ABOUT

GreenDot was founded on the belief that we can provide high quality printing services without harming the environment. Through the use of recycled and chlorine-free paper, vegetable-based inks, and responsible business practices, GreenDot has become an industry leader in the printing services market and is proof that a company need not sacrifice its principles in the pursuit of profit.

GreenDot exists because there are people out there who care about the Earth. People who believe environmental responsibility extends beyond recycling and turning off a light when no one is in the room. People who believe that you can make a difference through small changes in how you live your life and how you run your business.

We are these people.

Origin of the Name
A unique recycling program initiated in Germany in the 1980s inspired our company's name. Germany was disposing of 32 million metric tons of municipal waste a year and quickly running out of landfill space. Action had to be taken. The government developed a number of ambitious programs aimed at reducing the country's solid waste and passed innovative legislation requiring manufacturers to develop ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle packaging materials.

A graphic image was designed to indicate which packages met the stringent, new requirements. This symbol became known as "der Grune Punkt" - the Green Dot. Germany led by example, and now consumers all across Europe look for the Green Dot, knowing that they are buying products doing minimal damage to the environment.

SERVICES

GreenDot is experienced in all aspects of the production and printing process and we understand how to minimize the environmental impact each step of the way. We offer you expertise on printing:

brochures
catalogs
reports
stationery
books

We look forward to helping you make the right decisions for your project. GreenDot makes the process of completing your job as easy as choosing to work with us.

We promise.

We are committed to making the printing process as simple as possible for our customers.

We promise.

• online quoting

• file transfer site

ENVIRONMENT

The facts speak for themselves.

We are experts in digital printing, vegetable-based inks, waterless printing, and the most environmentally sound papers found on the market today and can attest to the fact that the performance of today's recycled content papers and low-impact printing techniques are comparable to anything on the market.

We'd be happy to prove it to you.

We guarantee that the quality of your finished product is never compromised by the use of environmentally friendly paper or printing.

Fact:
Nearly 550,000 trees are cut down each day to make paper

Fact:
Each ton of recycled paper used in place of a ton of virgin paper reduces total energy consumption by 27%, net greenhouse gas emissions by 47%, and wastewater by 33%

Fact:
Recycling one ton of paper saves 17 trees

GET QUOTE

Please fill out our online quote form to get a quick estimate of what it will cost to print your job. Provide as much information as possible and include a phone number or email address so we can contact you with any questions. We aim to provide quotes for most projects within 24 hours.

See our online glossary for simple explanations and answers to printing terminology.

CLIENT LOGIN

Enter our password protected client pages to either download or upload a file to our FTP site. Also, click here to view a proof of your job as an interactive PDF file. If you have forgotten your user name or password, please call 212-645-2300.

Our clients can now upload their files directly to greendot online.

GLOSSARY
This glossary is provided to help our customers with terminology that is often used in the graphic arts industry. Please feel free to call or e-mail us if you need any further assistance.

Aqueous Coating: Refers to an over coating or "varnish" on the printing press that is water based, as opposed to an oil or organic solvent based.

Basis Weight: Weight per a selected unit of area of a grade of paper; grammage or "grams per square meter" is used throughout the world and scientifically in the United States; the U.S. uses many different weight designations, depending upon the type of paper, including fine paper.

Bleed: An illustration that extends to one or more sides of the printed piece; bleed illustrations are usually printed 1/8" beyond the planned trim edge(s).

Camera- ready Copy: Is copy to be printed which is ready to be photographed without further alteration.

Color Separation: The process of separating full color originals into the primary printing colors; can be accomplished either photographically or electronically.

De-inking: The mechanical or chemical removal of printing inks and other foreign materials from paper, so that the cellulose fibers can be reused or recycled.

Die-Cutting: The process of using a sharp knife or edged steel rules to cut special or irregular shapes for labels, greeting cards, and containers.

Digital/Digitization: The process of creating images, generally through a computer or some form of electronic media.

Dot: The individual printing element or spot in halftone printing.

Dot Gain: The gain in size of the printed dot, as a result of ink, paper, printing pressure, pre-press operation, or any combination of these. The dots that are printed are larger than expected; this result can be seen in the darker tones and/ or different hues.

Embossed: A textured finish imparted to paper by means of raised or depressed engravings on steel rolls, so as to leave a visible surface design on the paper.

Flexographic Printing: A form of relief printing; formerly called aniline printing. A kind of letterpress printing, using synthetic or rubber relief plates, special inks, presses, and procedures. Used mainly in the packaging industry.

Four-color Process: The printing of a full color picture or drawing by the use of four separate process printing inks: yellow, magenta, cyan, and black.

Halftone: The process in printing to impart tonal value to a printed piece with a single color of ink, created by separating the different tonal value areas into dots of varying size. This can create a full range from 5% to 95% ink coverage of the paper area to be printed.

Ink Jet Printing: Pressureless and plateless forms of printing, generally where a variable image is generated from an electronic media or computer.

Letterpress Printing: A form of relief printing. A printing method where ink is applied on all the raised areas on the plate; the non-image or background area is away or removed, i.e., "relieved".

Matte Finish: The non-glossy appearance resulting from being an uncoated sheet of paper, or from coating without supercalendering; the least glossy paper surfaces available.

Offset Printing: The method in which the printing plate is removed from the point of transfer of the printing ink to the paper to be printed, generally by means of a resilient blanket or roll; the resilient blanket or roll actually makes an impression on the paper, thus "offsets" the ink. Also referred to as "Offset Lithography".

On-demand Printing: A concept for improved delivery of short run color printing utilizing "digitized printing". There are waterless, liquid toner, and dry toner systems which utilizes this process.

Pantone Matching System: An ink color system containing about 500 color swatches, each of which is identified by a color number and a formula for the ink.

Perfect Binding: A process of holding pages of a book together with glue, using no stitching or sewing. The backbones of the book are usually roughened, the adhesive applied, and finished with a wrap around the corner.

Recycle: To reuse, or to use over and over.

Register Marks: Fine lines crossing at right angles and placed on original copy before color separation. Used for positioning pictures, registering colors, accurate cutting, etc.

Saddle Stitching/ Wire: In binding, staples (formed a continuous wire) driven through the back fold of a booklet, clinched in the middle, and enabling the booklet to open out flat.

Score: The process and the resulting line mechanically impressed into a heavy sheet of paper or board, to pre-stress the fold line and facilitate folding or improve the appearance of the fold. Most effectively done with the grain of the paper, and is absolutely necessary with heavier basis weight paper.

Waterless Offset Printing: Refers to lithographic printing, where no fountain solution is used. The non-image areas of the plate are composed of a material that serves the same function as the fountain solution, and does not "accept" the lithographic ink.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES
We have provided you with a list of website links to environmental organizations, manufacturers of recycled paper, and vegetable-based inks. We feel they are not only good resources, but reflect in some ways what we are trying to achieve here at GreenDot.

www.soyink.com - The website of the National Soy Ink Information Center

www.amnh.org - Foster an interest in biodiversity, paleontology, zoology and the stars. List of current exhibitions, public programs and IMAX film schedules at the Rose Center Planetarium.

www.audubon.org - Learn more about how the National Audubon Society is working to protect aviary habitats.

www.coopamerica.org - Advocates of social change through consumer and social responsibility. Search their Green Pages On-line for links to socially and environmentally responsible resources and services.

www.environmentaldefense.org - An organization of members working to influence United States environmental policies. View on-line newsletters and reports dealing with a wide-range of environmental topics.

www.nature.org - Website of The Nature Conservancy, which works to protect natural environments in the U.S. and around the world.

www.newleafpaper.com - Offers a complete line of high quality office and printing papers made from post-consumer recycled fiber sources.

www.nrdc.org - Environmental organzation committed to researching and publishing information on the latest environmental issues. Access their numerous links to websites dealing with conservation, wildlife and policy issues.

www.sierraclub.org - Navigate this website for information on The Sierra Club's programs energy, wildlands, human rights and clean water issues.

www.scenic.org - "Change is inevitable - ugliness is not." The only national organization dedicated solely to protecting natural beauty and distinctive community character.

SOFTWARE UPDATES
We have provided you with website links that provide you with companies and their software that is used in today's graphic arts industry.

www.adobe.com Adobe creates software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe Acrobat, and many other software packages that are used in the graphic arts.

www.quark.com Quark creates today’s most dominant page layout software called QuarkXPress. They are also creating software for generating XML and database management.

www.apple.com Manufactures computers and operating systems that are used most often in the graphic arts industry.

www.extensis.com Software created for managing fonts within your computer.

www.microsoft.com Microsoft Office Suite, although not used heavily in the graphic arts, it is an effective tool in some cases.

WEB DESIGN
Web design by brainpuppy. "Nothing is more important to our work than play. it is what inspires us to create, to innovate."

our goal is to deliver a client's message freshly wrapped in a tasty new media package. one that sits up and commands its recipient to tear it open, pull out the meaning and lick it all over. www.brainpuppy.com