In the movie The Graduate, Mr. McGuire tells Benjamin, Dustin Hoffman's character, that he has one word for him regarding his future success: “Plastics.” To update this 1967 movie quote and apply it to the present state of printing, I'd say the word is “packaging,” and Highcon, Scodix, and HP will reap the benefits.
There's no better way to truly understand a process until you do it. This goes for custom printing and shipping as well as other business processes.
One of my current clients used to work for me back in the '90s, when I was an art director. She is a shrewd print buyer and very knowledgeable about commercial printing. So I was a bit amused and pleased to hear from her today about a print book I'm brokering for her.
Since the house fire, I've been scouring thrift stores to rebuild my business library. Today I found a great print book for $2.00, used: Design Basics Index by Jim Krause.
I've always been a firm believer in fundamentals, the building blocks of any discipline, and this book delivers in spades on this front. You can jump in and out of the print book and learn something new or remember something you'd forgotten each time you open the cover.
I received an email last night from an associate who is a print book designer. The email read, “What is the proper resolution for an image in Photoshop?” I knew he had the answer: Twice the line screen of the printed image (i.e., 300 dpi for a 150-line printer's halftone screen with the image reproduced full size—no enlargement or reduction).