Business Hours 8 AM to 5 PM Monday - Friday
FAQ'S
Your Print Job
When
asking for a quote on your project, there
are many questions we may ask. We will
try to make you aware of some
of them here.
Quantity: How many printed pieces do you need?
This helps us determine costs. The more you print the cheaper it becomes due to set up and material costs.
Final Size: What will be the trimmed size of the finished product?
Will the finished product be mailed in another envelope, such as a business size envelope? Will the product be folded (bi-fold,
tri-fold, etc.). Will the printed piece bleed off the edge of the paper (color extends to edges of paper). If doing postcards, the postal
service has rules about size and weight not to mention text placement.
Paper Type: What type of paper will you use for your project?
There are many types and colors of paper as well as weights and textures. Most color jobs are recommended to run on
white paper as color tends to "Pop" when printed on white. Will you require gloss (coated) or text (uncoated) paper.
Gloss paper certainly makes color more shiny and gives the appearance of richness. It is also more expensive.
Uncoated papers many times will be all that is needed depending on the product or audience. Color paper sometimes is
used for copy jobs that require eye catching colors that stand out from the crowd. Normally color paper will have black text
so keep this in mind when picking out dark colored paper. Weights of paper range from common copy paper 20# to 24#
which is fine for everyday use. Heavier weights from 60# to 80# text paper will generally not bleed through. This means if a
job is to be printed on both sides it will not show through. Cover weight papers are used on poster jobs or outside covers on
booklets, reports and postcards.
How Many Colors: One color to four color or somewhere in between?
Knowing how many colors are used helps in determining the cost. Color costs more but is more eye catching.
Pictures and Graphics: Will there be photos or graphics used?
We will need to know if these will be supplied or we will have to scan them and place them. If you supply the graphics or
pictures please place them on disk in a format that is compatible. TIFF or EPS formats are best but we will accept JPEG images. Be aware the JPEG will sometimes show blockiness on the edges of color transitions such as sky and trees or buildings. This is due to the file compression used for JPEG. Also important is resolution of the files sent. For photos,
300 DPI is usually the minimum acceptable for print quality. If you are not sure, ask and we will check them for you.
Design: Will we be required to design and set copy?
We have full design and layout staff available. We charge an hourly rate and we will quote this before starting. We have
found that it can be more cost effective if you allow us to do the set up. We use the latest software created specifically
for design and layout. This takes the burden and frustration of using your time to try and make it look right then
when we check it we must make changes or redo the layout again.
Fonts: Have you included all printer and screen fonts?
If you are supplying the job to us on disk we will need all the printer and screen fonts you used to create the piece.
Your best bet is to use common fonts to create the job such as Helvetica, Arial, Times, Garamond. This will allow us to substitute our known good fonts if the ones you supply are corrupt. Believe me this happens more than you
would imagine.
Deadline: When will you need the finished product?
By giving us a date the piece is needed we can check with production to see if we can meet your deadline. Please try to
give us a reasonable timeframe to work with. A job that you need tomorrow may be impossible to complete due to the
many factors involved in the printing process such as having the paper in stock, other jobs ahead of yours, incomplete files
or files that require more work to make them press ready. We will always do our best to complete your project in time.
Please realize if you need it tomorrow we may need to charge extra to meet your needs.
of them here.
Quantity: How many printed pieces do you need?
This helps us determine costs. The more you print the cheaper it becomes due to set up and material costs.
Final Size: What will be the trimmed size of the finished product?
Will the finished product be mailed in another envelope, such as a business size envelope? Will the product be folded (bi-fold,
tri-fold, etc.). Will the printed piece bleed off the edge of the paper (color extends to edges of paper). If doing postcards, the postal
service has rules about size and weight not to mention text placement.
Paper Type: What type of paper will you use for your project?
There are many types and colors of paper as well as weights and textures. Most color jobs are recommended to run on
white paper as color tends to "Pop" when printed on white. Will you require gloss (coated) or text (uncoated) paper.
Gloss paper certainly makes color more shiny and gives the appearance of richness. It is also more expensive.
Uncoated papers many times will be all that is needed depending on the product or audience. Color paper sometimes is
used for copy jobs that require eye catching colors that stand out from the crowd. Normally color paper will have black text
so keep this in mind when picking out dark colored paper. Weights of paper range from common copy paper 20# to 24#
which is fine for everyday use. Heavier weights from 60# to 80# text paper will generally not bleed through. This means if a
job is to be printed on both sides it will not show through. Cover weight papers are used on poster jobs or outside covers on
booklets, reports and postcards.
How Many Colors: One color to four color or somewhere in between?
Knowing how many colors are used helps in determining the cost. Color costs more but is more eye catching.
Pictures and Graphics: Will there be photos or graphics used?
We will need to know if these will be supplied or we will have to scan them and place them. If you supply the graphics or
pictures please place them on disk in a format that is compatible. TIFF or EPS formats are best but we will accept JPEG images. Be aware the JPEG will sometimes show blockiness on the edges of color transitions such as sky and trees or buildings. This is due to the file compression used for JPEG. Also important is resolution of the files sent. For photos,
300 DPI is usually the minimum acceptable for print quality. If you are not sure, ask and we will check them for you.
Design: Will we be required to design and set copy?
We have full design and layout staff available. We charge an hourly rate and we will quote this before starting. We have
found that it can be more cost effective if you allow us to do the set up. We use the latest software created specifically
for design and layout. This takes the burden and frustration of using your time to try and make it look right then
when we check it we must make changes or redo the layout again.
Fonts: Have you included all printer and screen fonts?
If you are supplying the job to us on disk we will need all the printer and screen fonts you used to create the piece.
Your best bet is to use common fonts to create the job such as Helvetica, Arial, Times, Garamond. This will allow us to substitute our known good fonts if the ones you supply are corrupt. Believe me this happens more than you
would imagine.
Deadline: When will you need the finished product?
By giving us a date the piece is needed we can check with production to see if we can meet your deadline. Please try to
give us a reasonable timeframe to work with. A job that you need tomorrow may be impossible to complete due to the
many factors involved in the printing process such as having the paper in stock, other jobs ahead of yours, incomplete files
or files that require more work to make them press ready. We will always do our best to complete your project in time.
Please realize if you need it tomorrow we may need to charge extra to meet your needs.
Software We Use
We are
a Apple Macintosh based business using G4
and G5 computers. This does not mean we
don't accept PC files.
Most PC files will translate to the Mac environment. At worst a PC file may have to be converted to a TIFF or EPS format
or even PDF. Word documents may possibly print or they may have to be reformatted to one of our applications to print
properly. We do not accept Microsoft Publisher files unless the customer can convert the files to EPS, TIFF or PDF format.
Additional costs may be involved for setup if the files cannot be printed directly from the application it was set up in.
We use Adobe Illustrator CS3, Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe InDesignCS3, Adobe Pagemaker 7, Macromedia Freehand 10, Quark XPress 6,
Microsoft Word and many others. For our packaging customers we use ArtPro which is a very powerful editing and trapping program.
It also has built in step and repeat for our customers that require their layouts ready for plate.
Most PC files will translate to the Mac environment. At worst a PC file may have to be converted to a TIFF or EPS format
or even PDF. Word documents may possibly print or they may have to be reformatted to one of our applications to print
properly. We do not accept Microsoft Publisher files unless the customer can convert the files to EPS, TIFF or PDF format.
Additional costs may be involved for setup if the files cannot be printed directly from the application it was set up in.
We use Adobe Illustrator CS3, Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe InDesignCS3, Adobe Pagemaker 7, Macromedia Freehand 10, Quark XPress 6,
Microsoft Word and many others. For our packaging customers we use ArtPro which is a very powerful editing and trapping program.
It also has built in step and repeat for our customers that require their layouts ready for plate.
Hours of Operation
Our
business hours are:
Monday thru Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Monday thru Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Finding Us
Blazing
Color Printing is centrally located in
the heart of Chester. Please use this
link for a locator
map:
View Larger Map" rel="external">
View Larger Map" rel="external">
Chester History
The town
of Chester, the county seat of Randolph
County, is a river town in the proudest
sense of the word. The Mighty
Mississippi has played an important part in its history.
Early Chester's chief commodity was castor oil which was used as a lubricant. Shipments were made to St. Louis, New
Orleans, and as far away as England. In 1830, the settlement increased and along the river front were an iron foundry,
machine shop and several large stores. The old wood-burning steamboats did a brisk business at Chester.
In 1837, Nathan Cole began operating a small sawmill with a corn-grinding attachment. A few years later he converted this
enterprise into a flour mill which became the Cole Milling Company, now Con Agra. The Cole Milling Company installed
an electric generator using the surplus power for street lights. Thus, Chester was one of the first towns to have electric street
lights, even before Chicago. The generator used is now in the Ford Museum at Dearborn, Michigan.
Chester was a favorite stopping place for the river men and boat passengers. Charles Dickens and his wife stayed here
on April 11, 1842. Mark Twain was a pilot on the Mississippi from 1857 to the Civil War and supposedly on several
occasions stopped at Chester at the Cliff House, which was a fine river hostelry.
Illinois State Penitentiary at Menard had its beginning during the Civil War when it was a repository for Confederate troops
being taken to the Federal Prison in Alton. The original brick building is still standing inside the yards of the current Menard
Correction Center.
For more information about Chester and its rich history, please use this link: http://www.chesterill.com/
Mississippi has played an important part in its history.
Early Chester's chief commodity was castor oil which was used as a lubricant. Shipments were made to St. Louis, New
Orleans, and as far away as England. In 1830, the settlement increased and along the river front were an iron foundry,
machine shop and several large stores. The old wood-burning steamboats did a brisk business at Chester.
In 1837, Nathan Cole began operating a small sawmill with a corn-grinding attachment. A few years later he converted this
enterprise into a flour mill which became the Cole Milling Company, now Con Agra. The Cole Milling Company installed
an electric generator using the surplus power for street lights. Thus, Chester was one of the first towns to have electric street
lights, even before Chicago. The generator used is now in the Ford Museum at Dearborn, Michigan.
Chester was a favorite stopping place for the river men and boat passengers. Charles Dickens and his wife stayed here
on April 11, 1842. Mark Twain was a pilot on the Mississippi from 1857 to the Civil War and supposedly on several
occasions stopped at Chester at the Cliff House, which was a fine river hostelry.
Illinois State Penitentiary at Menard had its beginning during the Civil War when it was a repository for Confederate troops
being taken to the Federal Prison in Alton. The original brick building is still standing inside the yards of the current Menard
Correction Center.
For more information about Chester and its rich history, please use this link: http://www.chesterill.com/
Popeye Picnic
Chester's
annual celebration and picnic of the ever
popular Popeye the Sailor began in 1979.
Since that time it has become not
only a local celebration but an international one. Many people from all over the world come to celebrate their hero Popeye. The
picnic is always the second weekend in September.
Popeye the Sailor is a famous comic strip character, later featured in popular animated cartoons. He was created by Elzie Crisler Segar,
who grew up in Chester, and first appeared in the King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929.
Popeye was inspired from Frank "Rocky" Fiegle, a man who was handy with his fists during Segar's youth in Chester, Illinois.
It was said Segar sent Fiegle checks in the 1930s. Fiegle died in 1948 at age 79.
Popeye first appeared on January 17, 1929 as a minor character in Segar's newspaper cartoon strip Thimble Theatre, which had been
running since 1919 with protagonists Olive Oyl, her brother Castor Oyl, and her boyfriend, Ham Gravy. The Popeye character became
so popular that he was given a larger role. Olive eventually left Ham Gravy to become Popeye's girlfriend, although she often displayed
a fickle attitude towards the sailor.
To learn more of Popeye and friends and the annual picnic celebration, please use this link:
http://www.popeyepicnic.com/calendar.php
only a local celebration but an international one. Many people from all over the world come to celebrate their hero Popeye. The
picnic is always the second weekend in September.
Popeye the Sailor is a famous comic strip character, later featured in popular animated cartoons. He was created by Elzie Crisler Segar,
who grew up in Chester, and first appeared in the King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929.
Popeye was inspired from Frank "Rocky" Fiegle, a man who was handy with his fists during Segar's youth in Chester, Illinois.
It was said Segar sent Fiegle checks in the 1930s. Fiegle died in 1948 at age 79.
Popeye first appeared on January 17, 1929 as a minor character in Segar's newspaper cartoon strip Thimble Theatre, which had been
running since 1919 with protagonists Olive Oyl, her brother Castor Oyl, and her boyfriend, Ham Gravy. The Popeye character became
so popular that he was given a larger role. Olive eventually left Ham Gravy to become Popeye's girlfriend, although she often displayed
a fickle attitude towards the sailor.
To learn more of Popeye and friends and the annual picnic celebration, please use this link:
http://www.popeyepicnic.com/calendar.php