As sure as the Halloween stuff comes down from the shelves to be replaced with cornucopias and Santas, it’s time to think about custom Christmas cards and other holiday-themed greeting cards. Earlier this year we talked to pro photographer Clay Blackmore, who said the calls start rolling in on Dec. 1. This year, says Blackmore, the calls for cards are already starting and the first order has been made.

LexJet Simple Flo Wrap Vinyl is an ultra-conformable calendared adhesive-backed vinyl with an air-egress liner used for wrapping vehicles, trucks, buses, and walls with graphics. It can be partnered with LexJet’s Simple Flo Wrap Gloss UV Laminate for a durable wrap that is removable for up to one year and permanent for up to seven years. “We use LexJet’s Simple Flo Wrap Vinyl for different applications, including vehicles, and we know what it’s going to do and how it will perform,” says Greg Van Houten, owner of GVH Studio, Bennington, Vt. Unlike other calendared vinyls, Simple Flo Wrap performs like a cast vinyl over rivets, corrugations, slight to moderate curves and flat surfaces.

Linda Guy is a fine artist who teaches screen printing, lithography and inkjet printing at Texas Christian University. One of her students was LexJet’s own Nolan Dowdy, who’s now Guy’s customer service specialist.

Football is king in Arkansas, especially Fayetteville, home of Northwest Arkansas Sign Shop and nationally renowned high school and college programs. Local high school Shiloh Christian has fielded an Arkansas state champion football team seven times since 1998.

Sometimes the solution is right in front of you, even on the table where you rest your beer. At least that was the solution that Billy Owen, graphic designer for Grellner Sales & Service in Sedalia, Mo., came up with to cut through the advertising clutter and boost the visibility of the company’s beverage brands at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia. “It’s difficult to get our name out there because every inch of the fair is covered with ads. You have to be creative about it, so we thought we’d decorate these tabletops at the fair for the various brands we carry, like Boulevard, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Coors Light and Smirnoff,” explains Owen. “We put some more eye-grabbing elements together in Photoshop, printed the images on LexJet Extreme AquaVinyl w/ PSA, applied them, and they turned out pretty awesome.” Owen chose Extreme AquaVinyl based on the recommendation of his LexJet customer specialist, Kelly Price. He was looking for something durable enough to withstand the abuse of...

If you’re looking for an alternative to the usual banner that provides more visual punch, is easier to work with, cuts down on shipping and has a more elegant look and feel, the new LexJet Poly Select SUV fabrics are a perfect fit.

LexJet Crystal Low-Tack is an optically clear polyester with a removable pressure sensitive adhesive that is an excellent solution for removable window graphics. It can be front printed or reverse printed for inside or outside viewing. In the video embedded below you will learn how to install Crystal Low-Tack using a dry application with the Rivet/Dent Tool from Big Squeegee…

When you work print magic for some of the biggest names in photography and fine art you might as well print big, which is exactly what Stephen Kerner does. Kerner, owner of Stone River Giclee in Woodstock, N.Y., has been printing giant reproductions on canvas for renowned photographers Russell James and Catherine Sebastian (who’s also the wife of former The Lovin’ Spoonful front man John Sebastian).

A new “camera” is emerging from the start-up mode and making noise in the digital capture market. Essentially, the new technology from a company called Lytro eliminates the depth of field limitations of traditional photography technology.

The terms “niche” and “specialty” are not the same. The former refers to specializing in a particular market, while the latter refers to a custom product approach for whatever market in which you operate. Raven Image opened its doors about four years ago as a niche company, targeting primarily fine art reproduction with some photo reproduction thrown in for good measure. The focus made a lot of sense for Raven Image’s two founding partners – Cher Sailer and Tracy Raven Jacobs – who had been previously immersed in the commercial photo lab business. They had made the transition from chemical to inkjet before they opened Raven Image. And, they had a knack for hitting color just right for discerning artists. However, as a lot of small business print shops have found, diversification helps grow the bottom line, especially in a difficult economy. Though Raven Image certainly diversified its market mix with more photographic reproduction and commercial work, its product diversification...