Beginner's Guide to Office Equipment

Facilities Management

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 18:27:07 +0000

What is Facilities Management?

How should I make decisions regarding the construction and location of my facilities?

What jobs exist in the field of facilities management?

How do I maintain proper upkeep of my facilities to ensure safety?

Laminating Machines Overview

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 22:14:07 +0000

Laminating machines provide a durable way to protect and enhance almost any type of material. Lamination improves the quality of materials by enhancing color and contrast, and providing a glossy wet look.

By giving your material a higher quality, professional look, lamination can improve you business image and help bring in more sales leads. Laminating machines can also save you money in a variety of ways. Laminated materials can be reused over and over. Graphics that are expensive to create are protected. Lamination stiffens signs and posters. Laminated employee identification tags saves time and improves security. You can create low cost outdoor signage that is weather proof.

Laminating machines are no longer just being used in large office buildings or printing plants. Today many people are purchasing a home laminating machine that preserves and protects a wide range of important paper products. Schools also use laminating machines to create colorful and lasting memories of children's projects, self-made books and other artwork.

Where Can You Use A Desk Top Laminating Machine?

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 22:16:19 +0000

Desk top laminating machines are a popular addition to home offices because of their many uses. They generally take sheets of laminating film and can laminate projects as large as 9" x 12". Some home laminator models are cool touch on the outside so they are safe even for children to use. The finished project comes through the system cool to the touch, so little hands can handle them right away.

Desk top laminating machines are used for a variety of projects. Uses for the kitchen area range from recipe cards to children's homemade placemats and family chore chart. You can protect your Identification cards, Social Security Cards and important documents such as birth certificates and marriage licenses. From book marks and children's flash cards and study aids to photographs and papers with poems or quotes, you can always find something that needs to be laminated.

Your desk top laminating machine can also be used in your small business. You can laminate business cards or phone lists. If you use supplies in your business, an inventory reorder list or documentation for procedures can be preserved month after month.

What Types Of Businesses Use The Larger Laminating Machines?

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 22:16:44 +0000

The larger, industrial laminating machines are able to take large rolls of laminating film that allows you to laminate continuously with foot after foot of durable plastic. The extra wide width also accommodates extra large projects. Many businesses such as printers will laminate printed materials for their customers on these laminating machines. These larger laminating machines are used to cover menus, book covers and charts. They use high heat for a lasting seal.

How Do I Determine Which Laminating Machine I Should Purchase?

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 22:17:06 +0000

To begin the process of selecting a laminating machine, you should ask yourself a few key questions to determine your real needs. Will you primarily be laminating standard letter-sized sheets? Will you be binding reports with a binder, attaching several sheets together? Will the bound report have just the cover laminated or all of the pages? How many sheets per week or month will you require the use of a laminating machine? The answer to these questions will determine how durable your laminating machine needs to be as well as its size.

You may find that you are limited in what you think you need because you don't know all of the capabilities and possibilities of laminating machines.

What Brands Of Laminating Machines Are Available?

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 22:17:26 +0000

Laminex, Brother, Ibico and Jackson Hirsh are all top names in laminating machines. They offer a line of seal laminating machines that can seal various size papers as well as those of differing thickness. A strong seal is the trademark of a good laminating machine.

Once you have determined your laminating needs, look for a laminating machine that is durable enough and cost effective for the amount of laminating you will do. You should determine if your laminating machine needs to be portable between home and school or home and the office. Then find a laminating machine that provides a good seal and high quality film. You want to make sure you will not outgrow the function of your laminating machine.

Laminating machines have been around for decades, but the newest styles and accessories make laminating machines an important supply for any office at home or at work. They are useful in schools and businesses. The different types of laminating machines offer consumers various options and possibilities for just what they can protect and preserve.

What Are The Basic Types Of Desk Top Laminating Machines?

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 22:17:47 +0000

There are two basic types of laminating machines. Sheet laminators and film laminators. With film laminating, you are not limited to the length of the laminating sheet. The only size restrictions are in the width and the roll of film can go on and on for the length of the entire roll of film.

Film laminating machines are generally very wide. The laminating machine will seal the sheets of film together whether there is something in between them or not.

A smaller desk top laminator is the pouch laminator. The acrylic film for this type of equipment lets you slide the printed material into a pouch that is sealed on one to three sides. Then the laminating machine does the rest of the job of sealing. This provides a nice finished edge to a standard size sheet or can be trimmed closer to the edge of a smaller project. There are many uses for the pouch laminators, such as laminating ID cards or to protect other smaller documents.

Supplies for laminating machines are not necessarily brand specific, but you must match the size and type of laminating machine. You will need to purchase supplies to go specifically with your type of machine.

Where Can I Purchase A Laminating Machine And Supplies?

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 22:18:09 +0000

Laminating machines, sheets, pouches and rolls of film are available from a number of sources. Depending on the manufacturer there is Rexel laminating film or Jackson Hirsh and Xyron film. Most office supply stores will have a variety of choices in film laminators for sale on their shelves. The use of laminating machines are so widespread that retailers like Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Target also stock the laminating machines and supplies.

A number of online retailers also sell laminating equipment and supplies. Many of these are able to offer the laminating machines and accessories at a considerable discount compared to the retail price charged at office supply stores. The Internet is a great resource for laminating supplies for any brand of laminating machine. Most brands of similar styles offer standard and interchangeable supplies such as sheets or rolls of laminating film.

Two top brands of laminating machines are Brother and Ibico. These two manufacturers hold strong places in the office supply industry and have a reputation for the highest quality equipment.

Cool laminator supplies do not work with hot lamination equipment, the processes vary and so do the products. By heating cool laminator supplies the materials will melt under the extremely hot process.

The advantage of the cool laminating machine is that the laminated piece is not hot to the touch, even immediately following the lamination process. A laminated folder can be used instantly to provide durable protection to other printed materials and it will also make the folder stand out in a file drawer or on boss' desk.

Whether you need to protect a legal document, an original manuscript, or family mementos, a laminating machine can help you to protect important items. Your documents and images will be safe from damage when encased in laminating film.

Resources:

WWW.FELLOWES.COM
WWW.ULINE.COM
WWW.ABCOFFICE.COM

What is offset printing?

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 17:16:16 +0000

Offset printing is the most commonly used printing technique in the printing industry. It is often referred to as offset lithography. The basic principle of offset printing is that ink and water do not mix. Images such as words and art are transferred to special plates which are moistened by water rollers and then by ink rollers. The paper type is normally on huge rolls of continuous paper, which is later cut and/or bound for the finished product. While the ink adheres to the image areas, the water adheres to the non-image areas. Because the water and ink do not mix, the water rollers keep the ink off of the non-image areas of the plate. This image is transferred to another surface, most commonly a rubber blanket. Then the image is transferred form the rubber blanket to paper. The name offset printing comes from the fact that the plates never touch the paper but is offset onto the rubber blankets.

Offset printing uses the four primary colors - black, cyan (blue), magenta (red) and yellow. Each color has a separate plate. The special overlay of these four colors produces the many colors you see in the final image. The eye is tricked into seeing a variety of colors by a process of dots of these four colors placed next to each other in specific patterns. Offset printing can also use premixed inks and also metallic and florescent inks. These are referred to as spot colors.

After the paper is run through the water and ink rollers, the paper is slightly wet. To avoid to risk of smudging, the paper is passed through an oven with a temperature of 350 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. After leaving the oven, the paper is then run through chill rollers, which contain refrigerated water flowing through them. This process sets the ink into the paper so that the ink does not rub off on your hands. The entire process is a very high speed operation.

Within the offset printing market, you can choose to use the sheet-fed offset process or the web offset procedure. The sheet-fed offset process is generally used for low to medium volume jobs, which is any job that is considered to be economic for a laser printer or digital press. Web offset is for medium volume to large volume jobs and can go up to one to two million copies per job. The main difference is that sheet-fed litho machines, just as their name implies, are fed with sheets of paper. Web offset machines, which are much larger, are fed with huge reels or rolls of paper and run at higher speeds. Some of these paper reels can weigh 2,000 pounds and more. Besides the difference between the type of paper feed, the basic technology is the same. Modern offset presses are increasingly using computer to plate systems.

What is the history of offset printing?

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 17:17:16 +0000

The first lithographci offset printing press was designed to print onto metal and was created in England around 1875. At the time, that offset cylinder transferred images from the cylinder to a metal surface and was covered in a specially treated cardboard. In about 1880 a rubber covering was exchanged for the cardboard one, and is still today the most commonly used material.

The first use of an offset press to print on paper was accidental, as are so many inventions. Its discovery is credited to American Ira Washington Rubel. In 1903, he noticed that during his press' operation, when paper was not added that the stone printed its image onto the rubber covering and that there was an impression on both sides. When tested, the image on the back of rubber covering printed much more crisply onto paper than the the litho stone itself, and the offset lithographic industry was born.

What are the advantages to offset printing?

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 17:17:37 +0000

The advantages of offset printing include the following:

• Quality of the printing - offset printing consistently produces sharper and cleaner images because the rubber blanket conforms to the surface of the material to be printed.
• Ability to print onto a wide range of printing surfaces (smooth paper, wood, cloth, metal, leather, rough paper, etc.).
• Quick and easy process of producing the printing plates.
• The plate life for offset printing is longer than for direct litho presses because of the lack of contact between the plate and the printing surface.

What Types of Documents Can Be Produced By Offset Printing?

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 17:18:01 +0000

You can have business documents, newsletters, business cards, door hangers, booklets, catalogues, calendars, rack cards, postcards, flyers, letterhead, envelopes, posters, presentation folders and more. The sky is nearly the limit in terms of what types of documents can be produced by offset printing and on what types of materials.

What Desktop Specifications Do I Need In Preparing My Document For Offset Printing?

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 17:18:21 +0000

The type of printing that you choose to utilize will dictate how the desktop publishing document should be prepared. In considering what type of desktop publishing software to use or purchase, two main considerations need to be examined: color and separations. The colors utilized by computers for on-screen display and graphics on the web are RGB (Red, Green, Blue). As has been discussed previously, the colors used in the plates in offset printing are CMYK - cayan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and K(black) inks. All full-color graphics for printing need to be saved with CMYK colors. Check your desktop publishing software to verify that it is capable of performing this simple.

When you are sending a file to be printed by offset printing, your file must contain a different file or separation for each ink color. These separations consist of only the specific elements that will be printed in that color. Printing plates will then be made from these separations. You need to ensure that you are able to perform these tasks with your particular software program.

These specifications are very important in order to be able to create negatives from your digital file. The plates for printing will be created from these negatives. Some lower end desktop publishing cannot produce the files required for offset printing. In addition, even if you have the appropriate software, you need to make sure that you understand how to properly create the files for printing. Some non-designers will not have the know-how and will need training in properly using the desktop publishing.

What Is the Difference Between Offset Printing and Digital Printing?

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 17:18:57 +0000

While digital images are used to produce the actual negatives and plates for offset printing, this is different than having a document that is digitally printed. Digital printing is accomplished by using inkjet or laser printers. The primary differences from offset printing are the colors of the inks and the way the inks are placed on the paper. In digital printing, all of the different colors of the document are placed onto the paper in one pass through the printer, instead of separate passes for the four primary colors. Generally, offset printing is considered sharper in image focus.

What Should I Look Out For When Choosing An Offset Printing Company?

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 17:19:20 +0000

Check to make sure that the printing press does not practice gang run printing. Gang run printing refers to the process of running multiple print jobs on the same press sheet. Its intention is to spread initial production costs across several printing jobs, thus defraying the cost to the individual. But this process has limitations, specifically the inability to control the ink density of nearby images. Therefore, there is no guarantee that your color will match the file that you have submitted. The colors will be average, and there is no guarantee against color variations within your job.

Sources
science.howstuffworks.com
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/O/offset_printing.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offset_printing
http://www.pneac.org/printprocesses/lithography/
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/printingfinishing/f/offset_desktop.htm
www.theprinters.com
www.bestprintingonline.com