture. The Photoshop technique presented in this tip imitates the effect you get with a shortened depth of field, traditionally achieved by opening up the camera’s iris (setting the f-stop low). The blurring can be limited to the background, or, as shown here, the sharp subject can be sandwiched between blurred background and blurred foreground. In either case, you’ll need to make the blurred areas match the sharp ones by restoring the film grain or digital noise (the equivalent of film grain in an image captured with a digital camera) that was lost in the process of blurring.

Defining the Foreground

If you want to keep a foreground subject in focus while blurring only the background, it’s a good idea to make sure the foreground subject bleeds off the bottom of the picture, even if it means cropping the image. Otherwise, if the subject is standing on the ground, it can be very tricky to make the transition from the in-focus ground at the feet of the subject to the out-of-focus background.

www.ParagonPress.net – #1 in Shreveport, LA for printing, direct mail, design, social media, marketing services. 318-868-3351