Welcome to the DPC resources page! Here you'll find our white papers, Digital Printing Report archives, economic studies, and Tech Reports. All Printing Industries of America members can access this content. For access, you'll need to sign in above with your username and password.
White Papers
- VDP Costing and Pricing: The Fundamentals
MEMBERS ONLY: In this white paper author Joe Marin explains the fundamental aspects of VDP costing and pricing and explains difference between estimating and pricing static printing versus VDP.
- Social Media Investigations of Top Vertical Markets
FREE: This report compiles information related to how different vertical markets use social media.
- QR Codes: A Primer for Printers
FREE: This white paper is a short primer for printers interested in extending the value of the printed page while providing more interactive, engaging information for the customer through the use of QR codes.
- Digital Printing and Survivability in the U.S. Postal System
MEMBERS ONLY: In this white paper author Joe Marin analyzes the results of a research study showing how various digital printing solutions and substrates ared from a variety of mailing locations and distances.
- Augmented Reality—Extending the Value of Print
MEMBERS ONLY The following white paper by author Joe Marin gives an overview of augmented reality technologies and highlights their relevance to print.
Digital Printing Report
- Direct-to-Garment Printing: Can it Fit for You?
MEMEBERS ONLY: Volume 18, Issue 3 of the Digital Printing Report contains an article about digital garment printing, a case study of MMI Solutions, and short news snippets.
- Changes to the Digital Printing Council
MEMEBERS ONLY: Volume 18, Issue 1 of the Digital Printing Report contains an article detailing changes to the structure of the Digital Printing Council, a a case study on Automated Graphic Systems of Maryland, and short news snippets.
- Marketing4Digital: Health Care Preview
MEMEBERS ONLY: Volume 17, Issue 3 of the Digital Printing Report contains preview of our updated Marketing4Digital report on the health care industry as well as short news snippets.
- Printing in 3D
MEMEBERS ONLY: Volume 17, Issue 2 of the Digital Printing Report contains an article on 3D printers and papercraft, a story about transforming printers nad publishers into digital services providers, and short news snippets.
- Digital Printing: The Hot Markets
MEMEBERS ONLY: Volume 17, Issue 1 of the Digital Printing Report contains a special report by Frank Romano on the hot markets for digital printing.
- Wide-format Printing—A Short-term View
FREE: Volume 16, Issue 7 of the Digital Printing Report contains a special report by Frank Romano on the near-term future of the the wide-format printing market.
- Overwhelming Trends Facing Book Markets
FREE: Volume 16, Issue 6 of the Digital Printing Report is a double issue that contains a story about trends in the book publishing markets, an overview of the IPA's 2009 Digital Print Forum, and a special report by Frank Romano on where he sees the digital printing market going by the year 2020.
- Growth Markets for Digital Printing
FREE: Volume 16, Issue 5 of the Digital Printing Report contains an article on a high-speed auto loader device and a special report by Frank Romano on the current state of the digital printing industry.
- Is Social Media Useful for Marketers?
FREE: Volume 16, Issue 4 of the Digital Printing Report contains an article about marketers' use of social media and a story about new USPS standards for letter-sized booklets.
Tech Reports
- Designing for Digital: 5 Don'ts for Creatives
FREE: In this report author Joe Marin describes five common mistakes that you want to avoid when creating a piece that will be printed digitally.
- Preflight for Success
FREE: In this report author Joe Marin shows how designers can take advantage of easy-to-use preflighting and diagnostic tools to quickly assess and correct common print related problems before sending jobs off to the printer.
- Printing Consistent Color
FREE: In this report author Joe Marin guides you through the steps to achieving consistent color balance throughout a pressrun.
- Calibration and Profiling for Soft Proofing
MEMBERS ONLY: This Tech Report paper addresses this subject of using color management for soft proofing.
- Color Management and Rendering Intents
MEMBERS ONLY: Rending intents—saturation, perceptual, and colorimetric—attempt to find replacements for those out-of-gamut colors that cannot be reproduced on an output device. The following Tech Report paper by addresses this subject.
- Gradients and Banding
MEMBERS ONLY: When they're created properly, gradients are a great way to add flair to any design. When created improperly, banding can occur. The following Tech Report explains banding and how to eliminate it.
- Live Preflight with InDesign
MEMBERS ONLY: The following Tech Report paper looks at how common digital file problems can be eliminated more early in the printing process by preflighting live in InDesign.
- RGB or CMYKfor Digital: Which is Best?
MEMBERS ONLY: Most service providers often request that the designer convert images to CMYK before sending them off for print. When designing for digital, this is not the best choice for a very important reason: You'll probably lose valuable color information. The following Tech Report paper explains why.
- RGB Color Correction Tips
MEMBERS ONLY: The following Tech Report paper gives tips on color correcting RGB images.
- Toner and Large Solids
MEMERS ONLY: This Tech Report paper explains the problems with reproducing large solids or tinted areas on a toner-based device and offers some solutions.
- Transparency and Fonts
MEMBERS ONLY: If transparency is not used judiciously in a document, problems can arise when the job is printed on press. One of the most common situations associated with transparency is when it is used in conjunction with fonts. The following Tech Report paper explains more.
- Unsharp Mask Tips and Tricks
MEMBERS ONLY: The following Tech Report paper describes how to use the Unsharp Mask filter in Photoshop to sharpen images that were captured via scanning or digital photography.
- When Not to Use a Font
MEMBERS ONLY: Do you know where all of the fonts you have installed on your computer came from? Were they purchased from a reputable font foundry, or were they acquired from a freeware site? The following Tech Report paper explains when not to use a font.
Economic Studies
- Looking Back and Forecasting Forward
MEMBERS ONLY: In this Flash report, the PIA economics department looks back to examine 2010 third quarter findings from their Print Market Tracking Survey.
- Print Marketing: Theory and Practice
MEMBERS ONLY: In this Flash report our economics department offers a theoretical and strategic perspective on print marketing issues and provides some practical real-world marketing metrics to allow you to benchmark your firm's operations compared to industry norms.
- Plant Structure
MEMBERS ONLY: This Flash report by our economics department looks at the evolving industry structure in terms of the number, size distribution, and ownership arrangements of printing firms and plants.
- Print's Rebound plus Election Economics
MEMBERS ONLY: In this Flash report our economics department provides a summary update on print's continued recovery from 2009's steep decline and look at the pace of economic recovery and possible economic implications of upcoming elections.
- First Looks: Handicapping 2011-2012 and 2010 Financial Ratios
MEMBERS ONLY: In this Flash report our economics department offers two looks--one ahead and one back. Our look ahead is an early handicapping of the economic and print market outlook for the next two years. Our look back is a first look at the 2010 Ratios to explore the impacts of the lingering recession on printers' financial operations.
- Business Models
MEMBERS ONLY: Our economics department's 2010 first quarter survey included a series of questions on printers' business models and various marketing metrics. In this Flash report our economics department provides some initial findings and highlights from the study.
- Member Advantage
MEMBERS ONLY: In this Flash report our economics department examines how Printing Industries of America members performed in terms of sales and profitability compared to the overall printing industry during the recent recession.
- Economic Footprint
MEMBERS ONLY: In this Flash report our economics department provides an update on print's national economic footprint, including total shipments, employment, plants, and other metrics.
- 2009 Print Markets in Perspective
MEMBERS ONLY: In this Flash report our economics department extends their view to the past few years to examine recent market dynamics and place them in perspective in terms of some broader mega trends.
- Special Economic Report on Government Spending, Taxes and Debt: Charting the Numbers
MEMBERS ONLY: The following Flash report by our economics department contains a special report from 2009 on government spending, taxes, and debt.
- 2009 Print Markets and Updating the Economic Outlook
MEMBERS ONLY: In this Flash report our economics department provides a preliminary profile of 2009 print markets and updates their outlook for the economy.
- Labor Market Dynamics for the Economy and Printing
MEMBERS ONLY: In this Flash report our economics department looks at recent trends in labor market metrics and examines their likely path in the near future.
- News Year's Revelations: Updating the Outlook for Print in 2010-2011
MEMBERS ONLY: In this Flash report our economics department offers a view of how print markets will fare in 2010 and 2011.
