Optimalprint Blog

Wedding Style & Location

nospam@example.com (Henrik) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:34:49 +0200

Everyone has a different idea of what their wedding will be like. Small or large, extravagant, traditional, modern, fun the list goes on. One major element which helps to establish your wedding style is the location. Once location is determined then all the details will be decided accordingly such as the wedding invitations, decorations, colour scheme, attire etc.

The independent recently published an article listing the 50 best wedding locations. This long list of locations really emphasizes the different wedding styles people choose - although it seems that for the most part people tend to go with a more traditional approach. For more wedding location ideas, refer back to my previous post about extreme weddings.

You can win £500 or a new iPod Touch for describing your dream wedding!

Win 500£ to Spend on Your Wedding!

nospam@example.com (Henrik) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 07:58:22 +0200

Wedding Invitation Competition

First Place Wins Cash, Second Place Wins an iPOD^® Touch!

Hello Readers,

Many of you know that we at Optimalprint appreciate creativity. This summer we are hosting a wedding competition (in addition to our annual design contest which will begin later in the year).

How do you enter the wedding invitation competition?

Write your dream wedding scenario in 250 words or less.
Find a wedding invitation from Optimalprint.co.uk to represent your dream wedding
Send us an email with the following information by Tuesday August 25th, 2009:

Address the subject of the email to: Wedding competition: Design #xxxx
Include your dream wedding scenario, name and country of residence
Send the email to: wedding@optimalprint.com

Check your email on Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 to see if you are a winner

What you can win!

Grand prize winners will be announced on the site as well as notified by e-mail.

Best of luck to all participants!

More details about the wedding competition.

Kid’s Party Games on a Budget

nospam@example.com (Henrik) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:26:42 +0200

Entertaining kids can be a tough job. Most parents know that when inviting your kid’s friends to a party, you better be prepared, or else you may end up with a big mess. Themed parties are a good start but you need these kids occupied, focused and having fun!

Here are some fun party games that are low cost and easy to implement:

What Am I?

Once all the kids have arrived, line them up with their backs to you. Tape pictures of animal/objects/people, to their backs. Give them a time frame in which they may ask each other yes and no questions about what they are. Give an example of questions they may want to ask such as, "Am I an animal or an object?" At the end of the given time frame, each child takes a turn saying what they think they are.

This works really well with a theme. For example, if your theme is a jungle safari, use related animals or objects: Tiger, bear, monkey, elephant, tree, etc.

Buddy Buddy

Similar to What Am I? you whisper the name of an animal/objects/people in each child’s ear. Tell them that there is at least one other person that is the same animal as they are. Within a given time frame they may ask each other yes and no questions to try to figure out who their "Buddy Buddy" is. When time is up tell everyone to go sit by who they think their buddy is. Go over the clues with the kids until they figure it out and everyone is sitting next to the correct buddy.

Birthday Wishes

Ask the children to sit in a circle. The first player starts by saying, "At my birthday party I want balloons". The next player must repeat "At my birthday party I want balloons…." and add another item. This continues all the way around the circle with each player reciting the wishes in the exact order they have been given and then adding a new one. If a player makes a mistake they are out. The person left who can perfectly recite the birthday wishes wins.

Who’s got it?

All the kids gather in a room. 1 child is chosen to be "detective" and is briefly sent out of the room. One of the kids in the room is given an object such as a button or a scarf. The detective then returns to the room and has to guess who has the object. The detective can only ask 3 yes and no questions as clues. All the children act suspicious as though they have it.
For themed parties, select an object that goes with the theme.

Scavenger Hunt/ Treasure Hunt

This is a great way to occupy kids while letting them run around and burn off some energy. You may hide items/gift bags/candy/coins in the yard and/or in designated rooms. Encourage kids to work as 1 big team or break them up into a few smaller groups.

Can You Guess How Many?

Fill a jar with candy, marbles, etc. Have children write their name on a small piece of paper and the number of candies (or other objects) they think are in the jar. The child who guesses the right number, or comes closest, gets a prize. The jar of candy can also be the prize, or you can divide the candy in the jar among the children.

Mind Play
Blow up balloons and write questions on them with a marker. Place the balloons in Bag "A".
Write fun actions like "Pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time", “Hop around the room 3 while hoping on 1 foot” on a strip of paper, roll it up, place in balloons, blow up the balloons and place in Bag “B”.

Each child reaches in and pulls out a balloon from Bag "A" on their turn. If they answer the question correctly, they stay in for another round. If they answer incorrectly they pull a balloon out of Bag "B", pop it and have to do what it says... If they complete the task they can return to the game. If not they are out and can cheer on the remaining players. The game ends when all the questions have been answered.

More Tips:

Make sure to carefully clean up the balloon remains, as they are a choking hazard for young children.

The 1£ store is a great place to get prizes. Candy also make for good prizes.

Variations of these game may be fun at adult parties as well.

Don’ t be Fooled by Low Printing Prices Online

nospam@example.com (Henrik) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:30:38 +0200

Shopping online can be a tricky business. Companies often say one thing to bring you into their site, and then don’t live up to your expectations. I have experienced this on several occasions.

More often than not, companies advertise low printing prices and then you get online to buy your business cards, brochures, postcards or any other product and you realize that the low price is for a product that is low quality.

Next thing you know the company is adding costs under the cover of:

colour add-ons

paper upgrades

uploading fees for your own logo, photo or design

proof or sample of your print product, which you should be entitled to as a customer who is paying for a service

You end up paying much more than the advertised price.

In addition to all of this, when you finally get your product you see an advertisement for the printing company that was not visible in your online preview, or purchased sample!
So now you are in a dilemma as to whether you can use this product, or if it will make you seem unprofessional. You have just spent too much time and money on a product that you are now stuck with.

Having experienced this on a first hand basis encouraged me to start my own online printing company where everything would be transparent.

NO hidden costs, NO unforeseen add-ons and definitely NO shameless advertisements on our customers’ printed products.

Online Printing in Tough Economic Times

nospam@example.com (Henrik) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:13:33 +0100

In today’s unstable economy, it is important for small businesses to reduce costs. One way to do this is by finding an online printing company that offers high quality printing at a low cost. Online printing companies offer your company more than just an effective way to save money. You can push this revenue and spend more money on off line marketing efforts such as direct mailings, print advertising and more.

Why would an online printer be more cost effective?

Since the service is provided online, printers are often located in low rent areas.

Many online printers are very big often reducing costs due to economies of scale.

Free design templates make it possible to work without a graphic designer.

Businesses can order low cost materials in just a few minutes, saving your company time and money on graphic designers and employee time.

Reduces the time-to-market, since there is no wait time with respect to design approval and revisions.

The ability to upload photos and logos for free.

The ability to upload existing designs for free. This is convenient for companies that have, or had an in-house graphic designer.

Free online storage for designs enables you to re-order and re-print, quickly, saving time and in turn money.

Print materials such as business cards, folders, brochures and letterhead represent your company to potential clients. It is important that you present a high quality and clean product, while creating a uniform brand image for your company’s marketing plan.

For more tips on saving money on printing read: The Cheap Business Printing Article.

Business Card Templates - Choosing the Right One

nospam@example.com (Henrik) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:04:04 +0100

How to Choose the Best Business Card Template?

There are so many business card templates and styles how do you know which one to choose? Which template will best represent you? When choosing your business card template, there are a few questions that you should ask yourself:

Who is your target audience?

Your business card needs to grab your audience’s attention. How and where you plan to give them out should also be a factor in your decision.

If you are planning to interest people that you don’t know, or if you know that you won’t be handing out your card in person, then you may choose a business card template that allows you to upload a picture of yourself, or a photo that best represents your product or service. Often these images offer potential customers or business associates with a visual of who you are, and what you do.

On the other hand, if you plan to hand out your cards to existing clients, or people who know you, then there is no need for an elaborate design to grab attention. Instead you will likely focus on relevant content.

What do you want your business cards to say?

What message do you want to convey to your audience? Business cards focus on one aspect of an individual or business. You may be a freelance photographer, writer and taxi driver on the side. It is best to create a business card for each profession individually.

If you are handing out new business cards with updated information, then you will want to emphasize this new information (office hours, phone numbers, addresses, etc.)

What style best fits your purpose?

Will you or your business be better represented with a formal style? Or something that is fun? Will you have your company logo on it? Or would something plain be more suitable?

How much information will you put on your business card? Will you need a double sided template? Single sided template?

Some people will include a brief description of their services on the backside of the card. This must be well crafted as the business card is limited in space and you risk cluttering the card. Standard business card content includes:

Person and/or Company name

Person and/or Company address

Contact info (e-mail, phone, mobile & fax)

Logo or photo

Slogan

Service or Product provided

Personalise Wedding Invitations with Games

nospam@example.com (Henrik) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:52:47 +0100

Here are a few ideas for unconventional and personal wedding invitations:

Wedding invitation word search – encode your wedding message in a word search for a fun and different way to announce your nuptials. You can create your own word search for free at http://www.armoredpenguin.com/wordsearch/.

Example:

You can choose to include the words (in the wrong order) at the bottom of the page. It all depends on how difficult you want the puzzle to be.

Create and insert a personalised crossword puzzle with the wedding invitation. Here is an example made with the free online crossword maker at http://www.puzzle-maker.com/CW/.

Example:

You could also arrange it so that questions ACROSS are about the bride and questions DOWN are about the groom (or vice versa).

Put the invitation message into a riddle, and let your family and friends solve the riddle to figure out where the ceremony will take place.

The wedding invitation game: encode your wedding message- or parts of it - in word jumbles, so that your guests have to re-arrange the letters in order to figure it out.

Example:

Enclose a link in your wedding invitation to a video or audio wedding message (photo slide show, etc). You could also link to a music video, or sound clip of a song that is special to you and your fiancée.

Wedding Etiquette 101

nospam@example.com (Henrik) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:07:50 +0100

When planning a wedding, it seems that every move is guided by tradition and superstition. When it comes to the wedding invitations, couples often follow the traditional method of making the invitations formal. Here are some guidelines for writing formal invitations.

Tips for Writing Formal Wedding Invitations

Here are some guidelines to consider when composing your invitation, response, and reception cards:

Write out names in full, including middle names.

Spell out all words, including the hour, the date and the year.

Spell out all words in the address, including Street, Road and Avenue. The only exceptions to this rule Saint (St.) and Mount (Mt.)

For ceremonies taking place in a house of worship use the phrase:
"request the honour of your presence"

For ceremonies taking place in a non-religious setting use the phrase:
"request the pleasure of your company"

Addressing Formal Wedding Invitation Envelopes

Formally addressing envelopes can be a dreadful task. The chart below provides an example of the proper way to formally address your guests.

Single Guests	Outer Envelope	Inner Envelope
Divorced, or unmarried man	Mr. John Smith	Mr. John Smith and Guest
Unmarried Woman	Miss Jane Smith	Miss Jane Smith and Guest
Divorced woman retaining her maiden name	Ms. Joan Smith	Ms. Joan Smith and Guest
Couples	Outer Envelope	Inner Envelope
Married couple	Mr. and Mrs. Harry Doe	Mr. and Mrs. Doe
Married couple, wife keeps her maiden name	Mrs. Alice Cooper and Mr. Harry Doe	Mrs. Cooper and Mr. Doe
Unmarried couples that live together. (Address alphabetically according to last name)	Mr. Dave Campbell and Miss (or Ms.) Rose Stark	Mr. Campbell and Miss (or Ms.) Stark
Unmarried couples that don't live together. You should send the invitation to the closest friend.	Mr. Ralph Brass	Mr. Brass and Miss (or Ms.) Smith
Titles	Outer Envelope	Inner Envelope
Doctor (Medical) Single	Doctor Joan Kepler	Doctor Kepler and Guest
Doctor (Medical) Married	Doctor and Mrs. Josh Kepler	Doctor and Mrs. Kepler
Married Woman Doctor	Doctor Alicia Mendez and Mr. Bob Jones	Doctor Mendez and Mr. Jones
Married Couple Both Doctors	Doctor John and Jane Smith	The Doctors Smith
Doctor (Ph.D.)	Dr. Alvin Jones	Dr. Jones and Guest

Photo Wedding Invitations for Fun

nospam@example.com (Henrik) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:54:48 +0100

Photo wedding invitations add a personal flare to your invitations. But who says invitations must always be formal? Here are some examples of couples whose fun loving personalities were reflected in their photo wedding invitations.

Rick and Maggie are big Simpsons’ fans. After “simpsonising” themselves at http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html. They used this photo in their wedding invitations.

Another “simpsonising” program is available at: http://simpsonizeme.com/.
Here you upload your own photos, answer a few questions, and it produces a Simpson version
of you. This version is more detail oriented. It allows you to tweak and edit your “Simpson self”
including: colours, hair, clothing styles and more.

George and Alma are big South Park fans. So they went to http://www.sp-studio.de/ to create animated versions of themselves in their photo wedding invitations.

Modern caricatures also make for a unique photo. At http://www.osoq.com/
you can create free caricatures of you and your fiancée, and with the help of Photoshop, create a unique photo for your wedding invitations.

These are just a few examples of some out-of-the-box photo wedding invitations,
the possibilities are endless.

Continue reading "Photo Wedding Invitations for Fun"

Extreme Weddings - something for you?

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:16:31 +0100

While surfing the internet last week I came across some interesting video posts about extreme wedding ceremonies. Here is something to think about before you book your favourite church. Before you read about the weddings or view the "motivational" videos below, watch this video to decrease your stress level before your wedding - NOTE! Before you click on this link I must warn sensitive viewers!.

Ocean love wedding:
Lyly and Leon decided to have a traditional wedding off the coast of an Indonesian island. Leon is in a tuxedo and Lyly is dressed in a traditional long white wedding dress complete with a bridal veil. The two of them strap on their scuba gear and dive in with their guests. This otherwise very traditional ceremony also includes a floral altar, guests holding fresh floral streamers, and an officiant.

"Wedding" is in the air":
Katie and Darren from Leyland, Lancashire UK, decided to fly high in a ceremony conducted 1,000 feet above the ground. The bride dressed in her strapless white wedding gown, the groom in a handsome costume and the celebrant in his blue gown, were each strapped on to identical Boeing Stearman biplanes for a unique ceremony in the sky.

Skydiving while getting married:
Heather and Lance took a leap of faith in love and off an aero plane. Heather dressed in a less conventional bridal gown wore a long white dress with blue skydiving pants. (Blue traditionally represents purity and is often incorporated in weddings). The two say their vows in the plane, dive, meet in the air, exchange rings, and are announced man and wife on the ground.

Climb every mountain: (news article)

Moni Mule Pati and Pem Dorjee Sherpa
climbed 29,035 feet to the top of Mount Everest where they removed their oxygen masks to perform a brief Nepalese wedding ceremony. Traditional elements of the Nepalese wedding includes wearing garlands around their necks, while the groom applies red vermillion powder on the bride's forehead, symbolizing that they are now husband and wife. "We were there only for 10 minutes, just enough for us to get married and our friends to take pictures of us,” Mule Pati told The Associated Press.

Tips for Personalising Your Christmas Cards

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:54:10 +0100

Today we are full of “quick and convenient” solutions to everything. With today’s advances in printing technology, you can create personalised Christmas cards quickly, conveniently.

Here are some ways to create personal Christmas cards:

Upload family photos to personalise your Christmas cards. . (some online printers let you do this for free)
Upload and edit your photo’s colour, size and more online. (some online printers let you do this for free)
Create and upload your own Christmas card design in Microsoft Word or PDF format and have them printed. (some online printers let you do this for free)
and edit/change the text .
Add your Christmas card message.

If you have time to get really creative:

Add a top 10 list of great things that happened to your family from last year to this year.
Make a multimedia Christmas card with a DVD slideshow of family photos
Bake a Christmas Card Cookie

Post your great tip in the comments section.

Save Time & Money with Free Christmas Card Templates & Designs

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:26:01 +0100

Christmas is an exciting time, yet for many of us also the most "frustrating" time of year...

Do you recognize the feeling of being one step behind? There are gifts to buy, decorations to be made, Christmas shows at school, gatherings to plan etc etc. By the time you realize that you forgot about the Christmas cards you run down to the local book shops. They’re either out of stock completely, or you are left with picking through the rubbish left behind. Now, some people would say “just send an e-card!”, but this method many find too impersonal.

With free Christmas card templates and designs you can order personalized photo Christmas cards online. You don’t have to pay to upload your own pictures or designs. The whole ordering process takes about 5 minutes and you can access the print shop at time during during day or night. The beauty of it is that you basically create and design your own Christmas cards by uploading one of your favorite photos.

Winners in Optimalprint's Design Competition 2008

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:09:30 +0100

Congratulations to the winners of Optimalprint’s 2008 Print Design Competition
Karem Laguna & Sunnie Yeo.

Each winner was chosen for submitting the most original design within their respective categories of professional designer and amateur/student design. “It was a tough decision for me. There were so many excellent designs submitted” says Henrik Müller-Hansen, CEO of Optimalprint.

1:ST PRIZE

Karem Laguna’s Christmas design won the grand prize - professional graphic designer division.

Grand Prize: 1000 GBP worth of print materials from Optimalprint UK and an iPod.

2:ND PRIZE

Sunnie Yeo’s invitation card design won the grand prize for the amateur/student designers division.

Grand Prize: 1000 GBP Scholarship or Digital camera (Canon EOS 400D)

Both of their designs will be available online at Optimalprint for purchase.

In addition there were a number of honourable mentions from each category, whose designs will also be available through Optimalprint’s website.

Information about Optimalprint's Annual Design Competition 2009

Photo Storage Websites

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:46:44 +0100

Not so long time ago photo “storage” was a frame or an album – not figuratively speaking, mind you. An actual paper album. Today is a whole new photographic epoch. Digital photography has reinvented how we take, share and store our photos. Where should you keep your thousands of photos?

There are many different photo sharing website's - look around and see what’s out there!

Flickr
At the time of writing Flickr claims to host approximately 3 billion images. Basic accounts are free but limited to 100MB a month in uploads. You can upgrade to a pro account for $24.95/year, allowing for unlimited photo uploads and ad-free browsing, video uploads and more. Users can easily create and join groups around particular themes or interests. Flickr also helped to pioneer “geo-tagging” of photos – linking them to a particular geographical place through integration with web mapping technologies.

Shutterfly
Shutterfly has been around since 1999 and was among the first companies on the photo hosting web scene. Its free service enables easy sharing of photos with friends and family via Shutterfly-hosted websites you can customize. It also provides a desktop client for organization of a user’s photo library. Shutterfly enables easy printing of photos, along with some neat extras like customized borders and back-of-print messages.

SmugMug
SmugMug is a slick-looking, professional-level photo hosting site. They take security of users’ photos seriously, storing multiple backup copies in multiple datacenters. Account levels are three-tiered: standard accounts cost $39.95US a year, power user accounts provide a few more features at $59.95/year, and professional level accounts are $149.95/year and cater to the professional photographer or serious amateur. Professional accounts let users sell their photos, both as prints and as digital downloads.

Picasa Web Albums
In comes as no big surprise that Google has its own offering when it comes to photo hosting on the web. Picasa, Google’s companion desktop client, integrates smoothly with Picasa Web Albums, where users can store and share photos on the web. Picasa Web Albums maintains Mac-friendliness with uploads via iPhoto or direct from the desktop. Picasa Web Albums has a number of partners that allows users to print their photos on a range of products.

Photobucket
Photobucket is free for users to sign up for and allows users to store thousands of photos and hours of video. Their service also allow you to organize, share, order prints and a range of other photo products. The beauty of Photobucket, one which younger users are likely to appreciate, lies in its web 2.0 functionality. Photobucket is integrates easily with Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and a number of other social networking sites. It also allows users to send their photos to several blogging platforms.

NOTE: Prices, data, figures referred to in this blog might differ from actuals & changes constantly

Continue reading "Photo Storage Websites"

How to write Thank You Cards

nospam@example.com (Admin) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:20:29 +0200

Writing a thank you note requires you to think about the proper etiquette.

There are a few basic principles when writing a thank you card but the most important one is that you are personal. Always hand-write your thank you notes. While it’s perfectly okay to use printed labels for addresses, the thank you inside the card itself must be handwritten. There is a lot written about what to do and what not to do when writing thank you cards, LESLIE HARPOLD (contributing writer at The Morning News) tells why and demostrates how to write the perfect, honest thank-you note every time.

The basic progression of a good thank you card:
1. The "Thank You" in itself...
2. Personalize the card, preferrably by writing a personal note yourself
3. Bridge between present and future. It creates a feeling of continuity to your sentiment.
4. Close by thanking the person.

Detailed guidelines on how to write a thank you card