CBF Blog

We are proud to announce that Creative Business Forms of Traverse City is celebrating our 40th anniversary in January 2026. We took our first print order on January 8, 1986. Thank you so much to all of our customers who have supported us over the years: those that have been with us from the beginning, joined us along the way, and those we are yet to meet. All of you have made this possible for us and we appreciate you so much! We look forward to celebrating this anniversary as we continue into this new year. Watch for special promotions....

Products in the Creative Business Forms store are printed using one of two color processes, spot colors or CMYK. These are the two predominating color methods in the printing industry. A job utilizing spot colors will specify a number (typically 3 or fewer) of solid colors to use, each being applied in a separate run using offset printing. The CMYK model, also known as process color or "full color printing", is a comprehensive color system that creates a spectrum of colors from subtractive mixing of cyan, magenta, and yellow. It is important to understand the meanings of the terms spot...

This article continues a series meant to provide customers and readers with a knowledge base of printing industry terms and standards that apply to the products in our online store. Click here to see all of the articles. Paper stocks are categorized by differences in the manufacturing process, and also graded within these categories by differences in weight or thickness and finish. This article will explain how designations like 100lb book, 20lb bond, and 100lb tag are determined. Paper Stocks Graded by Weight or Thickness All paper stocks are graded with a designation of weight or thickness. A point or...