Dallas Printing and Promotional Items Blog

2012 D.C. Stipp Golf Tournament

travis — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:50:05 +0000

This past Friday a notable Dallas Printer and Promotional Product Distributor sponsored Hole #15 @ Firewheel Golf Course during the 2012 D.C. Stipp Golf Tournamnet put on by the DSVC. That notable Dallas Printer and Promotional Product Distributor was…yep, The Odee Company.

We had a blast meeting the players, entertainers, copperheads, and rat snakes. As promised, a few pictures are below. Feel free to click and save. If you’d like a print out let us know and we’ll run a nice print from our Digital HP over to you.

See you all next year…maybe we should up the incentive for the hole in 1…cruise just wasn’t enough motivation apparently. Lifetime supply of Koozies???

Travis Stein
Principal Partner
The Odee Company; est. 1923
travis@odeecompany.com

Print Industry: The Video

travis — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:49:10 +0000

Well, “the video” from The Odee Company’s viewpoint. This video contains the following:

-Prepress prepping PrintReady Files
-2nd Pressmen loading paper and plates
-1st pressmen registering colors and keeping the inks at density
-Dallas Print Salesmen bringing in quality work
-In-house sales bringing in print work from all across the nation
-Promotional orders being placed in our Dallas office
-Print Fulfillment being fulfilled
-In-house Bindery putting the final touches on these projects

Now, to the “Print Industry’s” Video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Travis Stein
Principal Partner
The Odee Company; est. 1923
travis@odeecompany.com

Laser Etching vs Embroidery

travis — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:59:27 +0000

In the decorating of wearables arena, embroidery has some competition. Before, company’s wanted flashy stitching that would stand out against the chosen shirt color. The past few years subtlety has increased. Tone on tone embroidery has been the choice of many well known brands. The shirt maintains a clean look while still keeping the logo’s visibility at a high level; if anything, it increases due to the viewer focusing in more to see what the logo is.

Now, there’s an even cleaner option; laser etching. This new method would be my personal choice. 1, laser etching is cleaner. 2, laser etching is lighter. 3, laser etching keeps the itchy and irritating of the skin to a minimum compared to embroidery.

Want even better news? Contact me to discuss the pricing…

Travis Stein
Principal Partner
The Odee Company; est. 1923
travis@odeecompany.com

Bulk Purchasing of Promotional Items from China

travis — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:59:56 +0000

Since the early 90′s The Odee Company has been one of the top Promotional Product companies in sourcing large quantities of promotional items through China, India, and other countries across the globe. We take this route when clients have 60-90 days and are requesting more competitive rates. Obviously, majority of our business is handled through the US factories but when a client requests the international route, we’re on it!

To provide an example, we recently sourced camping chairs for a company headquartered in Texas that operates just under 500 hospitals world wide. Due to Dallas being an equidistant location to both coasts, we are in a prime location as a fulfillment house. Product was produced in China, shipped to Dallas where we fulfilled the list of under 500 locations with an average of 25 chairs per. Coupled with each chair was a printed calendar which we printed in house.

Said Chair and Chair Guy

For more details or questions of what we can do for you, please do not hesitate in contacting us today. Overseas promotional items can save you a lot of money. They can also be a major headache if you don’t work with someone who has as much experience as The Odee Company does. Why would you source through anyone else, when we are the only Print/ Promo/ and Fulfillment company in Texas with this much experience?

Travis Stein
Principal Partner
The Odee Company; est. 1923
travis@odeecompany.com

6 Helpful Print Design Sites or Blogs

steve — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 08:53:24 +0000

Sometimes your stuck. Maybe you have a creative mind block or you can’t figure out something you want to do on a design. Maybe you are beginning in design and looking for training. Tips, Inspirations, Ideas and other factors lead you to search for good sites about print design on the internet. I thought I would give you some of my favorites from The Odee Company. We are a commercial printing company located in Dallas, Tx but with a fairly large web presence we do run across other sites we like to bookmark on our printing industry. Here are 6 great sites with brief descriptions of each.

www.printdesignplanet.com This site gives you the ability to have designers quote on your project. Gives you brief descriptions of designers and some track record of them. If you are not a designer but need something designed and don’t know anyone this might be a good place to go.
www.smashingmagazine.com Love this site! Has all kinds of articles on the industry and will give you tips, how to and examples such as typeface use and other things.
1st Web Designer This site gives you tutorials on how to get print ready. Also, has freebies and inspiration works for you to view.
Wikipedia This goes directly to the definition of graphic design, the history and what all it entails. Great for background on several parts of graphic design.
Lynda.com This site has hours and hours of tutorials and how to videos. You pay $25/month with no commitment and you can get as educated as you want. Don’t have much money? Spend $25 and you can go through 20-30 classes in one month.
Youthedesigner This site has a nice blog, gives you tips, has tutorials, and inspirations from posted work for ideas.

These sites whether you are a beginner or a true professional need to be checked out and bookmarked and while you are at it bookmark our website as well. The Odee Company is a commercial printer that does both offset and digital printing and is both FSC & SFI cerified green printer. Our blog has articles and videos to educate you on many of the processes we do. Articles like these:

8 Easy Ways To Save Money on Print!

How to Find the Right Printing Company!

Top Ten Green Printing Practices

Written by Steve Holland

Photo Credit: ir0cko on flickr

Holiday Gift Ideas for Employees

travis — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:12:25 +0000

My name is Benny, and I stare wind in the face

Corporate Marketers who like providing their employees with gifts during the Holiday Season…The Odee Company is here for you. Holidays are fast approaching like a Westie in the wind.

We touched on this subject a few years back and provided some links with Corporate Gifts here. Obviously, there are much cooler/ hip items produced these days than my post back in ’09. Contact us and we can help you brainstorm on what might be the best fit for your company’s employees. Every industry is different and every budget is different. Let us do the researching for you.

You could go with an everyday wearable such as the coolest hat on the block for your hip ad agency style employees.

I'm a cool hat...

Or, order an iPad sleeve for your employees who just received iPads from corporate. I’m sure corporate wants their purchase to last…why not make their investment last with some protective advertising?

Finally, let me leave you with a special gift…for free. If you need something to do this Holiday season in Dallas, head on over to The Dallas Arboretum. If you’re lucky, you might get to meet Frosty…click here for details.

Travis Stein
Principal Partner
The Odee Company; est. 1923
travis@odeecompany.com

What should I look for in a Printer?

travis — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 07:51:59 +0000

Happy Autumnal Equinox print researchers. A few months back I wrote in depth on what you should look for in a commercial printer; or finding the right printer. Let’s revisit.

Learn What to Look for in a Printer

You can also check out our article from another author on How to Find the Right Printing Company

Travis Stein
Principal Partner
The Odee Company, est. 1923
travis@odeecompany.com

Odee Supports our Troops

travis — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:27:24 +0000

The Odee Company needed a way to share it’s appreciation for our Troops. No better way than the world wide web and YouTube to get our “Thank you’s” out there. Along with our “thank you’s”, we are sending monthly care packages to the Middle East.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thank you

Travis Stein
Principal Partner
The Odee Company; est. 1923
travis@odeecompany.com

The Unbiased View-Offset Printing vs Digital Printing

buzz — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:26:32 +0000

Most discussions you see on offset printing vs digital printing comes from the viewpoint of someone that has an interest in one or the other technology. They are selling their side of the story. We have both offset and digital printing presses in our plant so we provide a neutral perspective on both sides. We like both and both have a place in present day printing. It depends on a number of factors as to which should be used and many times either one can be used.

Offset is usually looked at as the higher quality choice, although, digital printing has vastly improved to where the difference is very small now. Offset printing prints PMS or spot colors easier and reproduces solid screen tints better. Offset prints higher quantities at much less per unit cost than digital printing. The cutoff is usually anywhere from 500 to 2000 sheets. Quantity and timeframe are usually the biggest deciding factors of whether to use offset printing or digital printing. Offset printing gives you better options of printing larger sheets as long as you are doing a high enough quantity that gets your cost to a reasonable per unit price. Most digital presses only print up to a 14×20 sheet although 12 x18 is the most common sheet size. There also is inkjet digital printers that will do larger sizes but in very limited quantities before it becomes cheaper to go offset.

Digital printing is used primarily when you need something very quickly or in very small quantities. Digital printing also gives you the opportunity to print variable text or images where each sheet off the press is unique in some personalized way. Once a sheet is off a digital press it can be cut, folded or finished very quickly where offset printing must dry or be coated before handling. There are very few digital presses that print true PMS colors or Spot Colors. The HP Indigo family of presses can print true spot colors as long as you have the additional units on the press.

When used right the two processes should be complimentary and not necessarily in competition with each other. If they do compete it is in a very narrow range of small quantities. Here is an example of a digital and offset printing company.

Do you need printing services?

Written by Buzz Tatom

buzz@odeecompany.com
The Odee Company, Dallas, Texas

College Rush T’s

travis — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:16:06 +0000

Not only is it the time of year print returns, but promos are beginning to ramp up as well. One promotional item Odee produces year after year are the Greek Rush T’s for SMU, TCU, and North Texas Fraternities and Sororities. Click on the link below for an article from a few years back which includes a Bluto treat for you:

Need Frat and Sorority Shirts

Or don’t read it. You’re in college. Why would you read more? Party’s this weekend and you need shirts. email us; sales@odeecompany.com

Travis Stein
Principal Partner
The Odee Company; est 1923
travis@odeecompany.com