October 27, 2004

Neat Invention

Maybe I shouldn't advertise my ignorance, but I had never seen these before: they're little punches for putting Rolodex-friendly holes in a business card so you can pop it right into your Rolodex. Cool. I have to investigate stocking these babies, preferably custom imprinted.

Posted by Jeremy at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)

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October 22, 2004

Offset Printing

I thought it might be useful and fun to blog a bit about offset printing. The printers Pixeltrip works with use offset lithography, and thermography (raised lettering). So here goes...

First, what is offset lithography:

Offset Lithography is by far the most common form of commercial printing.

The basic principle on which it works is that oil and water do not mix. A litho printing plate has non-image areas which absorb water. During printing the plate is kept wet so that the ink, which is inherently greasy, is rejected by the wet areas and adheres to the image areas...READ THE REST

And see a very cool Flash animated demonstration of what a running offset lithography machine looks like (sort of; the images on the page are all of the 'web' sort, meaning those giant, endless spools of paper like you see in all those old movies where someone yells 'stop the presses!') here.

And finally, a brief explanation of raised printing, also known as "Thermography":

The thermography process is a simple process used in conjunction with any conventional wet-ink printing press. The printed sheets or web coming off a press pass through a powder application, where the thermographic resin is applied to the wet ink. The resin is then removed from all areas, except where it adheres to the wet ink. The substrate (paper) is then heated causing the resin to melt and fuse to the ink. The substrate is then cooled, which finalises the process. The end result is a smooth raised or three-dimensional effect.

Is it just me, or is this stuff fascinating? Don't you wish you could just flip on the TV and watch a feature length documentary about this stuff? Well I do. If I can find a DVD of such a film you can be sure I'll blog about it.

Posted by Jeremy at 05:59 PM | Comments (0)

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October 17, 2004

When Bankers Chat about Rubber Stamps

I don't know about you, but I find no overheard conversation more scintillating than when bankers discuss the use of rubber stamps to sign checks (well, perhaps I exaggerate a tad).

If you sign a lot of checks (or other documents) then it certainly makes sense from a practical perspective to have a rubber stamp do the work for you, and we hope you'll get yours from Pixeltrip (just scan your signature into a nice little hi-res image file, then upload it into our online design machine. Groovy, you say? Who's arguing?).

But you probably wonder in the back of your mind whether it's OK to sign checks this way. So that's why I've eavesdropped, in a manner of speaking, on a couple of bankers. But first, my conclusion: if someone has stolen or forged blank checks from your company and has plans to forge your signature to put on them, you're in trouble already, however you normally sign your checks. The real issue at that point is your bank's policies for fraud resolution and your relationship with your bank as far as how likely they are to recognize when something is out of the ordinary.

Also this: treat your signature stamp as if it were a key to your front door, or to your car. Keep it in a locked drawer. If someone wants to steal from you they'll find a way of doing it but will hopefully get caught. But make it clear that your signature is yours to use (or delegate the use of) and any use without your permission is like taking money out of your wallet or, again more to the point, is exactly equivalent to forging your signature. It's a crime.

Now the bankers (don't let them know you're listening):

Question: We don't have a written policy for customers regarding the use of rubber stamps for signing business checks. The bank I used to work for years ago required a "hold harmless" letter from the customer before allowing the use of a rubber stamp. When we mentioned this to our customer, he objected and threatened to go to another bank. My concern is what kind of liability we would subject our bank to, should we allow this. I looked at the UCC [Uniform Commercial Code] and understand that it is permitted. I'm wondering if you know how other banks handle such requests.

Answer: If a customer chooses to use a facsimile or rubber stamp signature, a financial institution is not ordinarily relieved of liability if the stamp is used without the customer's authorization UNLESS :
1) the customer has given you an agreement to hold you harmless from any loss resulting from the improper or unauthorized use of the stamp or device, or
2) you can prove that the customer was negligent.

[...]

...if the forgery happens because the customer is careless about where he keeps the rubber stamp, and if it and the checks are not kept in a safe place, but are instead available for fraudulent use, then the customer bears the loss - not the bank. In all fairness, your customer should be aware of these facts also.

Anyone with a large bank account should have had a discussion with their bank about how fraud will be dealt with if it ever occurs. Ask them how they feel about rubber stamps (then ask them how accurately their tellers are able to verify handwritten signatures. I suppose they will tell you that this is no problem, though you will both be wearing nervous smiles).

Dislaimer: Well, this should be obvious, but I'm neither a banker nor a lawyer and, yes, I sell rubber stamps. But Google this issue on your own and eavesdrop on a few bankers. Food for thought, anyway.

UPDATE: Ok, I know this is painful stuff you probably don't really want to think about and I'm not sure why I think any of this is going to increase sales here, but I found the following queasy-making paragraph on how banks check signatures on checks (from a web page about bank fraud):

Checking Signatures on Checks

Banks are responsible for checking the signatures on all checks written on accounts at their bank. However, banks consciously make an economic decision to not check the signatures on checks and rely instead on alternative means to provide some degree of security. For example, a bank may have a policy of examining only the signatures on checks over a certain dollar amount. Of course, this leaves them exposed on a wide open basis to fraud involving checks under their cutoff level for checking signatures. In addition to this cutoff level, banks often have a policy to randomly check the signatures on a percentage of checks under their cutoff level. This at least provides them a chance of detecting fraud under their cutoff level; and without these random checks, the bank is completely exposed to fraud on checks under the cutoff level.

Posted by Jeremy at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)

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October 15, 2004

How to Speak the Language of Business

Are you working on your business plan? Then you'll want to know about the Corporate Gibberish Generator™. But, while I have your attention, let me tell you something about our vision -- dare I say, our mission -- here at Pixeltrip:

At Pixeltrip Design, we understand how to repurpose cyber-globally. The accounting factor is blog-based. Without meticulously-planned architectures, returns-on-investment are forced to become resource-constrained, 24/7, customer-directed. We will enable the commonly-accepted term "cross-platform". A company that can syndicate faithfully will (someday) be able to engineer defiantly. Without cyber-compelling reporting reports, you will lack development. We will enhance the buzzword "back-end". The e-tailers factor can be summed up in one word: killer. Your budget for transitioning should be at least three times your budget for unleashing. We apply the proverb "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" not only to our aggregation but our aptitude to actualize.

Generate your own corporate gibberish here.

Posted by Jeremy at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

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October 14, 2004

ejamba: Free Online Image Converter

Do you want to make basic changes (and one or two fancy ones) to your digital photos and other high quality image files, but you either don't have access to fancy tools like Adobe Photoshop or don't have the knack or the time for using that kind of software?

Well you should try ejamba. It does most of the basic image conversion stuff automatically, online! You have to upload an image (which eventually gets deleted from their server) and then you can convert the file format, the color, size, saturation, brightness, you can flip it...it's really an amazing service. And as far as I can tell it's completely free with no strings attached...no registration, nothing to download...it's like a public playgroud for image tweaking.

I think they just want their name to get talked about. Well, let me and my customers use your toys for free and I'm more than happy to oblige.

As an example, I started with this picture:

...and turned it into a soon-to-be-prize-winning impressionist painting I'd like to call "Marilyn on the Farm":

All in all I'd say it's an amazing technical accomplishment. Oh...and ejamba is pretty cool too.

(That barn photo is copyright me, by the way. Aw shucks.)

Posted by Jeremy at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

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October 12, 2004

The Store is Live!

Well, we've been ready to roll for a while, but as of this evening our first ad has been published, so this is it, folks! Welcome!

Posted by Jeremy at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)

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October 10, 2004

Business Card Etiquette

Ok, I'm not necessarily endorsing this advice from the 'Etiquette Ladies' though it does get you thinking. And I'm glad, at least, to know that I'm not the only person who obsesses over the minutiae of matters like this:

1. You should present your card as if it is a gift you are giving someone. Be discriminate and don't become known as "The Collector" or "The Blackjack Dealer".

The Collector is an indiscreet character who collects cards as if they were collector's item baseball cards. They pick up cards everywhere they go and are sometimes very obvious about how their filing system works. Left jacket pocket- Keepers, Right pants pocket-Discards, Inside pocket- Use for scrap paper or toothpicks.

The Blackjack Dealer: This is a person who doles out cards like it's a poker game. People will have a tendency to think the card is less valuable if everyone has one. It's a strange phenomenon, sort of like people will wait longer to get into a busy nightclub if there's already a line forming when they arrive. The harder things are to get, the more people want them.

2.When you are giving your card, "present" it with the writing away from you so the receiver can take a moment to read it and ask questions. Make sure your card is clean and not scribbled on, bent or soiled. A business card is a mini-snapshot of you professionally and it will be a factor in people's first impression of you.

It goes on at some length. Interesting read, though I caution against getting carried away with rules here.

Posted by Jeremy at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

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October 07, 2004

Welcome to the Pixeltrip Weblog!

"A blog?" I hear you ask. Why does an online printing retailer need a blog? I think you'll see in just a moment why that's a naive question. Check out this article and then tell me you don't see the value of this blog:

Making cubes out of business cards is easy, and will impress your friends!

Well...it's a start anyway. And if you need some fresh business cards to practice with, I think I know where you might be able to get some printed up.

Anyway, welcome!

Posted by Jeremy at 02:20 PM | Comments (0)

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