Information on Color printing

The new Xerox ColoQube 8700 / 8900 is ready for its close-up!!  The new ColorQube joins the ColorQube™9200, 9300 and 8860MFP families.  ColorQube™ is one of the products that use solid ink.  When I hear ColorQube™ I think of the Rubik’s cube which drove me crazy back in 19 … we will skip that date, anyway the only way I solved the Rubik’s cube was to peel off the color squares and paste them back on the cube in the correct order.  I promise you will not find the ColorQube™ as frustrating as the Rubik’s cube but you will find it as colorful if not more. 

The new ColorQube 8700/8900 are multifunction printers that include, faxing, copying, printing and scanning capabilities.  They use the Color by Words technology that allows you to refine your colors with the use of words from a drop down list making color modification more intuitive.  You can learn more about Color by Words in our blog article, Xerox Color By Words: Color Me Impressed.  The ColorQube 8700 / 8900 also come with the GreenPrint software which helps you save paper, ink, money and trees.   GreenPrint software automatically highlights and removes unwanted pages prior to printing. you print only the pages you want, reducing paper and ink usage.

The ColorQube 8700 and 8900 already have robust Online Support Knowledge bases on the support page. The Online Support knowledgebase provide you with how to’s and product information to help you get the most out of your new ColorQube 8700 / 8900. 

There is a bunch of information available about these printers and the advantages they offer.  There is a calculator to examine the savings, demos, case studies and videos to help you learn all there is to know about these dynamic  multifunction printers. Please use the links above to find all the information you need on these printers, you will be glad you did.

Now here is a videos about the new additions to the ColorQube family. 

Solid Ink is one of the best things to come along in the printing world and that is not a myth.  But there have been many things said about solid ink that just are not correct.  Let’s take a look at a couple of the myths*. 

Myth:  Solid ink print quality is not as good as laser print quality

Truth: The solid ink print image is mechanically transferred from paper in a precise state without the ink spreading onto the paper. This makes its color quality far less dependent on the paper’s surface. Since solid ink prints the same vivid color on any paper, you can use recycled and even less expensive, lower quality paper for all of your printing. Unlike with aqueous inkjet devices, you don’t need super-white, smooth paper to get superb image quality with solid ink.

Myth:  Solid ink products waste ink.

Truth: Waste is not unique to solid ink. Laser-based products produce waste toner that is collected in a waste toner bottle which requires replacement and disposal when full. The waste toner bottle cannot be recycled. Waste from solid ink is non-toxic and can be safely disposed of in your local waste stream.

Check out more truths about solid ink on the “Truth About Solid Ink” website.

These big blocks of resin-based non-toxic color are melted in the printer and affixed to the paper through heat and pressure.  They create a great image.  The technology has been around since 1991, the last century!!  But in the recent past the technology and the ink formulas have been refined.   So how does Solid Ink create an image on the page?  Check out the video to see one possibility. 

Okay so there are no little guys with paintball guns in your printer but there is a precise stainless steel print head with tiny holes smaller than a human hair.  It uses 1,236 nozzles jetting more than 30 million drops per second.  The ink is jetted from the print head to a heated drum and then is pressed onto the paper.   Due to this process less ink wicks into the paper fibers and that controls dot spread, allowing for a crisper looking image.   The image on the left below is the magnified image from a Color laser printer, the image on the right is solid ink.

Solid ink is fast, precise, and less expensive.  Print speeds can reach 30-85 pages per minute.  To find out even more about solid ink and the machines that use them please explore the Solid Ink website. 

* Copied in part from the Xerox “Truth About Solid Ink” website.

Color By Words makes adjusting the color on your prints easy.  With Color by Words you use natural language to adjust and refine the color on your prints.  The Color by Words technology is part of more of our printers and multifunction devices.  One of the latest products to have Color by Words is the WorkCentre^® 7500 family.  Using Color by Words allows you to adjust the color of the prints without affecting the original file. 

There is a website where you can demo the Color by Words on pictures we provide or you can upload your on picture and try the process on your own picture.  The demo shows you just how you can manipulate the color through the use of simple natural language instructions chosen from a few simple pull-down menus.  Here are samples of the menus:

As an example I made an extreme change to the pictures below.  All I did was choose Change all green colors completely to purple there you have purple “green” bell peppers!  The changes can be major as in this example or they can be subtle or somewhere in between.  Try it for yourself and see how easy it is to make color changes without having to know all the technical ins and outs of color and color theory.

If you would like additional information about Color by Words explore the website, take a look at the brochure or go to the support pages for the machines that have Color by Words and search on “Color by Words”.  Have fun with the demo and see just how easy it is to make color adjustments.   

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Are you the proud new owner of a WorkCentre 6505?  The WorkCentre 6505 is one of the newest members of the WorkCentre family.  The WC 6505 is a great printer and comes standard with copy, fax, email, scan and printing capabilities.  The machine also has all the features you have come to expect, secure print, draft mode printing, fax forwarding and so many more.  With this machine you can even scan to a USB Flash Drive.  As with all of our networked printers and multifunction devices the WorkCentre 6505 has CentreWare Internet Services which can help you to program and monitor the machine from a PC.  Simply open an internet browser on your computer and type in the IP address of your printer in the Address field and press enter.  The CentreWare Internet Services (CWIS) screen will be displayed.  On the first screen you will see the features of the machine and it will also display any optional features that are installed.  On the Status tab you can check the paper levels and sizes of paper in the paper trays.  You can also check the levels of the supplies.  You will see a list of pending jobs and a history of what has been printed by exploring the Job Status tab.  These tabs are available on the CWIS of most of our network connected printers and multifunction printers.  

What is unique in the WorkCentre 6505 CWIS is that there are some videos available to help install and use the machine.  You can find these videos in a couple of ways.  From the CWIS select the Support tab and on the left you will see a link for “User Manuals and Videos”.  Select this link and then select “Videos”.  You will be directed to the support page for the WorkCentre 6505 on Xerox.com.  Select the Video Tab on the support page and you will see the videos available for the machine.  Obviously you can also go directly to Xerox.com and select Support & Drivers at the top then enter the machine model number, in this case 6505 and select support then the videos tab.

The WorkCentre 6505 also has many features that can be set-up, maintained and monitored from the Properties tab of the CWIS.  Don’t forget about the Help button in the upper right of the CWIS window.  The Help section will take you through each tab and explain what you can learn and program from each tab and sub category.  The help section also explains most if not all the terms that you will see in the CWIS.  This is incredibly useful information and is right at your fingertips.  All you need is the IP address of your machine to explore this helpful tool.  So as you have time explore the CentreWare Internet Services and see how helpful this tool can be.  Enjoy your new WorkCentre and please contact Xerox Support if you have questions.

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This month we have published articles about color and how, why and when to use color in your documents.  Please review the previous blog posts “Why Print in Color”, “How to Use Color” and “Colorology” for more information.  So now it is time for a quiz, that’s right a pop quiz about the meaning and use of color.  Let’s go old school, please pull out a piece of paper and a pen and number the page 1-12 down the left hand side, remember those days?    Now let’s see how you do!!

1. What color is normally associated with optimism, yet can often unnerve readers when used too much?
    A. Light Green     B. Yellow     C. Lavender
2. Which color often stimulates the appetite?
   A. Red     B. Bright Blue     C. Orange
3. What color is subliminally associated with truth?
   A. Light Blue     B. White     C. Dark Green
4. What color conveys royalty and sophistication?
   A. Gold    B. Royal Blue     C. Purple
5. Which color is associated with fun and cheerfulness?
   A. Light Blue     B. Green     C. Orange
6. To create a high-tech image, it is effective to combine neutral grays with what types of accents?
   A. Silver and gold     B. Bright colors     C. Deep reds
7. Which color is most dramatic for backgrounds?
   A. Black     B. Purple     C. Gray     D. Purple
8. Which of the following colors is NOT a good choice for natural or environmentally themed materials?
   A. Green     B. Brown     C. Yellow     D. Gray blues
9. Which color most often implies authority, financial responsibility, and security?
   A. Dark Green     B. Blue     C. Blacks and grays
10. Which color would you use to imply health and tranquility? (Here’s a hint: think fresh.)
    A. Deep Blue     B. Yellow     C. Green
11. Earth tones with bright lime and purple accents are associated with what era?
    A. The Fifties     B. The Sixties     C. The Seventies
12. What is the most universally popular color?
    A. Red     B. Blue     C. Yellow     D. Green

Click here to see the answers.  How did you do?

Let’s review some key points:

• Color draws the readers attention
• Too many colors can distract from your message
• Use colors to highlight things you want your audience to do or pay attention to.
• Avoid using too much color, it’s a document not a carnival, unless it is a document about a carnival
• Remember that printing in color on many of the Xerox printers and multifunction devices is comparably priced to printing in black and white.  So go ahead and add some color to your documents!

Have you ever wondered why you choose the colors you do for your clothing or the walls in your living room?  Why you purchase a certain product over another? Some of it may have to do with Colorology, ok so it is a made up word but the Psychology of Color just sounded a little long and boring.  The psychology of color is anything but boring. Color psychology is concerned with the effects of color on mood, emotion and behavior. Understanding the way people feel about color can have an influence on the colors you choose to use in your business.  It should also come in to play when you choose colors for your business documentation and customer communications.  Remember emotion is a large component in decision making so understanding the emotions elicited by the colors you use may directly impact people’s decisions to do business with you.   

Color has been found to evoke similar feelings and thoughts in people.  It is important to understand how people react to colors and color combinations to help in your marketing and business communications.  Now the psychology of color is not an exact science as it has been found that many things will influence a person’s perception of a color, for instance, age, environment, experience, social and economic class.  Nationality also has a bearing on the perceptions of color.  Therefore it is important to understand that colors do not represent the same qualities and are not thought of in the same way by other nationalities and cultures. 

If you do business or create documents for an international audience thought must be given to how color is perceived in other countries.   For instance Green is seen as natural, financial, prosperous, growing, youthful, abundant, and healthy, in the United States.  But in Columbia for some native peoples, green is the color of death and is also regarded as ugly by some.  In Egypt green is the national color, green should not be used on packages in Egypt. It is a sacred color among Muslims. Green can mean fertility, freshness and health in the Ukraine. We have several documents that will help you to understand the feelings and emotions of color.  Please check out this page about the implications of color in the US.  Then navigate over to our international color guide.

We also have several articles available that explore the psychology of color in more depth than we can here, please click this link to explore those articles.  More information for using color in your business can be found at the bottom of the Support and Drivers page  under “Tips” in the Do more with your Xerox products section.  Leverage your color printer or multifunction device to influence your customers and partners and increase your business. 

Next week we will have one last article on color so please check back with us!!

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Today let’s talk about how to use color.  Last week the article “Why Print in Color?” discussed why color is important in business communication not only to draw attention but also to increase retention.  Please review the article for more information.

Okay here come the statistics again.* 

• People are 55% more likely to pick up a full color piece of mail first. By using color on the envelope, you are more likely to capture the attention of your target audience.
• Color reduces errors by 80%. Highlighting important information and instructions helps customers fill out forms or perform procedures correctly the first time.
• Reader comprehension is 14% better with highlight color than with bold text. (oops I guess I should have used color on these statistics) Presentation materials and guides are more effective if they are produced using highlight color, rather than using just bold type.
• Color improves brand recognition by up to 80%.  Businesses, Local retailers, realtors, consultants and others can cut through the clutter with the help of color. Improved brand recognition leads to increased sales!!

So color is important in all of your business communication, advertising, forms and any other document you use in your business.  But how you use color is even more  important.  Using too much color can actually have an adverse effect.  Three colors is the best number of colors to use in a document.  One color grabs less attention than two and using more than four colors distracts from the message.  Yellow and Black attracts more attention than any other color combination.**  A little color goes a long way.  Try highlighting instructions and / or due dates in color, use color to draw attention to your key message, these are just a few of the practical uses for color in your documents.  But make sure that you use color sparingly so that you do not create “visual pollution” by including too much text in color or too many colors in your documents. 

It is important to use color wisely.  Xerox printers and multifunction printers offer many models that will help you print your documents with color.  Our machines use different types of color profiles to help you achieve the colors you need to enhance your communications.  We even have some machines that use natural language to adjust your colors.  It is easy to find our color printers and multifunction devices, just select our product page and then select color to see what Xerox can offer to help you harness the power of color for your business. 

Next week join us again and we will discuss the psychology of color and what colors to use.