Rose City Label has always been a professional workplace, but we also try to be a family and pet friendly environment.  We think this balance is what has allowed us to keep such a high quality work force for so many years.  Most employees have over 10 years with the company, with many have over 20 years.

So, when Penelope (left) had a hurt paw, it was easy to bring her into the office so her mom (Heidi) wouldn’t have to worry about her at home all day!

Hopefully by keeping this balance between fun, family, and work, we can continue to be strong for the next 81 years.

Thanks to all of you that are a part of the extend Rose City Label Family.

As supporters of the Oregon Brewing Industry, Rose City Label was proud to provide these promotional labels to local micro breweries.  We are happy to report that this huge tax hike was voted down last month.

As reported on Draft Magazine’s website:

“Some good news on a Friday: the proposed beer tax raise in Oregon is dead, at least for now… Oregon currently boasts the country’s lowest tax — less than a penny a 12-oz. glass.  After raising taxes on gas, hospitals, and the rich already this year, the Democratic party didn’t have the votes to push through one more increase. We’ll drink to that.”  See the full article here

Thanks to everyone that joined the fight and called to request these free labels supporting Oregon Brewing.

Typical UPC-A for retail

Many new products make the move to the ‘big time’ when they get a UPC code on their label.  This is required by many distributors and large chain stores.  The most common barcode format for retail packaging is the UPC.

UPC numers must be registerd, just like an internet domain name, so that when a code is scanned in the grocery store, the proper price is displayed and the store’s inventory is reduced by one unit to reflect the sale.

To make sure that two products don’t have the same UPC, like domain names, there is a central clearinghouse to coordinate this activity.  The clearinghouse is GS1 - formerly known as the Uniform Code Council.  You can find excellent information, and actually sign up for your own UPC code in minutes at this website:

GS1 - Barcode Leaders - http://www.gs1.org/barcodes

As always, you can call the experts at Rose City Label with barcode questions, too.  We are happy to help!

Customers needing help getting a new food product to market have a great resource right here in our local market.  The OSU Food Innovation Center is an outreach program to help new and existing businesses bring new, exciting food products into the market.  They offer technical and food safety information, best practices training, and even help with marketing, packaging, and getting your new product picked up by distributors.

If you are new or want to grow your business, check out http://fic.oregonstate.edu/

Tell them your friends at Rose City Label sent you to them - they will help you every step of the way!

Thanks to our good customers, and their commitment to the environment, we have officially shipped our first job using recycled materials!  Many customers have ASKED about recycled products, but one of you finally took the plunge and paid the small upcharge to run your labels on eco-friendly material.  Well done!

As more customers become aware of these options, and as the prices come down, we expect that green printing will become a redundant phrase - ALL printing will be green!

Recycled Semigloss Paper

Rose City Label has a special division that supports safety education and outreach for fire, police, and other public safety agencies.  We have been doing this printing for over 20 years, and we purchased this operation and brought it inside our company about 5 years ago.

This division has a dedicated website at www.safetybadges.com

Rose City Label continues to walk the green talk when it comes to reducing our waste.  We took advantage of the new free Oregon E-Cycling program which is offered by the DEQ.  This great program allows businesses and individuals to recycle old electronics at local Good Will donation sites.

This Goodwill trailer now accepts many types of Computer CPUs and Monitors, as well as TVs, all for free!

Of course all data was wiped from the hard drives by us prior to recycling, so none of our business or customer data was compromised.

Four old CPU Towers and Monitors, as well as a UPS power supply and assorted keyboards and mice were diverted from the landfill on this trip - thanks to Oregon E-Cycles for making it easy to be GREEN!

www.oregonecycles.org has all the details!

Thanks for contniuing to read and to support our efforts to be a more GREEN company!

One of the terms label printers use that nobody else understands is ‘matrix’.  Matrix is the waste material pulled away from the label stock after labels are diecut on press:

Most all of our labels are diecut on press, right after the printing is done, so all production is done in one efficient operation.  The ‘matrix’ in this photo is being pulled up away from the labels and wound on a spool for disposal.  This is also known as the webbing, or the matrix waste.

New customers frequently ask about ‘Plate Charges’ and why they are needed.  Well, here is a picture of four plates that have been mounted on the printing rolls:

These plates are made from the digital art file that represents your label.  The art is separated into each of the colors used on the job, and a plate is made for each color.  Then, each plate is inserted into the press and is used to physically transfer the ink onto the paper - this is where the printing really happens:

When all of the colors are combined, and the label is diecut, you get a beautiful finished product:

Why Plates? Because despite the rapid growth in Digital Printing, for MANY applications where the label design doesn’t change often, or the runs are large, traditional printing with plates is still the most cost effective, best quality solution for your printing needs.

As we approach the end of the year, all of us here at Rose City Label want to thank you for the opportunity to serve you.  The year has been mixed for our company, but we are looking forward to a strong 2009 with all your support.

If  there is anything we can do for you, or any different type of label you are interested in, please let us know.  We would be happy to help with even more of your label needs in the new year.

Thanks again, and best wishes for a Wonderful 2009