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| About Us | Green Practices | File Preparation | Mailing Services | Print Quality |
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
| COMPANY-RELATED QUESTIONS |
| Who is GreenerPrinter? |
| What is New Leaf Paper? |
| How do your practices differ from those of "non-green" printers? |
| How does the quality of your work compare to that of other printers? |
| What do all of those numbers and terminology mean when talking about recycled papers? |
| What is "Carbon Free" shipping? |
| How can I contact GreenerPrinter? |
| QUESTIONS ABOUT ORDERS, POLICIES AND PROCESSES |
| After my order is placed, how long will it be until I receive it? |
| What if my files aren't ready yet? |
| What if I need someone else to send you files? |
| Can I order more than one product at a time? |
| Can I ship multiple orders together? |
| Can I ship an order to multiple destinations? |
| What type of printing equipment do you use? |
| Can I see some samples of your work? |
| How do I use this website? |
| PRICING & PRODUCT QUESTIONS |
| How do you offer such low prices? I thought eco-printing was expensive! |
| How do I set up a charge account with GreenerPrinter? |
| What credit cards do you accept? |
| Can I cancel my order after I've already placed it? |
| Do you accept purchase orders? |
| Is the GreenerPrinter website secure? |
| Do you share customer information? |
| Why am I being charged tax? I'm a reseller and I'm exempt! |
| What type of products do you print? |
| What if my piece doesn't match any of the items in your product menu? |
| What if I want to print using PMS or other special inks? |
| What is the resolution of your press output? |
| What types of coatings do you offer? |
| FILE QUESTIONS |
| What file formats do you support and how do I properly set up my files? |
| What is "bleed"? |
| What are the most common problems you find with files? |
| How do I indicate folds or perforations? |
| How do I send you my files? |
| Should I compress my files? |
| Is there any limitation on the size of files that I can upload? |
| Will I see a proof before the printing is started? Is it a hard or soft proof? |
| If I choose "Soft Proof", how reliable is the color? |
| What if my project requires changes after I've reviewed my proof? |
| COMPANY-RELATED QUESTIONS |
| Who is GreenerPrinter? |
| We are an environmentally friendly printing and graphic communications company dedicated to helping individuals and organizations promote themselves in more sustainable ways.
Through GreenerPrinter.com, you can obtain * high-quality, affordable printing services... |
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GreenerPrinter.com has been providing printing services to the Berkeley, California area for more than 20 years, with a strong commitment to environmental and social responsibility. Our state-of-the-art facilities have been certified as a Green Business by the Association of Bay Area Governments. |
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GreenerPrinter.com makes environmentally responsible printing services convenient and affordable, no matter where you are based. We look forward to hearing from you about how we can help your organization align its printing needs with its environmental goals. |
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| What is New Leaf Paper? |
| GreenerPrinter.com uses exclusively New Leaf Paper, which leads the paper industry in the development and distribution of environmentally superior printing and office papers. New Leaf's papers use high post-consumer recycled content and most are whitened without chlorine or chlorine compounds. With every print job you can receive an Environmental Benefits Statement, detailing the environmental savings of your printing as a result of using New Leaf Paper. For more information, please visit www.newleafpaper.com. |
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| How do your practices differ from those of "non-green" printers? |
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At GreenerPrinter, we realize it's about much more than just the paper. That's why in addition to featuring recycled papers exclusively, we also:
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| How does the quality of your work compare to that of other printers? |
| It's better. We've worked closely with our ink, paper and equipment vendors to make sure that all of our processes achieve the highest performance possible from recycled papers and green practices. This means special dot gain curves on our platesetters, custom fountain settings on our presses, and eco-friendly coatings that behave well on our recycled stocks. We guarantee that you will see no reduction in print quality when you use eco-friendly printing... in fact, you'll probably see an improvement! |
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| What do all of those numbers and terminology mean when talking about recycled papers? |
| To make sense of all this, please visit our "Recycled Paper Glossary" section, along with the "Our Papers" section |
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| What is "Carbon Free" shipping? |
| All finished jobs at GreenerPrinter are shipped "Carbon Free", as certified by Carbonfund.org. This means that the climate emissions associated with shipping by truck or air freight are offset through purchases of renewable energy credits to achieve a net-zero impact on the earth's climate. For more information about Carbonfund, visit www.carbonfund.org. |
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| How can I contact GreenerPrinter? |
| For questions or for more information please phone us or use the email links below: |
| GreenerPrinter 2800 Seventh St. Berkeley, Ca 94710 |
| 1-866-978-8547 - toll free (510) 898-0000 - ph (510) 898-0011 - fax |
| General inquiries: csr@greenerprinter.com |
| For a map to our facility in Berkeley, CA, click HERE. |
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| QUESTIONS ABOUT ORDERS, POLICIES AND PROCESSES |
| After my order is placed, how long will it be until I receive it? |
| Standard turnaround on most orders is 3 business days. We also offer 7-business-day cost-saving turnaround as well as a 2-business-day rush turnaround. For multi-page orders (i.e. catalogs and booklets), the turnaround times are 5-business-day standard and 7-business-day cost-saver. Please note that the turnaround time does not begin until we receive final approval of the proof from you, whether you've ordered a hard proof or soft proof. Shipping time is in addition to print time, and is based on the shipping method that you choose when placing your order. You can use our Shipping Calculator to get a quick estimate of your shipping cost and speed. Shipping methods range from overnight air (a.m. delivery) to three day ground.
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| Before your order goes to press, we require the following: |
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| What if my files aren't ready yet? |
| If you know the basic parameters of your project (size, color, paper, etc) and simply want to get pricing, you can always use GreenerPrinter to determine printing and shipping costs before you finish the files. You can even start the order, and click on "Files to Come Later" once you reach the upload page. Then, when the files are ready, log back in to the site, go to "View account", select the appropriate job from the list, and on the subsequent page select "Upload Files" from the "-Select an Action-" drop-down menu. Please know that GreenerPrinter will not begin processing your project until we've received and approved all files. |
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| What if I need someone else to send you files? |
| On the "Upload Files" page you will see a link that reads "Click here to invite one or more colleagues to upload to this order." You will then see a screen that will allow you to enter up to 3 e-mail addresses. An e-mail containing log-in information specific to your project will be sent to each of these addresses, along with links to our file setup guidelines and a phone number for the recipient to call if they have any other questions. |
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| Can I order more than one product at a time? |
| You will need to place a separate order for each product that you need printed. |
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| Can I ship multiple orders together? |
| Each order will have to be shipped separately. Since our shipping is calculated based on weight, it doesn't save a lot of money to combine shipments. However, each new project that you start will pick up the shipping information from the previous project, so you shouldn't have to re-enter shipping information, provided that the orders are shipping to the same destination. |
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| Can I ship an order to multiple destinations? |
| You may select up to 5 shipping addresses for your project, and your shipping costs will be recalculated based on the quantities going to each address and the shipping method chosen. Please make sure that the total quantity you are shipping to all addresses matches the total quantity you've ordered, or the system will give you an error message. |
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| What type of printing equipment do you use? |
| GreenerPrinter uses "Computer-To-Plate" technology, featuring Heidelberg equipment and software, offering a workflow that eliminates the waste and toxins associated with film-based prepress processes. Our inkjet proofs are fingerprinted to our press on a weekly basis, using advanced color management software. Our press is a state-of-the-art 6-color Heidelberg with an aqueous coater and extended drying unit. We also use a Kodak Digital NexPress for short-run jobs. |
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| Can I see some samples of your work? |
| Absolutely, please visit our samples page to request the type of printing you're interested in seeing. |
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| How do I use this website? |
| First, select the item you are going to be printing from the list of products in the left margin of the opening page, or click on "Get Started" to visit a product menu page. Next, choose the job specifications (size, paper stock, quantity, etc.) as well as any add-on bindery services (folding, drilling, perforating, etc.). Next, enter your zip code and click "Estimate Shipping Cost." Then proceed to the file upload area. You may upload your files immediately, later on, or invite another user to upload the files into your order. Lastly, fill in your shipping and payment information to complete the order. You will receive a proof via email or overnight delivery, which you can approve online. Your printed material will be delivered within a matter of days. All completed orders can be viewed in the account details page for tracking, future review and record keeping. |
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This site should work in all browsers, though on a Macintosh we recommend using Firefox or Safari, as Windows Explorer is no longer being supported for Macintosh. |
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| PRICING & PRODUCT QUESTIONS |
| How do you offer such low prices? I thought eco-printing was expensive! |
| It used to be expensive, but we're helping to change that. We produce thousands of eco-print jobs each year for clients throughout the U.S. The vast majority of these are printed on 100% recycled content paper, and always with vegetable-based inks. By producing so many eco-print jobs a year, we buy tons of paper at favorable prices, enabling us to offer cost-effective, eco-printing for nearly the same price as printing on non-recycled, virgin stocks. |
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| How do I set up a charge account with GreenerPrinter? |
| Your company may apply for a GreenerPrinter charge account. Simply download our credit application and follow the instructions below. *IMPORTANT: You must first create an account on GreenerPrinter.com before downloading and submitting a credit application! The credit application PDF file includes form fields that can be populated within Adobe Acrobat. After you've filled in the necessary form fields, please print out the application, sign it, and fax it to (510) 898-0010. If approved, you will have a new billing option available to you at checkout. Please allow 24-48 hours for us to process your credit application. |
This document requires that you have or download Acrobat Reader  |
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| What credit cards do you accept? |
| We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and American Express Corporate. |
| If you prefer, you may call in your credit card number rather than entering it in the web page. Contact a Greener Printer representative at (510) 898-0000 to manually process your payment. |
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| Can I cancel my order after I've already placed it? |
| Partial refunds are available on orders that have begun processing but have not gone to press. A refund will be given for the portion of work that has not yet been completed. A $15 processing fee will be charged in such cases. For orders already on press, no refunds will be given. To cancel your order, call us at (510) 898-0000. You will need your order number, which can be found in the subject line of the email that you received after placing your order. |
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| Do you accept purchase orders? |
| We accept purchase orders for government organizations, schools, universities and institutions only. Please contact Customer Service: csr@greenerprinter.com. |
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| Is the GreenerPrinter website secure? |
| Yes. Our secure checkout system uses the latest secure server technology. Your order is submitted and retrieved with a secure connection to our server and remains secure at all times. In addition, we use a Verisign Certificate to authenticate and encrypt all your valuable information. |
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| Do you share customer information? |
| Absolutely not. We keep all customer information internal. You may occasionally receive offers and announcements from us via e-mail, and you may unsubscribe from these types of messages at any time. |
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| Why am I being charged tax? I'm a reseller and I'm exempt! |
| All orders that ship within the state of California are charged tax, unless you have supplied us with a completed California sales tax resale certificate. A blank certificate can be downloaded by clicking HERE. The certificate must be filled out and mailed to GreenerPrinter. We will then update your account and you will not be charged tax on any future orders. If you have further questions, please contact a customer service representative at 1-866-978-8547. |
| This document requires that you have or download Acrobat Reader |
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| What type of products do you print? |
| We excel at printing brochures, postcards, rackcards, business cards, greeting cards, presentation folders, sell sheets, booklets, catalogs, calendars, posters (up to 22x28), newsletters, and virtually any other type of offset printing product. |
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| What if my piece doesn't match any of the items in your product menu? |
| Most of the fields in the order form are modifiable, so we recommend in this case selecting the product that comes closest and adjusting the specs until they match your project. You can also go to the "Custom Sizes" section and choose "Self-Service", which will take you to an order form that has all of the available options selectable. If there are still options that you need but cannot select, such as PMS colors, diecutting, embossing, etc., select "Full-Service" which will allow you to send a custom quote request to our estimators. You should receive an estimate back within 24 hours. |
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| What if I want to print with PMS (Pantone® Matching System) or other special inks? |
| We can certainly print with PMS and other special inks, but the standard order forms for GreenerPrinter products don't include that option. If you'd like to order your project with special inks, please use the "Full Service" option in the "Custom Orders" section. This will allow you to fill out all specs as you normally would but will additionally include a notes field where you can enter special ink instructions. |
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| What is the resolution of your press output? |
| This depends on the paper that you request and which press your job is printed on. On our offset press, we print at 175 linescreen on our coated recycled stocks, and 150 linescreen on uncoated recycled stocks. Smaller quantity jobs will print on our Kodak digital Nexpress, which is a continuous tone output device that prints at 600 dpi. |
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| What types of coatings do you offer? |
| We use only water-based eco-friendly aqueous coatings to reduce scuffing and increase water and grease resistance. GreenerPrinter never uses toxic UV coatings! |
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| FILE QUESTIONS |
| What file formats do you support and how do I properly set up my files? |
| We accept files from all industry-standard graphics softwares. Our preferred file format is PDF, as our workflow is PDF-based. Please see the "Preparing PDF Files" section of this web page for information about creating print-ready PDFs. If you are not comfortable creating PDFs, we are happy to accept application files, such as: |
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| PageMaker, FreeHand and Publisher files are also generally acceptable, though we'd prefer to receive a PDF if you're using one of these applications. Please see our "Preparing Files" section for more information. If you are using a software not listed above, please contact us, chances are we can still accept your files or guide you through the PDF creation process. |
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| What is "bleed"? |
| Bleed is the printed content that should be added beyond the edge of the page to compensate for tolerances in the trimming process. If the artwork on your printed piece goes all the way to the edge of the paper, you need to add bleed so there won't be white edges on the page. A good rule of thumb is to extend your artwork beyond the trim edge of the page by at least 1/8" (.125"). For example, the artwork supplied for an 8.5" x 11" document that bleeds on all four sides should actually measure 8.75" x 11.25". If your document doesn't bleed, you can supply your artwork at the trim size. If you are unsure about how to add bleed, please contact a GreenerPrinter customer service representative at csr@greenerprinter.com or 1-866-978-8547 |
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| What are the most common problems you find with files? |
| Far and away the number one problem we have is with bleed (see above). If your artwork goes all the way to the edge of the page, make sure you add bleed! |
| The second most common problem is fonts. Please make sure to include all fonts used in your files, including and especially fonts that are used in linked graphics such as Illustrator files. If you are sending us a PDF, please make sure that the "Embed Fonts" option is chosen (for more information about PDF creation, please visit our PDF preparation guidelines page. |
| The third most common problem is image resolution. Please make sure your images are at least 300 dpi at the size used in your layout. If necessary, you may send files that are as low as 200 dpi, but anything below that will tend to look pixelated. |
| The fourth most common problem is incorrect color space. Our presses print in the cmyk color space, meaning there is a cyan (c) ink, a magenta (m) ink, a yellow (y) ink and a black (k) ink. Monitors, digital cameras, and other types of digital devices tend to work and display images in the RGB color space. If you supply RGB files for your job, our system will automatically convert them to cmyk, but you may not be pleased with the results. It's always best to do this conversion first, or work only in the cmyk color space when creating your files. If you intend for your artwork to print black-and-white, make sure the files you supply are in the "Grayscale" color space. If you are sending a Photoshop file that has black text in it, make sure the text is colorized with the black component only. Otherwise the type will be spread across all four inks, which can cause illegibility. |
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| How do I indicate folds or perforations? |
| Folds and perforations are both selectable options in the "Bindery Details" section of the ordering page. To request them, simply select the appropriate element in the drop-down menu. To indicate the location of the fold or perforation in your file, place small dashed tick-marks in the bleed area of your design. If your design includes both folds and perforations, use dashed lines to indicate folds and dotted lines to indicate perforations. Also, templates can be downloaded for most of our products that require folding (click HERE to visit the templates page). The templates will have the fold marks built in. Template downloads are also located on the left-hand side of the inidividual product pages. |
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| How do I send you my files? |
| The simplest way to send us files is to upload them via the Upload web page. There is also a feature on the page that allows you to email an invitation link to up to 3 colleagues. They will receive a link that will allow them to upload files into your order. You can also upload files via the following website: www.greenerprinter.com:8000. Use your GreenerPrinter account information to log on. You will see an "Upload" button which will direct you to an upload page. The window on the lefthand side of the page shows the files currently in your folder on our server. You may wish to use this tool to clear out or replace old files. We can also accept files on removable media. CDs or DVDs are easiest for us, but we also support most types of removable disks (Zip, Jaz, SyQuest, etc.). If you are unsure if your media is supported, please contact us at 1-866-978-8547. **Note: We cannot begin your order until we receive and inspect the files that you ship to us. Before your order goes to press we require the following: |
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| Should I compress my files? |
| We recommend that you compress your files prior to uploading them. This has several benefits: |
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| If you work on the Windows platform, you should submit your compressed files in Zip (.zip) format (download demo version here). If you work on a Macintosh, you should compress your files using StuffIt (download demo version here) and submit any of the compressed formats it allows (.sit, .sitx, .hqx, .sea, etc.). |
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If you choose not to compress your files, you may upload inidividual elements of your job using the "multiple files" option on the uploads page, but beware of the following potential problems: |
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| Is there any limitation on the size of files that I can upload? |
| No, but we recommend mailing any files that are larger than 250 MB. |
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| Will I see a proof before the printing is started? Is is a hard or soft proof? |
| Yes. Prior to sending any order to our press, we require sign-off on a proof. All orders include a PDF "soft" proof that you can review on screen or print to your own laser or color printer. For color critical orders, we recommend a hard proof that is shipped to you via overnight mail. Soft proofs (created by our desktop staff) are made available to you via an email link. The type of proof that you receive is selected during the order process. |
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| If I choose "Soft Proof", how reliable is the color? |
| This largely depends on your monitor. Our soft proofs are generated directly from our workflow system and will reflect any color conversion processes (RGB to CMYK) that may occur within the workflow. So the color on the PDF soft proof you receive should be very accurate to your final printed piece. However, if your monitor is older or is not calibrated to offset print specifications, the color may be considerably different from what you see in print. If your job is color critical or if you have concerns regarding color, we recommend that you order a hard proof, which our press operators will be able to match. |
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| What if my project requires changes after I've reviewed my proof? |
| You may request our staff to make the changes for an additional fee, or you can make the changes yourself and resubmit the files, in which case you will be charged for an additional proof. In either case, you will need to contact us at 1-866-978-8547 or csr@greenerprinter.com. |
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| High-quality, affordable eco-printing ~ Online instant pricing and ordering ~ New Leaf® recycled papers |
| Soy and Vegetable based inks ~ Certified Green Business ~ 100% Wind-Powered |