Dinsmore Lithographer

Information may not be reliable

What's in our name? Dinsmore... be assured we take a full measure of pride in who we are. Lithographer, a person who works at lithography. We do printing by the lithographic process. The image is specially prepared onto a plate in such a way that it is able to be inked and then transferred onto paper. The primary method used is "offset" printing. Simply, the image is created right-reading on a printing plate then inked onto a rubber blanket cylinder, which places the image backwards (or wrong-reading). When the paper is passed underneath this cylinder it is pressed (or offset) to the paper and becomes right-reading once again. The repeated application of the fixed image onto paper from a printing plate is our vocation. Dinsmore Lithographer may also use digital duplication of a customer's image or digital copying to fill an order.

We are a family owned/operated company who live and work in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Dinsmore Lithographer was established in 1968 by Ray W. Dinsmore, Sr. Now retired after 29 years, Mr. Dinsmore began teaching as the Printing and Graphic Arts Instructor for Jefferson County-DuBois Vocational Technical School in Reynoldsville. Dinsmore Litho has operated under management by Ray Dinsmore, Jr. in a full-time capacity since 1985. The Dinsmore family have been continuous residents of Punxsy for nearly one hundred fifty years. This longevity in the community has gained us enormous expertise and insight to small town life.

General commercial printing, duplicating and copying are what we do. Custom jobwork printing on paper sizes up to 11x17 inches. Professional services offered are:

Our office is located in the East End of Punxsutawney. If arriving via US 119 note that Mahoning Street (East or West) is State Route 36 through town. Our community has only four traffic lights on Mahoning Street and you must pass over the Mahoning Creek bridge (i.e. to proceed on Route 36 South from the bridge traffic light) and travel down East Mahoning Street approximately 500 feet. Look for a two story brick/clay-color vinyl siding building on the south side of the street. An identifiable sign reading Dinsmore Lithographer is over the doorway. Telephone if other neighborhood landmarks are needed.

The office is open for business weekdays 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. The business is open for walk-in customers, counter service, pick-up/drop-off. Most frequently, the office is closed for a lunch (and Saturdays). Closed Sundays. Please telephone if an appointment or after-hours pick-up would best serve you.

We offer very complete service for such a small location. We are proud to have references that will confirm this. Our knowledge and experience in printing jobs that satisfy customer needs are prime reasons for entrusting work to Dinsmore Lithographer. Your entire printing account can be handled by one hometown company who will make an extra effort to establish a long-lasting business exchange. Dinsmore's run a reliable printing service. We offer proofs on custom work. We specialize in one or two color jobwork done in-shop with an on-time approval rating that is excellent. We do offer full-color brochures which are prepared here and expertly finished by our selected vendors. We make extra effort to professionally and accurately produce a customer's specifications on the printing order. Once placed with us, your reorders are on file - and very welcome. If you are purchasing imprinted forms from a catalog we offer those, as well as, our custom form service. If your company could stand to benefit from a better association with the local printer, then allow us to demonstrate why purchasing from Dinsmore Litho is a good business decision. On your next printing order call Dinsmore's.

Dinsmore Lithographer has established a company well-equipped and capable of serving the printing needs of Punxsutawney and surrounding area. You don't need to know a lot about printing. We will help you!
Let's discuss the specifications of the order. First, you must furnish the content (whether it be a business card or raffle ticket) written out with the information to appear... who, what, when, where, etc.
To aid the order writing process please note the following:

A few "tips" are offered here but, as with any really good company, you're going to have to hire us to get the full treatment.

Have a clear idea of what you are ordering. Write everything down and spell check. Explain what the finished piece will look like. What is its function? There is no written guarantee placed on the order so if you make this unclear (or unprecise) when ordering, it will only add to the length of time needed to proof the order. And there may even be a mistake. We do make missteaks once in a while. "Rushing" an order may also increase the chance of an error.

It is true that as your order quantity goes up, the price per piece goes down. Different printed items will have different structures in their price breaks. Some items have better pricing at certain quantities because of the way they are packaged. Others may have minimums. In printing, the most common quantity is "price per thousand." Dinsmore Lithograher is quite flexible on quantity.

Paper choices begin with #20lb bond (which could represent "copier paper") and go up in #weight to the categories for index "card stock." Each paper mill will have representative weights and colors available and a trade name in each grade. Asking for "good bond paper" can still be a loaded question. By allowing us to assist your selection of paper grades you may avoid having a job "special ordered" that could easily be filled by a more available brand. We are on your side controlling these costs.

In sizing printed jobwork there are some common guidelines. The most economical cut-size sold is 8.5x11 inch. You are safe to take dimensions out of this size. Another example, the business card, will be universally cut to 3.5"x2." Envelopes are sold in standard commercial sizes. You may want to consult with us on size before you begin to draft a proof copy. Sizing a piece just right can go a long way toward economizing a large quantity.

The term "camera-ready" means that the printer is going to shoot a picture (or copy) of what you have brought and be ready to run it exactly as it appears. If you use this term you will get back the image and size the same as you gave it. This type of order gives the customer the economic advantage of receiving a job with the lowest amount of labor cost added. However, having Dinsmore's do the typeset or desktop publishing work yields very professional looking results. This is a value added expense.

Black ink is standard. Red, light blue, dark blue, green and brown ink are standard colors. The press wash-up for lighter colors is more extensive and thus more expensive. Yellow is a most expensive color. Dinsmore litho has a chart or samples of the colors and combinations offered.

Dinsmore Lithographer can easily add a logo or clip of artwork to your order. Kindly furnish the original or best quality specimen. A black and white image is what we will ask for even if your job will print in some other ink color. Having the art at nearly the right size is also helpful. If adding a photograph, a snapshot or regular camera print is okay. Just show us what we'll have to work with. Electronic files (TIFF, EPS) are often times hit and miss. Once again, we'll just have to consult and see what you've got.

Dinsmore's can complete the job with bindery or finishing. We do 90% of our work, in-house. We have many contacts with specialty printers. Printing is a huge and diversified industry. As a small, general commercial printer we do our best not to turn neighbors away. Give us a try and see if we can fill your next printing order for you right here at Dinsmore Lithographer.

You may reach us by phone at (814) 938-5385, e-mail ray@dinsmorelitho.com or by filling out the form below: