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Aug 16 10

Eco Friendly Shopping Bags: Setup Charges

by Brandon Glenn

All businesses are looking for the best way to promote their companies. They need an inexpensive and effective way to promote their brand. One of the best ways a company can do this is by using effective promotional products like eco friendly shopping bags. Reusable grocery bags work great to promote a business because the imprint area is large, it is something people are likely to use, and it is eco friendly.

Promotional Tote Bag with Logo Printing

Promotional Tote Bag with Logo Printing

When imprinting a logo on these eco friendly tote bags, the screen printer usually charges a “setup fee.” This setup fee covers the cost of making a screen, which is used to imprint the bags. This charge usually ranges from $15 to $50 per screen that is needed.

Each color that is printed needs a separate screen. This is the reason for having multiple screen charges when there are more than one color being printed on the tote bags. How exactly is a screen made?

Screens are traditionally made out of silk, which is covered with a light sensitive substance. The substance hardens when it is exposed to the right amount of light, so this process must take place in a dark room. It is a similar process to develop camera film.

Once the substance has dried to the screen, a transparency with the logo printed on, is placed over the screen and the light hardens all the areas that are exposed to the light. This leaves the area under the logo, which is printed on the transparency, still soft. Now, the screen can be washed out and the soft area under the logo is washed away.

The screen can now be placed on the tote bags and, using a special screen printing ink, can be pushed through the screen onto the bag. The hardened area prevents ink from going through those spots. The end result is a logo being printed on the tote bags.

The screen setup charge basically covers the cost of the screen and the materials and time used to make a screen. Sometimes screen printers will waive the screen setup fee, but the prices of the tote bags are typically higher. Reusable shopping bags are a great way for businesses to promote themselves. It is inexpensive, effective and eco friendly.

Jul 22 10

Breast Cancer Awareness Pink Tote Bags

by Brandon Glenn
Breast Cancer Awareness

Breast Cancer Awareness Pink Tote Bags

You may or may not know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. This gives businesses a great opportunity to promote their own business while raising awareness for breast cancer. Pink tote bags are among the most popular resources for businesses to promote awareness.

Non profit organizations can also benefit by getting exposure by handing out promotional material. Giveaways like tote bags are inexpensive and reusable, so people will be reminded of the printed message often.

There are a few ways that businesses can benefit from promoting breast cancer awareness. Companies can imprint their own logo as well as a breast cancer awareness message on the tote bags. Then, the bags can be resold at their retail location, giving a percentage of the sale to breast cancer research or any other local breast cancer foundation.

Customers will love the opportunity to purchase something they will actually use knowing that part of their purchase will be donated to helping the cause of breast cancer awareness. Businesses will also benefit because their logo will be printed on the side of the bag. These pink tote bags are reusable, and people will see the imprinted logo for years to come. Customers will also love to patronize a business that is supporting a great cause like breast cancer awareness.

Breast cancer awareness is something that needs to be promoted. When it is not promoted, it is sadly ignored. Cancer is an ugly word, but it can be erased when awareness is raised, especially during the month of October.

Jul 14 10

Promotional Jute Bags are Eco Friendly

by Brandon Glenn

Consumers and businesses alike are looking for ways to be more eco friendly. One popular trend shared between both consumers and businesses is the use of tote bags. Consumers love tote bags for going shopping, going to the beach, going to the library, and other activities. Businesses have used tote bags now to promote their brand by putting a logo on bags like promotional jute bags

Promotional Jute Bags

Promotional Jute Bags

. Jute is a material that is eco friendly and seemingly more popular. What makes jute a good material for tote bags?

What is jute?

Jute is a natural growing fiber that is grown, harvested and spun into coarse, strong threads that can be woven into fabric. The fabric is then made into sacs, bags and other finished products. It is also one of the most affordable natural fibers. Cotton is the only naturally grown fiber that is produced more and a more variety in uses. The threads are made from the plant cellulose and the lignin, which is the same content of wood. This is why the thread has a coarse feeling. Other fibers that are similar are hemp and flax.

Why are jute bags good for promotions?

Jute material, often referred to as burlap, is becoming increasingly more popular as a trendy tote bag fabric. This material is a naturally growing fiber, which means that is an eco friendly material. When the bags are eventually disposed of, the fabric will biodegrade back into its natural state. The burlap material is also easily dyed to make the bags any color of choice, however the natural color, which is a medium tan, tends to overrule all other colors with popularity.

Consumers are quickly becoming environmentally conscious about the businesses they purchase their goods from. People would much rather buy products from a company they know is eco friendly. Businesses that are making steps towards going green and ones that are already green should make sure their customers know it with promotional jute bags. The bags are easily imprinted with a company logo.

Jun 16 10

Biodegradable Plastic Bags with Imprint by Flexography

by Brandon Glenn

Putting your logo on a promotional product is one of the best marketing tools a business can utilize. Why? Because it exposes your company to countless numbers of people. Shopping stores can utilize this best by putting their logo on a bag, especially a plastic bag. Most stores give away plastic bags with every purchase. Sometimes, multiple bags are given away. A good business will make sure they are capitalizing on that opportunity for exposure by putting their logo on the plastic bag. An environmentally conscious company will make sure that the bag is biodegradable.

Flexography Printing Process for Biodegradable Plastic Bags

This illustration gives a visual demonstration of how the flexographic printing process works for biodegradable plastic bags. Image by PNEAC.org

How is the logo actually printed on the biodegradable plastic bag? A printing process called flexography is used to imprint the bags. Flexography is a type of lithographic printing. In a simple explanation, the plastic bag is pulled through rollers, which contain the image, and the logo is pressed onto the bag surface.

Create the Artwork

First, there must be an image to be printed. It is usually done in spot colors. Spot colors are solid colors without gradients.  The image is typically done on the computer and separated into colors. Each color will require its own flexographic plate for printing.

Make the Plates

In flexography, the printing plates are similar to a large stamp. The image that will be printed on the plastic bags is raised on the rubber-like material. This type of plate is called a relief plate. The plate is made from a rubbery material because it will be stretched over a roller, where the plastic bags will be pulled through in the printing process.

The Printing Process

Next the bags are put into the press where they will be printed. The ink starts out in a pan where a roller called an anilox roller collects the ink from the pan and at the same time applies it to the plate cylinder. The flexographic, rubber plate has been wrapped around the plate cylinder. Another cylinder called the impression cylinder is located on the opposite side from the plate cylinder. As the plastic bags are pulled through the plate cylinder and the impression cylinder, the image is transferred from the plate to the bag.

That is the basic flexography printing process in a nutshell. Biodegradable plastic bags with imprinting can be done quite easily and inexpensively. The flexographic printing process can be used on multiple applications. Cardboard boxes, milk cartons, cups, labels, newspapers, can all be printed using flexography. Using biodegradable plastic bags will help businesses capture their customers attention and it will help save the earth.

Jun 7 10

How is a Logo Printed on Promotional Canvas Bags

by Brandon Glenn

Have you ever printed your logo on a promotional product? Using promotional products is one of the most highly targeted way to advertise for your business because you control who receives your ads. Promotional canvas bags are one of the most cost-efficient promotional items out there. Maybe you have, maybe you have not printed your logo on a tote bag like this already. The question, we hear a lot is, how do you print a logo on a bag?

There are so many promotional products that have different types of imprinting. However, I’ll discuss one of the most common ways your logo is printed on promotional canvas bags. The method is called silk screen printing.

Silk Screen Printing

This method is also simply called screen printing. There are a few ways to create a screen, but I will try to explain the most simple way. After creating the artwork, the designer must print out the logo on a sheet of transparency using black ink. This will be used later in the process. The screens were traditionally made out of silk, but now they are usually made of other fabrics. The fabric is covered with a light sensitive substance, which will harden when exposed to the right amount of light, so this process must take place in a dark room. It is similar to the film used in cameras.

Once the substance has dried to the screen, the previously mentioned, logo printed transparency paper is needed. The transparency paper is set on top of the screen, and everything is then exposed to a certain amount of light. The light hardens the substance on the screen, except the areas that are directly under the black ink from the logo on the transparency paper. The screen can now be washed out with running water. The substance covered by the logo design washes out, but the area exposed to light has been hardened, so it is still on the screen.

Silk Screen Example

The green area is the hardened substance, called emulsion. The ink will be pushed through the other areas with a squeegee.

Now that you have a usable screen, you can place the screen on a tote bag, and, using a special screen printing ink, push the ink through the screen. Only the area that was washed out in the previous step will allow ink to pass through the screen. As a result, you now get your logo printed on a promotional canvas tote bag. The silk screen printing process is nothing short of an art form.

It is amazing to see the process of science mixed with art to create beautiful logos printed on tote bags. As I said before, there are dozens of ways to imprint logos onto promotional products, even tote bags. A lot of people ask about how the process of silk screen printing works, so hopefully this clears up the questions about the process.