Tools we use to maintain BIG Images’ web site

A friend of mine inquired via email: “What program did you use to design BIG Images’ website?” As I typed out my reply I realized that BIG Images is not the “normal” large format print company. I mean to say we do not just buy the Adobe CS suite because its what everyone else has; we aren’t satisfied with a solution just because it works. We experiment constantly. The workflows we develop, for example to build and maintain our web site, are very unique in our industry.

Our entire web site is home grown and maintained by BIG Images. We are major supporters of the Macintosh shareware community, as well as the free & open-source software community. Often these solutions are:

1. an order-of-magnitude less expensive than their more established competitors
2. are more reliable
3. exhibit faster and more personable customer service

Here is some of the software we use on a weekly/monthly basis to create and maintain our web site:

Web Development Tools

• RapidWeaver
  
  • $49.00
  • BIG Images’ entire site has been built and maintained with RapidWeaver for the past 2½ years
  • One of the beautiful aspects of RapidWeaver is the VERY active community at their forums. Often I can ask a question and have an answer within the day.
  • RapidWeaver has alot of plugins ($5.00 - $20.00 each) that enhance its functionality, and I have used most of them throughout the site. You can find a list of the plugins here.
  • YourHead software is one of the premier plugin developers. Their products are awesome.
• TextMate
  
  • $63.00
  • Ideal for custom html/php/javascript coding.
  • Incredibly customizable, so it adjusts to your coding style.
• CSSEdit
  
  • $29.95
  • For writing and editing css there is no better tool.
  • Instant live-previews make experimentation a snap.
  • This is also a great tool for reverse-engineering other sites to see how they created their effects.

Read the full article...

Tags: tips, technology, jon beebe, web design, software, design

A large part of BIG Images value to our customers is our predictable and repeatable processes. However, our process is only as good as the files that we recieve from our customers. And that’s where you come in. Responsibility for great color begins the moment an image is captured. That places quite a burden on our customers to maintain their own workflow for predictable color results. So I offer you these thoughts to help start you off towards a more consistent digital workflow.

First and foremost you have to count the costs. Great color comes after investing in great equipment and after establishing a habitual workflow that you are willing to maintain. While the current state of technology does not give us great color for free there are a few products that can really help… Read the full article...

Tags: color, solutions, workflow, jon beebe

Looking at the big, global picture

We were recently asked by our local newspaper what obstacles we encounter doing business in San Luis Obispo and what are we doing to overcome them. Here is our answer to their question… Read the full article...

Tags: newspaper, about us, business, ken pettit, jon beebe

Over the course of the next few months I will be writing about color, offering some insight into what BIG Images likes to see in computer files, and why. This month I am discussing the difference between two color spaces: Adobe RGB and sRGB.


One of the most oft-debated topics I hear (and take part in) regarding color is which color space to use for images. Before I continue, let me just say that I do not intend to answer this question for all time, but I will offer you the opinion of a professional printer, and tell you why I believe as I do.

Keep in mind that BIG Images is all about getting the best possible print that technology can offer. To do this we need the best possible input into our workflow. Simply put — the more color you give us, the more we can print. This is why BIG Images prefers files in the Adobe RGB color space (there are a few exceptions, but those are beyond the scope of this article). Adobe RGB is simply larger than sRGB, allowing more color information to be stored in an image. To illustrate this I have included a visual comparison of Adobe RGB and sRGB. The white, outer shape, is Adobe RGB and the smaller shape inside it is sRGB. This demonstrates that Adobe RGB is physically larger and can capture more color information than sRGB… Read the full article...

Tags: color, workflow, technology, jon beebe

Large Format Printing has not been on the scene for very long. Outside of a few key industries, the benefits of a company like BIG Images are not immediately obvious to the uninitiated. In this article I am going to describe how a few of BIG Images’ clients have recieved invaluable solutions to their printing needs.

Preserving the Past

BIG Images only prints with water-proof and light-resistant inks. Our photo-paper is equally strong, able to withstand fading and preserve its whiteness for years. This enabled a customer of ours to preserve a turn of the century panorama for future generations. Our customer had an old photograph that had been taped together from many smaller photographs. We were able to help them create archival quality, fade resistant prints for everyone in the family, preserving their heritage for future generations. This project was completed using our 10.5 mil photo paper, our uv-blocking luster laminate, and 1/2” thick black gator board for a rigid backer.

Interior Decoration

BIG Images’ printing methods offer a low-cost way to create custom wall-coverings. As an example, one of our customers wanted to decorate her children’s bedroom doors. She brought us images of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, which we were able print full size, as large as her doors. She was then able to simply apply these large stickers to the new doors for a unique look all her own. This project used our water-proof and scratch resistance adhesive backed vinyl. Read the full article...

Tags: large format, printing, products, jon beebe

I’m sure you’ve all noticed the floor graphics sprinkled throughout your local grocery store. These highly effective and affordable large-format images have proven to increase sales by up to 20–30%. In fact, floor graphics have become part of the standard marketing package at many larger stores and retail chains. The market for printing these floor advertisements is projected to grow to $2 billion in the next 5 years. If your competition is not already marketing with it, they will be.

Benefits of floor graphics

With a price of $13.75/sqft the advertising opportunity is very cost-effective compared to radio, newspaper, and other more traditional methods. Floor graphics are inexpensive enough to use as short-term signage, and durable enough to use as long-term signage…
Read the full article...

Tags: printing, products, jon beebe, media, sales, solutions

How Color Can Play Tricks With Your Eye

Color is one of those elusive subjects; it is very difficult to communicate precisely. Many variables, from lighting conditions to the surrounding environment to the age of the viewer, have an effect on the way we perceive color. Some variables in particular change the way colors are perceived when prints become large. In this article I show you some visual aids to demonstrate how a color can be perceived differently simply by changing the surroundings.

The Luminance Illusion

Lets start with a simple grayscale example. The image below demonstrates how our perception of depth and shadow effects the way we perceive color. To be more precise, the following illusion will show how the eye perceives the luminance of an object different from the actual luminance values. Press “Play” to reveal the illusion.


You will see that the top and bottom grey are actually the same value! This effect is know as the Cornsweet illusion. You can read more about it here at Wikipedia.

Discounting the Illuminate

This next illusion demonstrates how the surrounding lighting environment changes the way we perceive color… Read the full article...

Tags: color, visualize, jon beebe

In most sectors of the printing industry, Adobe's PDF file format is king. It deserves accolades, because for most applications, a PDF will reproduce art and text amazingly well while delivering a decent print-ready file in a relatively small file size. These features have made PDF a staple of the small format print industry. Although the PDF is great, BIG Images’ preferred file format for large format printing is the Tiff.

The benefits of the Tiff file format in the large format print industry are threefold:

1. Financial Savings
   • Tiff files saved with LZW compression use anywhere from 50% to 99% less disk space than competing file formats
   • The time required to open & save a Tiff is less than that of a PDF or other competing file formats
   • The time & resources needed to transfer the file to BIG Images is reduced
2. Time Savings
   • Faster processing time for both the customer and BIG Images equates to a faster turn around time
   • Smaller size is faster to open, close, and transfer via FTP or email
   • More predictable results mean fewer errors to chase, resulting in faster production time
3. Better service and product from BIG Images
   • Elimination of common errors means faster production & fewer pre-press expenses. BIG Images can produce a better, more consistent product, faster.

Read the full article...

Tags: tiff, pdf, technology, about us, jon beebe, workflow

What do you get when you mix Apple iPods, Origami, and BIG Images Christmas cheer?

You get employee Christmas presents comprised of 2nd Generation iPod Shuffles wrapped in Origami boxes made of $100 bills.

The holiday season is a time for family, a time for warm cups of peppermint hot chocolate, and even more a time for jolly good cheer to your fellow man. We at BIG Images also believe it’s a time for rocking out in a BIG way. And so, in an effort to turn our employees from unproductive drones slaving away in the corporate mines to ecstatically overjoyed productive drones, we gave each of them a shiny new 2nd Gen iPod Shuffle wrapped in $200 origami boxes (we just had to one-up Santa Steve).

Edit: We have had an overwhelming request for the instructions to make this box — download them as a PDF here. Thanks for the diggs!

Tags: jon beebe