Using Specialty Imaging for a Good Cause Adding to that tradition, a digital printing company and substrate supplier recently created a way to directly support the families of the US Armed Forces. They provide the backbone services and materials for a program called Flat Daddy. This concept — trademarked by author Elaine Dumler — was recently popularized by Sgt. First Class Barbara Claudel of the Maine National Guard. Claudel and others have worked to provide families of deployed service members with a life-sized, cardboard cutout of their loved ones. The photographic posters have helped families feel connected with soldiers serving overseas in hot spot areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan, Claudel says.
But the posters remained an effort for mostly Maine families since
Claudel lacked the resources to expand. Another obstacle was locating
a printing company that could enlarge a normal photo to fit the
life-size dimensions of the print. In order to increase its Flat Daddy production, the print shop looked for industry sponsors to donate labor and materials. One challenge the print shop already faced was finding a poster substrate that would be durable enough to withstand family use, especially from children. One substrate manufacturer, an SGIA member, answered the call by donating adhesive-backed, high-performance vinyl. The Toledo printing shop produces the posters — measuring about 66-cm-by-91-cm (26-inch-by-36-inch) on a solvent-based, hybrid printer. Because of the durability from the ink and vinyl, finishing options aren’t a requirement, allowing the shop to dedicate more of its resources to supplying orders. Besides making the Flat Daddy, the shop uses a customized production process that turns a 2 mega-pixel (or larger) image file into a life-sized picture of the service member. As the program evolves, the print shop says it is searching for sponsors so it can increase the program’s services, or at least continue offering the Flat Daddy posters for free to immediate families impacted by military deployments. Currently, families are sent a Flat Daddy rolled and packaged in a tube. The family attaches the poster onto foam or corrugated board, and cuts it out by hand. The poster material used for this program was donated by SGIA member LexJet Corp. (Sarasota, Florida), and printed by wide-format printing shop SFC Graphics. For more information on LexJet, visit the company’s Web site at www.lexjet.com, or call 800.453.9538. To learn more about the Flat Daddy program, visit www.flatdaddies.com. |
Specialty imagers have been on the forefront of contributing to
US charitable programs and causes, giving everything from monetary
donations to free products and services. 
Enter a wide-format digital print
shop in Toledo, Ohio. The print shop wanted to put together a
Web site and production center where
military families all over the country could order the posters for
free. (Note that non-immediate family members and friends of deployed
soldiers are required to pay about $40 for a Flat Daddy.)| Sitemap | | | Contact Us | | | Copyright |