Copycat
Christmas
Aloha-Graphics brightened the image of the baby and blacked out the background clutter in this photograph used to top a calendar.

Copying companies helps you
personalize the holidays

By Nadine Kam
Assistant Features Editor

Luddites or technophobes who worried that the information age would usher in an era bereft of humanity underestimated the power of Christmas.

Far from driving us apart, computers, color photo copiers, scanners, laser printers and other devices are making it possible to give a little more of ourselves every year - warts, beauty marks, brace-toothed grins and all.

Through the mechanized, digitized workings of machines come the wonders of personalized Christmas cards, newsletters, gift tags and calendars for the new year, all easily done with a minimum of fuss and expense.

Yes, Virginia, there really was a time when putting out a wall-size calendar called for full-scale production. Before getting to the printing stage, one had to deal with typesetters (minimum $25 an hour), get color separations for art work ($50 to $100 apiece), and rely on a graphic artist who could meld words and numbers with pictures.

No more.

These days, $6.95 will buy you a "year on a page," that is, a laminated page featuring a color copy of your photo with a calendar under it, at Kinko's. Kinko's also offers a 12-month tear-off calendar with one photo for $8.95 and a deluxe 12-month calendar with 12 of your favorite photos for $29.95.

Greeting cards with a copy of your photo in the center cost $1.99 each at Kinko's; your photo made into a picture puzzle goes for $9.95.

You'd best be sorting through those loose photos and Kodak envelopes now. You'll be rewarded for starting early because through Dec. 10, Kinko's is offering a "buy one, get one free" special on the deluxe calendars.

Kinko's started offering the calendars six or seven years ago. "Every year we do more and more calendars," said Kinko's regional manager Ron Kuhn. "The closer it gets to Christmas the longer it takes to do them. Normally, we can turn them around in 24 hours. As it gets closer to Christmas, it could take three days to get them back."

"December used to be a pretty slow month for us," he said, because schools close and business needs are minimal during the holidays. "We've made up the difference with calendars."

Kinko's stores are open 24 hours, and those who want to avoid daytime crowds always have the option of strolling in on the graveyard shift. Richard Kebo, the University store's assistant manager, also suggested coming in between 5 and 7 p.m. "That's our slowest period because everyone's eating dinner."

At AlohaGraphics at 33 S. King St. downtown, company president Mark Merriam is also urging customers to come in early. Right now, he said, calendars can be completed overnight. Wait too long and you'll likely have one more Christmas line to stand in.

In addition to using photographs in the calendars, he said parents have been bringing in their children's drawings, and the artistically inclined often opt to illustrate their own cards and gift tags.

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The Mele Kalikimaka card sells at AlohaGraphics for $12 for 10 cards - and shows what you can do with your own artwork. Color photocopying makes personalized cards and tags possible.

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"We did a little bit of calendar and Christmas card business last year," Merriam said. "This year there's a lot more interest because more people are aware of what can be done.

"A lot of businesses are doing this because it makes a creative, personal gift for corporate customers. They can put their logo on the photo, so clients can see something that's going to be on a bulletin board for a year."

At AlohaGraphics, an 8-1/2-by-14-inch single-sheet with your photo and 12-month calendar beneath it costs $12 laminated. Additional calendars from the same original cost $3.75.

A 12-page spiral-bound calendar with a different photo for every month runs $32.

In both cases, adding a company logo or signature will cost $1 per calendar. Special days can be highlighted at 50 cents per date.

The best photos to use are glossy, with clear, well-lighted backgrounds. AlohaGraphics will accept snapshots, as well as images saved on MAC or PC disks. Collages should be done in advance, Merriam said, and pictures used should all be similar in brightness. Minor color corrections, such as brightening a dull image, can be done at no cost, but a fee will apply if you want background clutter blocked out.

Generally, personal photos are best, he said, because using pictures from publications could lead to copyright problems. Kinko's may require written permission from copyright holders for anyone trying to use such works.

An alternative to the laser-printed calendar is one made with photographs, but it'll take a little longer to get the results.

At Clic Photo at 1040 Alakea St., manager Jay Philpot said it takes 14 to 21 days to produce photo calendars similar to photo Christmas cards, but with the months below the picture. These run $3.99 each in sizes from 3-by-5 to 5-by-7 inches, or $6.99 for each 8-by-10 calendar.

At Fox Photo in Puck's Alley, a calendar with a photo every month runs $24.99. A tear-off calendar with one picture runs $10.95 and a laminated panel with one photo costs $6.95.

Another option is to insert your photo into a frame-type card available at Fox. A box of 25 cards with borders of doves, Christmas ribbons or Santas, is $22, which covers the cost of 25 photo reprints from the same negative.

Your picture on a T-shirt will cost $17.95 each in child to adult sizes. And your mug on a mug will cost $12.95.

At the copy centers, it's easy to select projects from the many samples on the wall.

The photo centers have little to show. Said Philpot, "We had one sample up. We had asked the owner for permission to show it, but he came back and was surprised to see it, so he wanted it back."

And that's one of the contradictions in spreading season's greetings via photo images - we like make, but no like
make A.