What a year! No really … what a year! From the depths of a declared economic recession to the sunshine of Pantone’s 2009 Color of the Year, we’ve been through it all, and now it’s time for a short glance backward at your favorite Paper Tips.

The most widely read tips this year reflected your needs for information on how-to-do-that, adapting business strategies, customer service and emerging technologies. If you missed reading any of these top selections, now’s a great time to get caught up before the new year begins.

We also hope that you’ll take a moment to answer our editorial survey (if you haven’t already). It really is short and easy and will help us bring articles of even greater interest to you in 2009.

So without further ado, here are the Top Ten Tips of 2008. Click on the links provided to read each article in its entirety.

No. 10 – If I Needed a Printer
Every month or so, I get a phone call from someone looking for help finding a printer. The most interesting calls are from the first-timers: people who have never worked with a commercial printer before. (In fact, the term “commercial printer” is foreign to most of them.)

No. 9 – One False Move
Why is it that one misstep from a service provider can end a long-term relationship? Do we suffer from a chronic case of the-customer-is-always-right syndrome? Is it just too easy to take your business elsewhere when something nasty this way comes?

No. 8 – Know When (Where & How) to Fold ’Em
As the great Yogi Berra might have said, folding paper is easy, until it isn’t. Because of the differences between ink and toner, folding pieces that have been printed digitally presents a couple of specific challenges. Doug Bober, digital printing coordinator at PIA/GATF, believes that the two toughest challenges in folding digital pieces are cracking at the fold and static build-up.

No. 7 – Why Evaluating Printers Is So Difficult
If I could come up with a foolproof formula for efficiently and effectively evaluating printers, I’d patent it and retire to a warm, sunny clime a wealthy woman. Unfortunately, I am in no danger of trading in my desk chair for a chaise lounge anytime soon. Evaluating printers is very challenging.

No. 6 – Inkjet Basics
I’m learning about inkjet, which seems to be popping up everywhere I look. A print buyer called me just last week, looking for recommendations on an inkjet printer. He wants to print his organization’s color brochures in house. I admit: I didn’t know as much about this technology as I ought, so I did some research. Here’s what I learned.

No. 5 – Foil Stamping: Designs That Dazzle
My change of heart was almost overnight, so, I confess. I love foil stamping. Oh no, not foil stamping, you say. Those silver and gold Christmas cards. Hold it. I have to admit, I had similar feelings about it. But this is not the old fashioned foil stamping anymore.

No. 4 – Identifying Fonts in PDFs
Need to know all the fonts that appear in a document, but you only have a PDF, not the original file? So right about now you’re naturally wondering if there is a way to tell which fonts are used in a PDF file. Why yes, in most cases there is, and it can be a real time-saver. However, there are a few caveats.

No. 3 – Top Ten Photoshop Shortcuts
Not including the single-key shortcuts for items in the Tools palette, here are the Adobe Photoshop keyboard shortcuts I find most useful. It says “Top Ten” but there’s actually a bunch more that I included in each item, variations of the main one.

No. 2 – Know Your Folding Families
I have found that there are eight different folding families: Accordions, Basics, Exotics, Gates, Maps, Parallels, Posters and Rolls. All brochure folds can be classified into one of these families, and once classified, can be further dissected, assessed for folding compensation requirements and named.

No. 1 – Adapt and Thrive in a Recession
Large companies with strong positions usually fare the best during recessionary periods and can even expect to grow during such times. How can smaller businesses survive and actually thrive in the current economy? Take a tip from the big guys and adapt your business to meet the challenges of an economic downturn.