How to save your productive time on unproductive work

Hi friends, I have something to share with you today which shall easy out your routine life. If you are technology savvy like me than you will definitely love this product. What a technology.

In today’s hectic and competitive life we wake up early and go to bed late. Work late hours in office finally at the end of the day we find that we waste most of our productive time in unproductive work like replying emails but even that’s important because we are answerable to our customers and now a days we all type our emails ourselves due to privacy or many other reasons.

But we can now save our productive time. Want to know how?

Ok, Most of the time we avoid replying or typing because we are lazy in typing or our typing speed is very less or we have lot to type, reply tons of emails daily, write many articles etc.

Now you can do this work with ease with Mac Speech Dictate because “It types as you speak” I have purchased this product and it works like magic.

MacSpeech_Dictate

This can further help you write articles, sharing your thought on blogs, keeping notes of your experiments and much more…

See live demo of this product and to know how it works follow this link:

Not only this its really a great tool to suggest for handicap people or organization who helps handicaps because even they have the rights to write articles, share their thought and experience on their blogs, work on computers. Macspeech dictate will help them work alone without any assistance from other family members or friends to write for them.

I recently purchased this product and it took me some time to get a command on it but now its so easy that I can write articles keep notes of my experiments etc. using this product.

My reading and typing is very extensive throughout the day and this product has helped to ease out my typing and increased my efficiency thus keeps me fresh.

Not only I speak and it types but also I am able work on emails, open/close software application and many other things.

For more information log on to http://www.macspeech.com

Dragon_Naturally_Speaking

Windows user may try Dragon Naturally Speaking a similar solution for speech recognition.

Not only this both software also comes with an optional handy add-on tool, so if you are driving or are on holiday or giving speech or seminars you do not need your computer with you just speak come back attach the USB and it download all your speech into words which you can later correct it manually.

How to maintain consistency with curing UV Inks

My company have sold hundreds of UV Curing system but when ever we get phone call or complaints about curing problems there are couple of thing lacking from the printers side to further invest and the main thing is UV INTEGRATOR to check UV LIGHT INTENSITY. Its like how can you drive a car judging the speed without a speedometer.

Printers buy machines worth millions but hesitate to invest on such petty tools or just neglect for no reason. But they forget that these meters are not luxury but essential tools for maintaining quality and consistency. UV machine only cures the ink and they are featured with an adjustable conveyor speed to set as per the desired value specified by the ink manufacturers in Joules or Milli Joules/cm2.

If you are a quality printer or looking towards upgrading your quality then you need to invest on a good UV INTEGRATOR if you are already using a UV Curing system.

Every ink on different substrate printed with different mesh counts needs different intensity to cure the UV Inks and don’t forget to involve the your ink supplier to give you proper specifications. They have it all ready but you need to ask for it. Even if you get those specifications you need a meter to check on regular basis.

What happens if you over cure the UV inks?
Kindly note that by over curing the surface becomes so hard that when another layer of ink is printed and cured over the first layers, the top layer would experience poor adhesion to the bottom layer. Also over cured ink becomes less flexible and makes the surface hard which is liable to break the ink film during punching or bending.

How to ensure whether my ink is properly cured?
Properly curing the ink film for the first time is very important. Proper cured ink minimizes substrate degradation, over curing, rewetting, and under curing thus optimizes proper ink-to-ink adhesion.

First before starting the production set your conveyor speed as per the meter reading specified by the ink supplier (ensure that the specification matches your lamp wattage i.e. 200/watts/inch or 300/watts/inch) or maintain data as per your last production parameters noted. If you do not have these data or if your ink supplier cannot help you on this then try the following:

First keep your conveyor speed on higher side then usual (kindly note that white and black colors cures slower than other colors and transparent varnishes) then test adhesion by using a cross-hatch tape test (use good quality tapes like 3M Scotch etc.). If you find improper adhesion after the test then reduce the conveyor speed and keep doing it until you find proper adhesion and make sure your substrate do not deform or change from its original shape or dimension. This will lead you cure your UV Inks at the optimum level without under over curing.

Thereafter when you begin the production decrease the speed 20% to 25% from the optimum to adhesion failures.

Also ensure that you clean the mirror polished skin of the reflector regularly. Dirty reflector decreases your curing speed plus over heats the substrates and affect your registration parameters due to the change in substrate dimensions.

So don’t hesitate to invest on a good UV METER. It is not an luxury but necessity to maintain your quality standards.

What a marvelous piece of creativity from Narendra

Narendra Paruchuri need no introduction but I will introduce him in my way for the printers who still do not know the legend.

Narendra of Pragati Offset Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad is one of my favorite personalities in the printing industry. A big man but yet humble and down to earth. A highly respected person in our printing industry, an all rounder, fully dedicated in his work and a passionate printer.

People wait for Kingfisher Calendar but I always wait for his master creation “PRAGATI’s CALENDAR”

During my Pamex show in New Delhi recently I saw his award winning calendar but could not get a chance to see it thoroughly since it was on display. So when I came back from Pamex I called him and requested him to send me few copies to explore his creativity as I was eager to see, touch and feel it.

He asked me to sms him my address which I sent him on the same day at around 8 pm. This big man gave me a big surprise that very next day 3 calendars was at my table by 4 pm. I immediately called to thank him for paying immediate attention. This itself shows his dedication and high level of professionalism which has brought Pragati in the eye of international level.

Narendraji, if you are reading my blog then I would like to say one thing that “TUSSI GREAT HO” for me its very difficult to differentiate which pages are the best but as a judge my GOLD Award goes to May-Jun and Jul-Aug page of PRAGATI’s CALENDAR 2010.

Also I liked one more thing about Pragati’s calendar that you created an excellent fusion by complimenting offset and screen printing process extensively, which I have been hammering in all my seminars, workshops and lectures since many years that screen will be the future to all offset printers for value addition and to increase profitability which you have proved in your calendar.

Bhargav receives Pragati's Calendar 2010 with open heart

Colour Management Conference by Kiran Prayagi

If you don’t understand the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) myth then get ready and register yourself for the color management conference from 8 to 10 March 2010 at Sunville, Worli in Mumbai, organized by Mr. Kiran Prayagi of the Graphic Arts Technology & Education (GATE). After going through the invitation, I just thought of sharing my association with Kiran with regard to colour management system.

Let me introduce him in my own way. Whenever I have problem in understanding color management system (ICC PROFILES, Calibrations, etc), my memory downloads only one name in this field: “KIRAN PRAYAGI”.

He is a veteran in this field of color science and theory with plenty of practical knowledge. Whenever I meet him, I always like to discuss with him for hours on this subject. He is a cool hearted and great human being with lot of passion for colour management and that’s what makes him younger day by day.

By the way, my journey and interest into colour management systems, understanding RBG, CMYK and monitor calibration etc. all began from the day I attended his first conference somewhere in 2004-2005 and this is his third Colour Management Conference which I will be attending starting for three days along with others from the industry.

At his first conferences, I gained interest in colour management system. In fact I purchased a complete system from GretagMacbeth with Profile Maker 5.0 software to make profiles and calibrate my monitors (as you know besides manufacturing, I also run an institute on screen printing) because it was also my firm belief that there is no point in just attending such seminars unless we practically apply the knowledge. Today with my own experiments and research I have made this system work very well and easy to adopt in process colour screen printing.

In 2004-2005 colour management system was very raw and very few printers had the knowledge about this system. Even today there are only few printers who know about this system which is the secret to become a great printer.

For over a couple of decades, Kiran has been playing an important role in this area where one has to standardize their profiles. Actually this is the most important subject and area of focus for every printer. My experience says that just laying the dots is not important, but achieving the right target colour is much more important in today’s demanding and competitive world.

So, over to you guys. Be there at Kiran’s COLOR MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE to understand : What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) myth and this is a great chance and a golden opportunity to master this subject from the master.

I shall also be there all the three days because the more I learn the more I gain from him as there are many other prominent speakers and interesting topics on various new subjects. Its highly educative.

So leave away all your work from 8 to 10 March 2010 and dedicate your three days towards knowledge and education for your benefits.

Visit his website http://www.gate.co.in for more information and if you wish to register for his conference then download the registration form following this link http://www.graficaindia.com/PDF/ColourManagementConference.pdf or from this website.

Kiran Prayagi's Color Management Conference

Successful 3 Days Workshop Concluded

What a workshop, I really enjoyed. Many new faces and a great new experience.

This time my friend Kamlakar Wadekar of Ace Printers Mumbai who came all three days with his better half Swati Wadekar and his colleagues to give them a hands on training. I still have to know from him and his team about their experience and was it beneficial for them. I am sure he will post his message soon.

Direk Chowdary a young, tall, handsome and a great human being came all the way from Los Angeles, US to attend my workshop. We had a great time interacting, exchanging ideas and sharing knowledge with each other all three days. He was quite talkative and likes to accepts challenges in his life that’s what I felt from his talks. His company does great work in textile transfers. I am keen to receive his comments and want to know what urged him to come all the way from US to attend the 3 days of workshop at DMI. Even though there are great institutes in and around US for screen printing and would also like to know from him about the knowledge he gained from my workshop.

There were many other serious participant from Delhi, UP, Nepal, Bangalore, Sivakasi, Chennai, Mumbai etc. with whom I also enjoyed and was able to understand their problems and needs. The major problems are related to lack of understanding in pre-press & screen making and that’s where now printers should pay more attention not in just getting best raw materials and machines but also pay attention in improving their basic infrastructure and department.

Most printers do not pay much attentions in keeping their departments clean and hygiene because that’s the first secret in getting good quality screens.

The key to be successful in printing business is to have good knowledge of pre-press because that’s the start point.

The 3 days as usual I cover process color where I demonstrated how to linearize the workflow right from photoshop to positive output. There after I printed 100 LPI job in front of all participants live because seeing is believing as most printers do not believe 100 LPI is possible thru screen and if its possible it must be very difficult. I just printed and proved that its very simple and everyone can do it if they have proper knowledge and that’s what I teach at DMI.

Next day print-finishing where I printed a carry bag with several special effects including micro embossing and 3D effect on a foiled paper and there after tagless and textile transfer on paper and plastic.

Now getting ready for the next workshop on 18-19-20 March 2010 with many new ideas and products. So register before its late.

For more information log on to:

http://www.graficaindia.com

Regards,

Bhargav

DMI_Workshop_4to6Feb2010

Getting ready for the next workshop tomorrow for 3 days

Close to 55 participants coming from various parts of India plus few from USA, Nepal, Himachal etc..

This time at DMI I am going to print process color with 100 LPI exposed on 180-27, exposed straight without moire. UV Inks from Sericol (Graphical GL) has arrived and all set.

This ink has been profiled for 100 LPI on 187-27 Nittoku fabric supplied by Sky Screen Mumbai, squeegees from Fimor France.

I shall show the profiling live with complete workflow how to handle files in the correct way in order to get the image as per proof I mean WYSIWYG.

In print finishing this time a paper bag one sided foiled will be printed with micro embossing and high density multi color stone type effects replacing traditional way of sticking stones manually which you find only in wedding cards but I thought of trying it on the bag this time which is a new concept and will change the trend of comventional bag making. I have printed few samples and it looks outstanding. I shall also be printed with many other special effect inks, metallic inks and varnish supplied by COLORs and other renowed ink manufacturers.

I shall post the image of the bag and workshop photos in details soon…

Michel Caza’s health news

Received the latest update from Michel about his health which I would like to share with you. After a 10 hours of massive operation he had to go for one more surgery again. But seem now ALL IS WELL.

Michel is very close to Indian screen printing industry thru DMI hence I wish to share his email sent to me last week.

————————————————–

Hi all my friends,
After the numerous calls and mails we received those last weeks, many of you would like what happened to my health !

As matter of facts…. Big problems and to be quite frank Therese thought I was not too far from the « Big Nowhere » !

Remember, after the good operation and total elimination of my cancer in November, I needed a second operation to be « reconnected ».

I entered the Hospital Monday 4 January to have surgery the same day – apparently no problems…. I was supposed to get out on Friday 8…..
But, on the Tuesday 5 night, very big pain during ten hours, fever, jumps of blood pressure : peritonitis, big infection, not far from “occlusion”….

Second operation (and anaesthesia) to clean the whole thing and place a new pocket the same evening – 6 January… Two days later – 8 January – new alarm : nosocomial infection through the catheter: a bad
staphylococci !! Bad luck again and new smaller operation to take of some bacteria’s “polluted” liquid somewhere…

Then, I had to stay in the hospital until Saturday 23 one week ago (two more weeks fed with glucose and so on by perfusions with a lot of antibiotics and other remedies….

- Bad thing, when I went out I was very “feeble” muscularly speaking, incredible how three weeks in a bed and perfusion can diminish your body ! – but I now recover slowly.

- Other bad thing, I shall need another operation (new reconnection) in three months times – let us be not too hurry that time ! = 5 operations instead of 2 and I don’t speak of the fabulous costs, widely above our financial possibilities!

But what to do : the American Hospital in Paris I was in is not “attached to the health system” and you recover no more than 20% from Social Security and Private insurances !

- Last bad point : my belly now looks as the one of the Frankenstein’s Monster !

Only good point : I lost 23 pounds (11,5 kg) and have now a perfect weight !

That’s all foxes ! My conclusion :

You enter in hospital for a very important and serious illness…. Totally cured with the help of radio- and Chemotherapy…. And you almost die of an unpredictable double infection catch in the hospital !

Medicine and surgery are definitely “arts”, not “sciences” and as my surgeon said “handicraft arts only” !

Hugs to all of you

Michel Caza

Why does Photoshop crash?

Q: Why does Photoshop crash all the time since I upgraded my operating system to A) Windows 7 or B) Mac OS 10.6?

A: After making major changes to the operating system, it’s generally a good idea to re-install your more complex software, including Photoshop and the rest of the Creative Suite. And don’t forget to create and save sets of your custom brushes, styles, etc. through Edit> preset Manager. Save sets of custom Actions through the Actions panel’s Save Actions command.

Photoshop.com Album: DMI Workshop 17to19Dec09

Photo gallery of my recent 3 days technical workshop concluded in my institute DMI. Major participant in this workshop were from outside Mumbai like Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi that means there is a great demand of education and hunger to learn new and modern screen printing technique. In the second day of workshop the topic was packaging wherein I printed a sweets/chocolate box having 7 special effects with 2 spot color and the result was outstanding. The photo of the box will be posted soon. So wait and watch…