A Shirt for Any Occasion!

Have you ever hosted a reunion, conference, party, or any type of gathering (big or small), and thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if we had a shirt for this?!?!”

We have been asked many times over the years if we do shirts, to which we would sadly have to say no. 

Not anymore... now we can finally say “YES!” We have just acquired a printer that prints right onto the shirt. All we need is a file that fits the specs and we will print it on shirts (front and back) and other clothing. It is a full color printer and will print on white or colored materials.

 One of the great things about this is that there is no minimum amount; just like print-on-demand books, it's literally print-on-demand for clothing! We do supply the shirts to print on, or you can bring in your own.

What can we print on your shirt?

A Few Print and Mail Happenings of 2013

It's crazy to think how fast 2013 went by! We had an interesting year that saw some changes take place- some that were totally not in our plans!


One of the biggest changes that happened here is that we took over the Open Access Printers on campus. We have branded it Express Print. Raymond, Randy and Fred, along with a few students, have been working hard to keep the printers running smooth (and filled with paper & toner!!!). They are doing a great job.

When the street and bus stop were eliminated between the law building and the Wilkinson Center, we had to close down the post office due to no access for the mail trucks. But this gave us time to clean up and reboot the University Post Office. Not only can you do regular US Mail, but now we offer FedEx and UPS shipping out of there, too. And at discounted rates... meaning the cheapest prices on campus! We have a couple new employees working the UPO, Ric and Dennis, who are both well-seasoned and knowledgeable in the shipping & mailing world. They really know their stuff!

As the year was drawing to a close and the holidays were approaching, we made a strong effort to create new Christmas cards. Our goal for 2014 is to have even more cards to choose from and something for every season and holiday. We'll keep you posted.

2013 broke any kind of record we may previously have had for wedding announcements. By mid-June we had already had over 600 different clients order wedding announcements! Great stuff! It doesn’t hurt that BYU is the wedding capital of the universe.

We also acquired some new equipment, and the laser engraver is at the top of the list. This thing engraves on wood, stone, metal, glass, acrylic, and can even engrave on fruit or piece of licorice, if you’d like! We have been engraving awards, pictures (which are really cool to see), Family Proclamations, Priesthood Line of Authority, special scriptures and quotes, and lots of other things. Swing on by when you’re in the area and check it out!

Once again, we printed thousands of family histories for hundreds of customers. We will be participating in Rootstech again in February. Stop by our booth if you attend.
 
We are looking forward to a great 2014 and being able to serve both the campus and local community. Please come by the University Press Building and see us.

Campus Showcase Highlights BYU Print & Mail

Thom Roylance happy as ever to say hi.

We were very excited and honored to be invited to the Campus Showcase this year. Just a handful of departments are invited each year to showcase what they are all about and most importantly what they do for the campus community.

Thom Roylance, Print & Mail's Assistant Director, was joined by June Standley and Paul Snyder, to host the Print & Mail table. They had tons of products to show to the hundreds and hundreds of campus faculty, staff, and administrators who stopped by. Printed products included magazines, text books, journals, thesis, booklets, pamphlets, our giant printed backdrop, wedding invitations, etc., and a few really cool items that were created on our new laser engraver, all created right here at the University Press Building!

June handing out note pads and pens.

It's great to see friends from campus. Just look how excited Thom is!

It's great to be able to rub elbows (literally!) with the great folks from the BYU campus.

Open Access Printing

East Campus Dr, minus the walkway!

This beautiful month of May has seen a lot of change going on around the campus. The destruction of the walkway across East Campus Drive, heck, the disappearance of East Campus Drive between the Wilk and the Law Building, Y View becoming part of "MTC West" and now.... we have taken over Open Access Printing on campus!

OIT decided that they wanted to focus on what they do best, and left printing to, well, the people who know just a little something-something about printing. We are trying to make the transition as smooth as possible and are hoping to avoid any huge hiccups in service. So far things are going pretty well.

Open Access Printers. How can we improve?

If you have any suggestions of how we can improve the Open Access Printing experience, please let us know! We want it to be as easy as possible.

Youth Event Journals

For a few years now we have been providing Seminaries and Institutes with Scripture Journals for their students. We were quite surprised how many Seminaries & Institutes from all around the world started ordering them! (And they will soon be available in numerous languages)

Anyway, we started noticing that folks were buying them for their ward and stake youth activities, so we decided to create journals specifically for Girls Camp, Youth Conference, Scout Camp, and Trek.We call them Youth Event Journals and they are now available for any ward or stake (or individual for that matter) and can be ordered using a Unit Number. Visit our Print & Mail website or give Diane a call at 801-422-2809 if you have any questions.

June, our graphic designer, did a great job in creating beautiful journals that are quite stunning!

Family History and Roots Tech

We set up the camera at our last Printing Your Family History Workshop and captured Carol's presentation. There's a lot of useful "general information" if you are trying to put together any other type of book, too; you know, it all translates.

You can also access our Guide to Printing Your Family History by clicking here.

One of our employees used our photo book program CougarPix to create a pictorial history of his parents and ancestors. So, there are lots of ways you can get started on Family History!

We are also excited to be involved with Roots Tech on March 21-23 up in Salt Lake City! A couple of our folks will be there manning a booth, showing off all kinds of samples of histories and giving people ideas of how they can put together an awesome family history! Make sure you stop by and say hello.

And as always, call us if you have any questions about printing your history! 801-422-2741.

Martha Gunter- New "Campus Mail Supervisor"

Did you know that there's a new Campus Mail Supervisor in town? With the retirement of Brad Prescott, whose 13 years of dedicated service are greatly appreciated, Martha Gunter has enthusiastically stepped into the role and is already rocking and rolling! Here's a little about Martha--

Martha has been working at Print & Mail for the past 5 years as a mail sorter.  She's been married to Pat, who works in the bindery, for 19 years, they are parents to 5 children and 6 grandchildren (though you would never know it by looking at them... how do they stay so young-looking?!)

Martha's favorite part of her job is getting to know the students she works with. "I feel like they are my own kids; like I am a mom to them. In fact my own kids get jealous sometimes because I make stuff for the kids here and they wonder why I'm not making it for them!"

Martha's philosophy on life? Simple - "Always do your best no matter what it is; cleaning trash or being president of the United States."

What mail tips does Martha have for campus? "Make sure you have a proper address. And if you aren't sure what building people are in, give us a call. We love to help!"

What's on her playlist? "I like all kinds of music, well, except Gansta Rap. But mostly I'm listening to talk radio! I hope people won't judge me because of that!"

Martha's favorite thing about BYU is the spirit here. And the people. "Everyone's friendly and try to take care of each other. It's a nice community."

Martha walks about 4 miles a day delivering mail. So next time you run into Martha, congratulate her on her new position. She is awesome!!!

Printing Your Family History Workshop

Just about every month (on the first Wednesday of the month) we hold a free workshop here at the University Press Building on how to prepare your Family History for printing. This workshop is taught by our very own Carol Holland, who has helped hundreds of people get their Family Histories printed. (We print thousands of volumes of family histories every year!!!)

One of the big reasons why we hold this workshop is to help people plan and prepare their files correct, right from the get-go, so they don't put tons of hours into writing and preparing their book only to be told they need to start over.

Some of the topics discussed are:

-Basic File Preparation
-Image Scanning
-Binding Options
-File Submission

There are always lots more topics discussed from the questions that get asked by the attendees. We have all kinds of people attend- both young and old, those that are just getting excited to start, and those that have years of experience. Either way, we'd love to have you attend, too.

And we always serve yummy refreshments!!!

Sign up at here or call 801-422-1469 if you have any questions about the workshop.

Next free workshop will be held Wednesday September 5th. Hope to see you there!

GradWorks Online Theses and Dissertations

A few months ago we were approached by the Graduate Studies Department about printing and binding theses and dissertations for graduate students. The library had been helping students acquire personal copies, but recently they decided to just obtain a copy for their own collection, leaving students to find their own way to obtain personal copies.

Our phenomenal I.T. staff created  a program, GradWorks Online, to upload files, choose cover colors, including gold or silver foil for cover text, and to choose single or double-sided printing. You can also choose to have your book printed in B/W and color, or just in black and white only. And, we now sew the books with our new sewing equipment!

Wow! the books look great!!!

What's amazing is that we have already printed and bound HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of copies!!!

 What's also nice is that GradWorks Online doesn't just have to be for a thesis or a dissertation; if you want to publish a paper, scholarly work, or if you have something else you are excited to published and have hardbound (and have a book that looks stunning!), this is a great way to do it.

Visit GradWorksonline.com and see how easy it is to use.

Top Ten (plus two) Photo Book Ideas

Are you excited to make a photo book but just don’t know what you want to make a book about? You’re not alone on that one! Here are our Top Ten (plus two) ideas for a photo book:

 1.Wedding Sign-In Book. Every couple has a sign-in book at their reception, but why not make it special with pictures of the bride and groom and plenty of space for guests to write a message? A great way to capture memories that can be treasured for generations!

 2.Graduation Book. It’s a happy day when school is finally done, and here is a way to relive the memories for years to come. Make sure to take lots of pictures with friends and family, scenes from campus, your special final projects, or anything else that would make your school experience memorable. You can also access and use our BYU Photo Library, with over 100 images of the campus and campus life. Click here to view the pictures.

 3.Baby Book. Nothing is as exciting as the arrival of a new baby! Have you been taking monthly pictures and documenting your growing belly? Did you get a shot of the ultrasound? (Those are always fun to include in your book) Get lots of pictures of the glorious day that baby arrives, special visitors, and when mom and baby come home.

 4.Vacation Book. Going on a road trip? Make sure to capture every detail by taking pictures and notes! What was your travel music playlist? What airlines did you fly? What hotel did you stay in? What was the name of that little dive of a restaurant you ate at? The more details you include, the more unique your book will be. A vacation book will allow you to relive the experience again and again!

 5.Cook Book. Do you have a list of “family favorite” recipes? How about a secret recipe from Grandma, or Uncle John’s special barbeque sauce? Gather your favorite recipes and put them in a book. Type up the recipe and take pictures of the finished dish, and even shots of cooking the dish. Include a picture of who supplied the recipe, and write a little blurb about them.

 6.Family Reunion Book. Are you planning a family reunion? Remind everyone to bring their cameras! Group pictures, shots of individuals, oldest and youngest, fun activities, beautiful locations, special memories, heck, family reunions are a great chance for some fantastic pictures and stories.

7.Holiday Book. Well, it’s only the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Be creative and make a book of family traditions, Christmas recipes, favorite Greeting Cards from the past, all the lights, special ornaments, or just the joy of Christmas morning. So many possibilities…

 8.Family Memory/History Book. Is there a box full of old pictures lying around or an old scrapbook that has seen better days? Break out the scanner and get those pictures into digital files then make a book of family memories. This is also a great way to preserve some family history, too. Ask questions, get names and dates, get stories, and compile it all together in one book!

9.A Book for Grandparents. Here is a fun gift to make, and what grandparent wouldn’t like to receive a book of pictures of their grandkids?! Include quotes from the grandkids as to why they love grandma and grandpa.

10.Year Book. What did you do last year? This is a great way to go month by month and highlight all the experiences you’ve had with family and friends. Or make a book of all the holiday events throughout the year; barbeques, fireworks, trick-or-treating, dad carving the turkey, Easter egg hunts. How about choosing the 10 Biggest Events of the Year? There are so many possibilities.

 Here are two Bonus Ideas!

11.Portfolio. Have you created some fantastic artwork this year? Designed new clothes? Styled hair and makeup? How about your best graphic design projects? Taken some amazing pictures? Create a hard bound portfolio to show off your best work.

12.Missionary Memory Book. Make all those pictures you took on your mission accessible by putting them in a book! And make an extra copy for mom and dad, too. We hope this gets your creative juices flowing. Download CougarPix and get started. If you have any questions feel free to call us! 801-422-2741

It's Graduation and Wedding Season!

Spring has sprung and it is a wonderful time of the year (except for the allergy sufferers!). And with the pollen, we have lots of excitement in the air; lots of folks are graduating and many happy couples are getting married. We have designed cards for both occasions in CougarPix. The graduation cards have the BYU seal on them and you can add your photo and tell the world who you are, when you are graduating, and anything else you'd like! Watch how easy it is... We also have designed a number of Wedding Cards. Again, these are easy to use in the CougarPix program. We have had a number of couples also design wedding sign-in books. They are very popular and look great! What a fun way to for all your visitors to wish you joy on your wedding day! Here's a quick video on making wedding cards... Visit CougarPix to download the program and get started!

CougarPix Photo Books!

CougarPix is finally live! We are happy to offer photo books as one of our products to the campus and community. Download our free software to create books using your photos and any fonts from your computer. We have also made a short tutorial video. Check it out!

We have had people already create wedding sign-in books, vacation logs, family photo books and wedding albums! They are perfect for a mission memory book, a department yearbook or scrapbook, or for department, club, or self-promotion. 

CougarPix also has BYU themes and photos to use for your books.

Visit CougarPix to download the program and get started!

Coming Soon... CougarPix Photo Books!

We are SO EXCITED to be offering photo books soon!!! We have just acquired a top-of-the-line photo book software program that we will be integrating with our HP Indigo Digital Press. We have created a few books already and the books look AWESOME!

You'll be able to create books to celebrate your special occasions like weddings, birthdays, vacations, anniversaries, holidays, family events, or any other special event. They are great for a wedding guest book, too. We  think they also make a great portfolio to showcase your finest work.

We will also have BYU backgrounds, templates and images to use so you can create a BYU themed book. What a great way to remember your BYU experience!

Watch for our big announcement and launch of CougarPix Photo Books!!!