2018 Feb/Mar

Multi-Level Embossing Kicks It Up a Notch, Reaches New Depths

March 19, 2018

by Melissa Larson, contributing writer, PostPress

Embossing is a technique that is straightforward enough to be done at home by scrapbookers and other crafters with readily available tools, yet still sophisticated enough that specialized printers and print finishers advertise their abilities to accomplish multi-level designs and images.

An embossed image can be as simple as one level or as complex as several levels, commonly known as a multi-level emboss. Multi-level embossing takes the process of pressing an image into paper using a die and a counter, creating a raised image and kicking it up a notch by changing the surface of the paper at multiple levels. This makes the technique popular for multi-dimensional shapes, landscapes or images that have unique details such as leaves or feathers.

When compared with single-level embossing, this technique is more expensive and obviously requires a longer turnaround. Yet the finished results are well worth the extra time and expense, and multi-level embossing is increasingly used for high-end packaging for such products as golf balls, liquor, cosmetics, DVDs and video games, and gourmet confectionery, as well as for promotional posters, brochures and stationery.

Sheila Donnelly of specialty printer Precise Continental, Harrison, New Jersey, provides a concise assessment of the impact of embossing. “Embossing is a technique that adds dimensionality and a tactile quality to a printed piece that invites the viewer to touch,” she explained. “It works well on virtually any printed piece – from business cards to invitations to presentation covers to book covers. With over 2,000 sensory receptors in our fingertips, touch has been shown to elicit more intense sensations than sight or sound alone.”

Donnelly went on to explain that the detail, height and quality of an embossing is dependent on many elements, including the depth of the die, the thickness and density of the substrate, and the heat of the press to name a few.

Communication is key with multi-level dies

An important area to remember with multi-level embossing, and a good place to start, is to indicate the type of embossing effect the customer wants. The most common choices are either raised round (round lift), raised flat (beveled flat lift) or raised roof (raised faceted). These effects can be used together as well. On a multi-level image, a portion of the artwork might indicate to raise flat the first level and indicate a raised round effect on the second level.

Although with today’s technologies many multi-level embossing dies are created through the computer and CNC engraved, very detailed sculptured engravings are still created by hand by an experienced master engraver.

Communication with the designer or end user is key in these situations. Although a designer can have input and make suggestions, the individual must trust the creation to the expertise of the engraver.

Said Donnelly, “Communication with a client is very important when making sculptured embossing dies – to understand what look and feel they want from the final piece.”

Mike Pautz would agree with that assessment. As president of E.C. Schultz & Co., a Midwestern engraver of stamping and embossing dies, he understands the challenges of communicating what the finished product might look like, when the design doesn’t yet exist.

“Communicating visual information is challenging,” Pautz said. “Having a vocabulary with common definitions is critical. When communicating about embossing, the old adage ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ is an exceptionally apt statement.”

“I keep a small library of digital examples that can be sent for reference when planning a project,” he continued. “Sending digital renderings as examples can greatly help to prevent misunderstandings in the process. With CAD/CAM capabilities in place, it is easy to send a representation of what the die will look like prior to actually making it. If a die is hand-sculpted, the project has to be completed before any specific review can take place.”

It is recommended that the designer take the artwork and the specific image that will be embossed and indicate what areas on the image should include intricate detail in the embossing die. If there is a printed image that is partially sculptured embossed, separating out a layer in the digital artwork that indicates the portion of the image to emboss is the best solution. Then, on a printout of the artwork, the embossing effects and amount of detail can be indicated.

With combination (foil and embossing) engravings, the same guidelines must be followed. If a combination die has both flat foil stamped areas and foil and embossed areas on one die (which is possible), this also needs to be marked in detail on the artwork.

Conclusion

Although there are new processes out there creating single level embossed images, and CNC technology that has come a long way to produce many of the embossing effects customers want, there is still nothing that can completely replace the look and feel of a beautiful, hand-sculptured embossing. However, it is becoming a lost art.

Finding and keeping master engravers is becoming more and more difficult. Pautz, who was an art major in college, learned his craft from older co-workers but says he recruits potential engravers from such backgrounds as graphic arts and digital design. Pautz’s Marketing Manager John Masciola, whose background was in printing and finishing, commented, “Employees who expect instant gratification need not apply for an engraving career – this work takes patience.”

The fact remains that embossing is still in high demand. It brings a certain look that many new – and even older – techniques simply can’t touch (pun intended). There is still a place for it in high-volume packaging down to individual pieces of art, and it is certainly not going away anytime soon.

Tips and Tricks for Achieving the Perfect Emboss

John Rushgrove, one of the few true “embossing artists” still operating today, has taken on many projects to expand the limits of embossing into paper. With decades of experience, and the winner of multiple FSEA Gold Leaf Awards, Rushgrove offers his expertise on achieving optimum embossing levels with the following tips and tricks:

A tradesman is only as good as his tooling. Find a diemaker you can communicate with, one who trusts that you can do what you say you can do and is willing to push the boundaries with you. You want a sculptured, multi-level die to get the very best result.
Each sculptured die is different. Most have minor imperfections, and these will need to be addressed as you are making ready; for example, irregular depths, or too steep a gradient on the die.
Always start the makeready after you have bottomed the die out. The aim is to get all of your detail out of your die as you work your way through your makeready.
As you go deeper in embossing, you will need thicker dies. Always remember that when your die thickness increases, you will need to use a thinner plate than usual or have no plate.
The deeper you go, the more likely you are to experience cracking and creasing. There is no one solution to this, and often it will be a combination of some, or all, of the techniques below.
- If the job is cracking, do not decrease the pressure. This will result in loss of detail even if it does reduce the cracking. The best result is achieved by bottoming the die out with the counter die.
- For cracking, place a thin piece of plastic/film over the die. Experiment with different films, but usually the thinner the better (the more you use, the more detail you lose).
- Creasing can usually be eliminated by putting small feathers of paper on the counter die, where the creasing is occurring. Be careful not to bruise the paper on the embossed side. Using an appropriate stock will keep the issue of creasing to a minimum.
Not all stocks are suitable for embossing! It is important to test stocks with the die. This is my starting point. Once I have found a suitable stock (one with minimum cracking and creasing) I then inform the client, who is usually happy to go with my suggestion. If they require a specific stock, I re-evaluate the depth.
Do your makeready under the plate on the platen, if possible. Run two sheets through the press on impression. Use one of them as your positional sheet. Cut out the embossed image on the other sheet and stick it over the embossed area on positional sheet. This will make the embossed area thicker on the positional sheets, will bear the weight off around the edge, will prevent the edges of the die from marking the sheet and will give more impression on the emboss. The positional sheet is also used for building up the areas where you are not getting all the detail of the die. Tissue paper, newspaper and the like are used to build up on these areas.
Last but not least, have the right mindset. Be prepared for some trial and error. Even at this stage in my career I come across jobs that seem impossible, but with perseverance I achieve 100 percent depth and detail.

Print and Paper in a Digital World – Consumer Preferences, Attitudes and Trust

March 19, 2018

by Phil Riebel, president, Two Sides North America, Inc.

From financial transactions to reading the news or a magazine, the world is moving rapidly toward an electronic interface. But is this actually what we want? A 2017 survey commissioned by Two Sides, “Print and Paper in a Digital World,” examined the preferences of US consumers for print vs. electronic over a wide range of communications.

US consumers want to retain choice of communications

First and foremost, the large majority of US consumers surveyed (90 percent) felt they should have the right to choose how they receive communications (printed or electronic) from financial organizations and other service providers. Most (82 percent) also do not want to be charged more for choosing a paper bill or statement, and 57 percent would consider switching to an alternative financial organization or service provider if they are forced to go paperless.

Contrary to popular belief, the issue of choice isn’t just confined to older age groups. As may be expected, 92 percent of US consumers aged 55+ agreed that they should have the right to choose paper or digital, but 88 percent of the 18- to 24-year-olds also agree. Furthermore, 49 percent of that same young age group would consider switching companies if they are forced to go paperless.

Print on paper is considered safer and more secure

Part of the consumer support for printed documentation may be due to the increase in data breaches in the financial, business and health care sectors. Survey results revealed that 79 percent of consumers keep hard copies of important documents filed at home, as they believe this is the safest and most secure way of storing their information. A similar number is increasingly concerned that personal information held electronically is at risk of being hacked, stolen, lost or damaged.

Having a printed copy – whether it be of a newspaper, an invoice or a health or financial record – is generally perceived to be a more secure and comprehensible way of receiving information than its digital counterpart.

The preference for print on paper also has a lot to do with convenience. Overall, 68 percent agree that it is easier to track their expenses and manage their finances when information is printed on paper.

“Go Paperless” – “Go Green” claims are not trusted

The need for printed documents runs counter to company claims that we must go paperless because it is better for the environment. People often print e-documents at home or at the office for ease of reading, storage, archiving, security and reminders. A 2016 survey of US consumers found that 52 percent of respondents print some of their bills at home or at the office.

Many customers (71 percent) are also not fooled by “go paperless”/”go green” claims used by corporations and agree that the switch from paper to digital is because the sender primarily wants to save money. The 2016 US consumer survey also showed that 48 percent feel misled by the claims and 57 percent question the validity of the environmental claims.

For books and magazines, print wins over digital

Global luxury packaging sales by region, 2016 (percent shared by value)

Overall, 62 percent of respondents prefer to read books in print vs. electronic devices. Surprisingly, the youngest age group (18 to 24 years) feels the same way about books, with 63 percent responding in favor of print. Both groups strongly agree (72 to 73 percent) that reading a printed book is more enjoyable than its digital counterpart. The preference for print also extends to reading magazines, with 73 percent agreeing that print is more enjoyable than digital. Even the youngest group’s response is 66 percent in favor of print.

News consumption habits are changing

The markets for personalized printed products and luxury goods packaging has grown by leaps and bounds in the last few years as digital and web-to-print ordering systems make it easier and more convenient to order such products.

News is increasingly being read on digital devices. Most respondents (74 percent) say they read news on a tablet, smartphone, laptop or desktop computer at least once per week. However, 63 percent of all respondents and just less than half of the younger age group (46 percent) also say they read a printed newspaper at least once a week.

Not surprisingly, only 35 percent of the 18- to 24-year-olds prefer to read newspapers in print (as opposed to electronic devices) while the overall response is 61 percent in favor of print. However, when asked if reading a printed or digital newspaper was more enjoyable, the responses were more positive for print: 56 percent for the younger age group and 65 percent for all respondents.

Trusting the news found on digital media has become increasingly difficult, as hoaxes and misleading information pop up on the internet and are then shared on social media. This is reflected in the survey, with 73 percent of respondents agreeing that fake news is a worrying trend. In total, 56 percent trust the news stories they read in printed newspapers and 64 percent stated they would be very concerned if printed newspapers were to disappear.

Print provides a deeper understanding

When asked if reading news in a printed newspaper provides a deeper understanding of the story than digital options, the majority of respondents agreed (71 percent), and this was very similar to the response of the 18 to 24 age group (68 percent).

Ads are more effective in print

The fact that we trust and understand printed media more than digital has direct implications for advertisers.

The majority of consumers (70 percent) indicate that they do not pay attention to most online ads, and 69 percent find them irrelevant. The youngest age group surveyed (18- to 24-year-olds) feels only slightly less strongly about online ads, with 65 percent saying they do not pay attention to them. Many in both age categories (66 percent) could not remember the last time they willingly clicked an online ad.

When advertising turns up in our inboxes, do we read it? Less than half the time, according to the survey: 49 percent of all consumers and 43 percent of the youngest age group say they read marketing emails at least once per week.

As with the news, trust is an issue in advertising. Well over half the respondents (59 percent) do not trust many online ads. About half (54 percent) pay more attention to messages and ads on printed leaflets and mail than messages and ads delivered by email. A similar number agree they would be more likely to take an action after seeing an ad in a printed newspaper or magazine than if they saw the same ad online.

What about printed ads that turn up in the mailboxes of our homes? Of all the consumers surveyed, 59 percent said they read leaflets, flyers and other unaddressed mail delivered to their home at least once per week. Slightly higher numbers of respondents (63 percent) read advertising mail (at least once a week) addressed to them and delivered to their home.

Is digital overload starting to set in?

The survey found that consumers, particularly in the younger age categories, are concerned about health issues associated with spending time looking at screens and show a desire to “unplug.” About half of those surveyed (53 percent) felt they spent too much time on electronic devices, and that number was highest (81 percent) in the 25- to 34-year-old group. While 53 percent of consumers were concerned the overuse of electronic devices could be damaging to their health (ex: eyestrain, sleep deprivation, headaches), the number rose to 65 to 75 percent for consumers under 44 years.

The Toluna survey commissioned by Two Sides points out that print on paper plays a strong role in our daily lives, whether it is reading recreationally, carrying out financial transactions, maintaining our personal financial records or responding to advertising. The push to digital communications by many companies suggests that there is a disconnect with what their customers, young and old, actually want.

The full survey report and key findings for the US are available at www.twosidesna.org/Survey2017. To obtain a printed version of the materials, please contact Two Sides North America at info@twosidesna.org.

Phil Riebel is President of Two Sides North America, an independent non-profit organization created to promote the sustainability of print and paper. Two Sides is active globally in several countries and includes members from the entire print and paper value chain. For more information about Two Sides North America, visit www.twosidesna.org.

Endnotes

1. Two Sides and Toluna, 2016. The Attractiveness and Sustainability of Print and Paper – The U.S. Consumer’s view. June 2016.

Strategic Planning

March 19, 2018

PostPress

Rarely is success stumbled upon by accident. Instead, it’s the result of careful, focused planning that identifies direction, market and strategies to achieve goals that also have been deliberately set. How many business owners today are taking the time to study, assess and understand their companies’ strategic plans? And, how many are expending the effort necessary to update those plans and ensure their companies are on track? These six books contain advice on reacting with agility to market shifts, evaluating new customer sources, applying game theory to decision-making and laying out a roadmap for a strategic plan that places business owners in a position to win.

Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant
Authors: W. Chan Kim and Renée A. Mauborgne
Released: Feb 3, 2005, Updated 2014

In this perennial bestseller, embraced by organizations and industries worldwide, globally preeminent management thinkers W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne challenge everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success. Recognized as one of the most iconic and impactful strategy books ever written, Blue Ocean Strategy, now updated with fresh content from the authors, argues that cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. Based on a study of 150 strategic moves (spanning more than 100 years across 30 industries), the authors argue that lasting success comes not from battling competitors but from creating “blue oceans” – untapped new market spaces ripe for growth. Blue Ocean Strategy presents a systematic approach to making the competition irrelevant and outlines principles and tools any organization can use to create and capture its own blue oceans.

The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist’s Guide to Success in Business and Life
Authors: Avinash K. Dixit and Barry J. Nalebuff
Released: Jan. 4, 2010

Game theory means rigorous strategic thinking. It’s the art of anticipating your opponent’s next moves, knowing full well that your rival is trying to do the same thing to you. Though parts of game theory involve simple common sense, much is counterintuitive, and it can only be mastered by developing a new way of seeing the world. Using a diverse array of rich case studies – from pop culture, TV, movies, sports, politics and history – the authors show how nearly every business and personal interaction has a game-theory component to it. Mastering game theory will make you more successful in business and life, and this lively book is the key to that mastery.

The Agility Shift
Author: Pamela Meyer
Released: Sept. 29, 2015

The Agility Shift shows business leaders exactly how to make the radical mindset and strategy shift necessary to create an agile, entrepreneurial organization that can innovate and thrive in complex, ever-changing contexts. As author Pamela Meyer explains, there is much more involved than a reconfiguration of the org chart and job descriptions. It requires relinquishing the illusion of control at the very foundation of most management training and business practice. Despite most leaders’ “approaches,” agility is not simply accelerated planning. Unlike many agility books on the market, The Agility Shift provides specific, actionable strategies and tactics for leaders at all levels of the organization to put into practice immediately to improve agility and achieve results.

Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works
Authors: A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin
Released: Feb. 5, 2013

Strategy is not complex. But, it is hard. It’s hard because it forces people and organizations to make specific choices about their future – something that doesn’t happen in most companies. Now two of today’s best-known business thinkers get to the heart of strategy – explaining what it’s for, how to think about it, why you need it and how to get it done. And, they use one of the most successful corporate turnarounds of the past century, which they achieved together, to prove their point. A.G. Lafley, former CEO of Procter & Gamble, in close partnership with strategic adviser Roger Martin, doubled P&G’s sales, quadrupled its profits and increased its market value by more than $100 billion in just 10 years. Now, drawn from their years of experience at P&G and the Rotman School of Management, where Martin is dean, this book shows how leaders in organizations of all sizes can guide everyday actions with larger strategic goals built around the clear, essential elements that determine business success – where to play and how to win.

Strategic Planning: As Simple as A, B, C
Author: David R. McClean
Released: Jan. 12, 2015

If your organization wants to get better at strategic planning, you could hire expensive consultants eager to charge you as much as they can. Or you could demystify the process by reading this guidebook written by an accomplished businessman and former military strategic planner who explains that strategic planning means doing the right things, which is much different than doing things right. Col. David R. McClean (US, Ret.) provides a phased approach with clear and concise advice so you can improve your strategic planning and increase growth. Whether you own a corner sandwich shop or manage a megabank, you can conduct an organization assessment to develop a comprehensive strategic plan, select and lead strategic planning teams, communicate with colleagues and business partners, and analyze and execute an effective implementation plan.

Strategy-In-Action: Marrying Planning, People and Performance
Authors: Thomas D. Zweifel and Edward J. Borey
Released: Jan. 3, 2014

Traditional strategic planning no longer guarantees success. Rapid change and uncertainty, globalization and new technologies, flatter hierarchies and empowered consumers call for a new approach. The award-winning Strategy-In-Action shows, through cutting-edge research and compelling cases, how companies ended the long-standing divorce between planners and implementers. One saved $200 million from people power and another made $74 million from innovation. CEOs, senior managers and strategists will find a systematic, seven-step roadmap for winning strategies: how to build alignment among multiple stakeholders; get intelligence from far-flung locations; stand in the future while respecting the past; give voice to dissenters and maximize ownership; build a mindset of accountability, leadership and entrepreneurship; produce quick wins and screen out losers efficiently; and get dynamic feedback from the action.

The Good, Bad and Maybe Ugly Sides of the Tax Cut

March 19, 2018

by Chris Kuehl, managing director, Armada Corporate Intelligence

As readers must be aware, it is the job of the economist to point out the dark cloud that accompanies every silver lining. No good deed goes unpunished, and they don’t call us dismal scientists for nothing. Now that I have set the tone, we can discuss the impact of the tax cut and what the various phases will look like through the year and beyond. We can start with the good news.

The good

The tax cut has definitely stimulated the economy in a variety of ways. Consumers have more money to spend, as many saw their tax burden reduced and many also happened to work for companies that chose to share their tax reduction through bonuses and pay hikes. Businesses saw a reduction in their taxes as well – generally reducing rates from around 37 percent to around 25 percent. Some of the tax breaks that certain businesses had relied on have been eliminated – but not all that many. This leaves a lot more in the corporate coffers than before, and the money will be directed in a variety of ways – some more productive than others. There will be investment in new equipment, and there will be hiring (provided people can be found who are worth hiring). There also will be bigger payouts to owners and investors and money sunk into stock buyback, investments and purchases in foreign markets. These latter options are not as useful for the economy as a whole.

It is true that a stimulative tax cut like this would have been more effective when the economy was moribund, but there will be reasons to celebrate the windfall for the first half of the year in any case.

The bad

The timing of the tax cuts is what creates the bad scenario. The economy already was growing at a nice pace before the cuts, and now it is adding gasoline to a fire that already exists. This rapid influx of corporate and consumer cash can overheat an economy quickly.

Here is how a tax cut fuels inflation. The business community decides to use this money to expand. They start to buy machines, hire people and use more of the inputs they depend on – fuel, metals and the like. This new demand for these products is coming at a time when most suppliers have been ratcheting down output, and now they will struggle to keep pace with that demand and, almost inevitably, the price of all these inputs, machines and workers will rise. The faster the growth, the more urgency there is not to be left behind and that pushes those prices even higher.

Consumers play their part as well. They have money, and they will spend it. Right now, the savings rate for the US consumer is as low as it was at the start of the recession, and people are no longer reluctant to haul out their plastic. As they create demand, the producers have a reason to hike prices and the consumer starts to feel an inflationary pang. This propels them to spend even more – and faster – as they fear that the things they want will be even more expensive in the future. The natural reaction to inflation by a consumer is exactly the opposite of what would be preferred for the economy as a whole, but it happens every time.

So, now we have inflation. What is so bad about that? In the first place, it makes everything more expensive and creates a cycle that is hard to end. The person seeing higher prices for their basic needs and wants will try to get paid more, and the company that has to pay more will raise prices to cover these costs, and then people will want to be paid more so they can afford the price hikes.

Beyond that, inflation is the scourge of the financial community, and banks get very cautious. They do not want to lend money that inflation will rob of its value in the future, so access to capital is suddenly restricted. The big attitude change will be at the Federal Reserve as they will swing into action to blunt that inflation surge. Interest rates will climb quickly and consistently in an effort to shut off the advancing threat of inflation. We have been living through an extraordinarily long period of loose monetary policy as the Fed has been pulling out all the stops to goose the economy forward. That ends and is replaced by an equally aggressive attempt to slow things down. This shift in strategy could start as soon as the middle part of the year, as it often takes several months for a restrictive Fed policy to start working – especially if the economy is flush with cash. Much of the gain made at the start of the year could be lost at the end of the year if these rates ratchet up far and fast enough.

The ugly

This brings us to the ugly part. These tax cuts are going to balloon an already inflated deficit and debt. Somewhere along the way, the fiscal hawks all seem to have migrated elsewhere, and even the GOP seems more than cavalier about the threat of debt. The estimates hold that these tax cuts will add another $1.5 trillion to the debt and deficit and both of these are already far too high for any sense of fiscal comfort. Our national debt is close to 104 percent of the national GDP and, bear in mind, the US GDP is the largest in the world at just over $19 trillion. China is second, with a GDP of just over $12 trillion. We have states that have GDP numbers as large as major countries (France has a GDP roughly the size of California’s, and Texas compares to Canada). Adding to the debt burden is not a good thing and neither is adding to the deficit, which now is sitting at over three percent of the national GDP. This is considered well past acceptable levels.

In order for the US to handle these debt burdens now, annual growth of between five and seven percent will be required – and the US simply doesn’t grow that fast. We are getting very excited about three percent growth and are not sure we can even maintain that pace. If we cant grow fast enough to reduce the burdens, there are not very palatable alternatives, such as massive budget cuts and significant increases in revenue. Given that there was just a big tax cut, the likelihood of revenue enhancement is nil. That leaves those big cuts and that means taking a knife to the biggest US budget items. These are Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and the Defense Department. Don’t hold your breath on changing any of these.

What happens if there are no cuts, no hike in revenues and not enough growth? We will keep doing what we have been doing for the last decade or longer. We will borrow more and more to be able to make the budget, which makes the problem larger later. This is the fundamental issue with economics as ruled by political expedience. As long as the crisis occurs on the next leader’s watch, it is all just fine.

What should the US be doing right now? The growth that we have experienced should be channeled into reducing our obligations and setting us up to handle future issues. Any businessman will tell you that having a rainy-day fund is crucial and that spending every dime from a good quarter or year is the height of folly. Consumers even know to save, but that message always seems to be lost on those that ostensibly lead.

Chris Kuehl is managing director of Armada Corporate Intelligence. Founded by Keith Prather and Chris Kuehl in January 2001, Armada began as a competitive intelligence firm, grounded in the discipline of gathering, analyzing and disseminating intelligence. Today, Armada executives function as trusted strategic advisers to business executives, merging fundamental roots in corporate intelligence gathering, economic forecasting and strategy development. Armada focuses on the market forces bearing down on organizations. For more information, visit www.armada-intel.com.

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