Color

In living color
When was the last time you watched television on a black-and-white set? Or perused a black-and-white Website? There’s no getting around it: We live in a color world, and color has a tremendous impact on the way we think and feel about almost every aspect of our lives. This paper will explore what makes color such an important component of communication, why more and more organizations are increasingly incorporating color output into their everyday operations, and how color can dramatically improve the effectiveness of communications—from seemingly minor memos to major sales presentations—in virtually any organization.

The power of color
Consider just a few examples of the powerful impact of color in everyday life.
> When you’re driving on a highway and you see a large orange sign with black lettering on the roadside ahead, what does that tell you? Even if you’re too far away to read the text, you know to be on the alert for construction and related road hazards. That’s just one example of the ways in which color can be used to communicate important practical information to entire societies. continue reading...

The right color printing solution can reduce
costs and improve efficiency in a variety of
printing and imaging environments. The
following scenario describes how one
organization is using HP color printers to
bring a key printing function in-house—and
dramatically cut costs and increase efficiency.

Scenario for Improvement

The organization: Professional sports team

The situation: Need for an alternative to outsourcing of
season-ticket printing

The problems: High printing costs, slow turnarounds,
limited ability to accommodate change

The solution: HP Color LaserJet 9500 printers

The results: 54 percent reduction in ticket printing costs,
as well as faster delivery and increased flexibility continue reading...

Organizations that are incorporating color into their printing and imaging environments would like to be able to control access to color printing in order to maximize the return on their investments in color. This doesn’t simply mean limiting access to color, or placing controls on who uses color and who does not, although there is certainly value for some organizations in being able to do just that. But controlling access to color also means being able to monitor how color is used and to track usage by a variety of criteria, in order to make informed decisions that affect operational efficiency. And for some organizations, controlling access to color may also mean accurately determining color usage in order to bill clients or internal users for their usage. Applying color access controls in any or all of these ways enables organizations to use color as effectively and cost-efficiently as possible. continue reading...

Color in the workplace—it’s here to stay.

Color printing is a powerful tool that is now considered a mainstay in most organizations—from everyday printing to high-end production. In fact, the question in most organizations of all sizes is not whether to incorporate color into their printing and imaging activities, but what choices to make to best fit their needs.

The good news is that determining the right color printing and imaging choices doesn’t have to be a daunting task. This guide will help you determine the HP products you need to create a productive, efficient color printing and imaging environment. continue reading...

Studies have shown that as much as 60% of consumers decide to purchase a new product based on its color rather than quality, workmanship or price guarantee.

It makes sense then that color should be included within proposals and marketing statements.

Here are some practical ideas to include color in your proposals and improve your sales effectiveness.

Put the client’s logo on your proposal. Make sure the client’s logo is larger than your own.
Incorporate the client’s colors throughout the proposal. This keeps the document familiar. continue reading...

Did you hear the one a few years back about the intern who faxed some charts to a team of reviewers in advance of a meeting—with a cover note directing their attention to the figures in green? Quite a faux pas in the days before color faxes. But it’s no joke: Color can be one of the most powerful tools at an organization’s disposal when it comes to organizing information, increasing understanding, and making people and operations more productive and efficient. And today, the technology for color printing to help achieve these ends is more advanced, accessible and affordable than ever.

“If you want to understand how color impacts us, next time you get in the car, take note of how you stop at red and go on green. Color plays a big role in persuasion. We should understand its value.”

–Bryan Eisenberg, ”The Color of Money,” ClickZ Network continue reading...

What’s the difference between color and black-and-white printing? It may seem like a simple question on the surface. But when it comes to everyday office printing, there are more differences between the two than you may realize—in cost, technology, functionality and other factors—and more similarities, too. If you’re thinking about incorporating more color into your office printing environment, you need to understand all these differences and similarities in order to make effective (not to mention cost-effective) choices.

“To put color print pricing in context, in 1994 a typical departmental-sized black-and-white laser printer would cost you around $5000 with a per-page price of about 8 or 9 cents. For less than that cost today, you can have a high-quality color printer. The idea that color is too expensive for in-house, everyday use is as antiquated as that 1994 black-and-white laser printer.”

–Don Jones, The Definitive Guide to Office Color Printing continue reading...

One way to control your costs for color printing is to charge them back to those who are doing the printing. Charging back these costs can help reduce operational costs in two ways.

1. Internal users who are billed for all or some of their color printing are likely to be more aware of, and more mindful about, how much they print—and, as a result, more judicious in their use of printing resources. This can result in less usage.

2. By billing external users, organizations can eliminate, or at least significantly reduce, the color printing and copying costs that they normally absorb on behalf of their clients or patrons.

Opportunities to charge back color printing In addition to charging back color printing costs to internal and external users, organizations can charge back by group or individual. Opportunities
for charging back might include: continue reading...

• departments within a larger organization
• offices in remote locations
• clients of professional firms
• individual users of institutional resources