Another Banner Scam Email from Ghana - "God is Great"

Some people obviously don't read my blog. I am blocking all traffic from the Nigeria and Ghana IP blocks the coming days (the printing business is not typically economical to outsource from overseas). Below is another scam message I received from Rev Daniel Larry. At least this time what they are requesting printed on the banner is spelled correctly (not much else is).

From: Rev Daniel Larry Reply-To: revdaniel_larry@yahoo.com Subject: Banner Order Good morning !My name is Rev Daniel Larry.i am intrested in some " banners" to purchase and i believe you do carry some instock for sale.I will appreciate if u get back to me with the cost for the following sizes 30 inch by 20 inch .I need 2 colours wich is white as the text colour, black as the backgroud and print"God Is Great" on the banners.the banners should be 1 sided card. I will appreciate if u get back to me with the total cost of 100.00 quantity and what do you accpet as a payment.Wish u all best in business and hope to hear from u soon . Best regards....... Rev Daniel Larry

After my first quote of $10,000 USD he wrote back the following: (notice they have changed to flyers from banners)

Hello Michael,
Thanks for your mail back and i appreciate it,I want you to
contact Dalex Shipping Logistic's and mail them the sizes and weight of the products so that you can get the shipping cost for me.I will be donating the flyers to a
Orpahanage in Ghana and the delivery Address is

Osu Kid's Home
440 Airport 100 Rd
Osu, Accra
Ghana,00233

Contact person for the shipping company is Brad Miller and their email address is dalexsh@gmail.com When you get the quote i want you give me the total cost of both the products
and freight cost so that i can pay with my Mastercard and you front the funds to the shipping company cos i will busy with a Church Conference which just came Asap..Get back to me with the prices so that i will give arrange my Credit Card for the payment
of the Products and the Freight Cost..Thank You

In Him,
Rev.Daniel

--Michael

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UPDATE 01/23/09:

If you are worried that you may have received a fraudulent request or a scam email, read the follow up article I wrote on Signs to look for to prevent Fraud on International Orders and Other Redflags

At http://digitalprinter.blogspot.com/2008/08/international-fraud-signs-and-order.html

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New Firmware for HP Z2100 and HP Z3100 (Finally)

HP has released (April / May 2008) a new version of firmware (Version 6) for both the HP Designjet Z2100 and the HP Designjet Z3100. This is the first significant update I have seen for the Z2100, it is definitely worth the upgrade. The firmware can be downloaded from HP's website.

Make sure you download the latest drivers as well to interact with the printers correctly after you have updated the firmware. Download the drivers here - HP Designjet Drivers.

Online Vinyl Banner Printing Myths and information - Part 1

When looking to having a custom vinyl banner printed, the internet can be your best and worst friend in the search. A quick online Google search for Vinyl Banners will show over half a million results and as of this article, no less than ONE HUNDRED advertisers bidding on that keyword. Thats ten pages of sponsored results for Vinyl Banners alone. How do you search through all of those providers to find the best one to fit your needs? Use the follow rules when choosing a print shop or sign shop to print your custom vinyl banners.

High Resolution -- vs -- Low Resolution

Most print shops and sign shops offering custom vinyl banner printing under $3 per square foot are printing at low resolutions, 180 DPI or 360 DPI. The reason the banners are so cheap is because the printers they use can quickly spray the minimum amount of ink needed to create a low resolution print. This resolution is acceptable if you are not going to be looking at the banner from more than a few feet away, such as a billboard, banner for a building, etc. For Tradeshows, store displays, businesses, and other corporate use these low resolutions will allow you to see noticable resolution "dots" and when up close the image will appear fuzzy.

For high end banner applications, high resolution is needed, such as 720 DPI or 1440 DPI. The higher DPI, or dots per inch, your Banner contains the more clear and photo-realistic the image will look. For banners containing background images or photographs this is a must! 1440 DPI is photo quality for all intents and purposes and will yield an excellent result with deeper, more saturated colors.


Full color vinyl banners -- vs -- four (4) color vinyl banners
Four color vinyl banners, or printers that offer 1/2/3/4 color vinyl banners, are generally not a wide enough color gamut to correctly produce all the colors that most current banners need. Now new printers offer up to 12 inks to produce colors never before available and colors and shades significantly better than any four color banners. When printing background images and photographs onto custom vinyl banners, generally at least 6 inks are recommended -- 8 inks or more preferred!

MOST IMPORTANTLY - REQUEST SAMPLES
Always request print samples if your project allows time to do so. This can give you a night and day experience of some of the differences in quality out there in the printing world. The samples should be free or you should pay a nominal fee to qualify yourself (to prove you're really interested) and cover shipping costs. If they will print a sample for you of your exact image, that is the best but not always an option.

Online Vinyl Banner Printing Myths and information - Part 1
Online Vinyl Banner Printing Myths and information - Part 2

Online Vinyl Banner Printing Myths and information - Part 2

Eco-solvent or Solvent Vinyl Banners -- vs -- Inkjet Vinyl Banners
Inkjet Vinyl Banners are only good for indoor use or short term outdoor use. They are not designed to be durable, scratch resistant, or UV resistant. Neither pigment inkjet vinyl banners and dye based inkjet vinyl banners are acceptable for heavy use. Inkjet vinyl banners are easily scratched, no matter how many coats of protection are used on them. If they are laminated they can be acceptable, but usually the cost of laminating and the higher cost of inkjet vinyl material makes this economically impractical.

Beware of Old Machine and Cheap Ink
Make sure you are working with a company using machines not older than 5 years old if they are printing digitally. Ideally, check for someone who has the latest model or one generation behind that to be sure that you are getting a print off of the latest technology. This is especially important if you are printing something with gradients, photos, pictures of people, company logos, etc.

The use of Proper Color Management and ability to match Pantone Colors
Properly calibrating the equipment, computers, and monitors are crutial in getting outstanding performance when printing wide format banners. The ability to use Pantone Colors is another thing you should inquire about, even if you do not need them. Pantone colors are a book (swatch book similar to ones used for choosing Paint colors) of universal colors across all possible outputs. For example, Coca Cola has a pantone color for their logo's red that must be the same no matter where it is printed or what it is on. The ability of a shop to match Pantone colors is a good indication they have an effectively color controlled workflow.

Check the printers Reputation, Clients, and References
Many shops use referrals as a major source of new customers and depend on their reputation to grow their business. Many others do the opposite, leaving unsatisfied customers and moving on to the next number in the phone book. To prevent against ending up the latter, do some research on the prospective company. A good Google search on the company name and domain (i.e. Search for "Company Name" and "companyname.com") to find out if anyone is ranting and raving about their service. Don't be put off if you find a few bad reviews out of overall positive ones, but if people are only saying negative things you should avoid that company. You can also ask the company for a list of clients and references if the job size and cost are significant enough to warrant it.

The $.99 per Square Foot Banner Companies Advertising Online
I receive a lot of questions about why some companies are significantly more expensive than companies offering vinyl banners for 99 cents a square foot. Often times these are "Billboard" Quality printing -- prints made on machines designed to quickly products printing that will look good from a distance. If your application is such that people will never approach the banner (like a billboard), these banners will work great and I would highly recommend them. If you will have people approaching your banner, such as at a trade show or inside an office, I would not recommend this printing type as you will be able to clearly see the different pixels and it will not look very attractive from a few feet away or less.

Online Vinyl Banner Printing Myths and information - Part 1
Online Vinyl Banner Printing Myths and information - Part 2

Elevate Printing - Vector Banner Creator for designing online Vinyl Banners

Elevate Printing has just announced the release of its Vector Banner Creator™, an online application to allow anyone to design vinyl banners online and have them instantly printed. Creating a professional quality vinyl banner in minutes is simple with this application. It currently works with vector files (.ai or .eps) to make sure your image can be scaled to create banners up to 10 feet wide. The program allows you to resize your image or logo and reposition it on the banner. While the Vinyl Banner Creator is still in Beta version, they are offering free stuff and coupons if you send Elevate Printing your comments, bugs, etc. Future updates are due to support adding text, changing background colors, and adding multiple images. All their banners are created with high resolution printing onto top grade 13 oz vinyl.

More information and banner printing specs can be found here: Printing Information - Vinyl Banners.

Try out the Vinyl Banner Creator HERE.