As you know, we present a Paper Tip in each week's PaperTalks e-newsletter. We thought it would be appropriate to end the year by giving you a second look at the ten most-read tips of 2007.

Brief intros are included and direct links to our Tip Archive so you can reread your favorites or play catch up in case you missed them the first time around.

So imagine your favorite suspenseful reality TV show theme music as we reveal your picks (starting with #10, of course, and counting down to #1)!

No. 10
Where Do Envelopes Come From?
By Margie Dana

If you're in business, you handle envelopes. Long and lean or short and squat, the envelope is in your face with every mail delivery. It would take time and tens of thousands of words to cover all there is to know about envelopes -- from manufacturing to printing to paper issues, plus design tips and postal concerns.

No. 9
Fantastic Folders
By Patricia Belyea and Jenny Sullivan

Standard 9" X 12" (22.5 X 30 cm) folders with horizontal pockets are everywhere. In this sea of sameness, an impeccably designed and cleverly shaped folder tailored to hold a custom set of materials makes a powerful impression.

No. 8
If Print Customers Only Knew
By Margie Dana

Aside from issues with supplied files (which are legend, by the way), what other common problems can print customers avoid? I asked a few commercial printers for their thoughts on this. Although no two printers' lists were the same, the heart of the matter was lack of communication.

No. 7
Pantone's Sequel to PMS (Goe)
By Gene Gable, creativepro contributing editor

The new Pantone Goe spot-color matching system has a lot going for it compared to the venerable Pantone Matching System: It nearly doubles the number of unique colors, adopts a logical naming scheme, and comes with innovative color-palette software. But will Goe replace your current PMS swatch book? Only your wallet knows for sure.

No. 6
Start Smart: Create Quality PDFs
By Joseph Marin and Tracey Ryan

What makes a "quality" PDF? As it relates to print production, a quality PDF contains all of the necessary items to print a job successfully on press. An interesting statistic is that many of the same problems associated with native application files years ago are the same problems seen in PDFs today.

No. 5
What's All This About Web-To-Print?
By Margie Dana

A lot of print buyers have been asking about Web-to-print. What is it, and how can it help them? Recently, I spent some time talking to a couple of very bright people who offer this technology, and thanks to them, I have a much better grasp of the basics.

No. 4
Inappropriate Image Formats for Print
Excerpt: Real World Print Production
By Claudia McCue

We see acronyms such as PNG, BMP, GIF and JPEG every day - buying stock images, creating our own files and preflighting the files of others. But there is still some confusion out there on what they mean (No, PNG is not the Stock Exchange symbol for the company that makes golf clubs) and which image formats are appropriate for print production.

No. 3
Preparing Files That Print
By Margie Dana

Just about everyone sends digital files to printers these days, and most of the files have problems that need correcting. Printers may or may not tell you about the problems. Either way, the more you know about preparing good files, the better your chances of getting the results you expect.

No. 2
The Postal Overhaul's Effect on You

With only four months to go until the most significant overhaul of postage rates in years, four out of five executives are unprepared for proposed price and rules changes that are destined to have a large impact on their business operations and marketing strategies.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE .

No. 1
The Truth About Resolution
By Lesa Snider King from creativepro.com

When I became a pixel pusher years ago, one of the toughest concepts to wrap my brain around was that of image resolution: What the heck was it, how did I change it without trashing my image, how much did I need when, and so on.

12/19/07