The New Swatch Book – Better Than Ever Before
Tuesday, September 26, 2023 - 13:26
You often hear, "Everything used to be different." Was it better? Sometimes. But not always.
And what about the new? It takes some time to get used to, but it's not long before you stop thinking about it and go about your day.
Once you see our new Swatch Books however, you'll find that sometimes, new is better - and in this case, you won't be forgetting about it anytime soon. So let's step back and explain what's changed in our swatches, and what's so good about them!
Before we get into any individual changes, we'll mention this: all fabric samples are now removable and housed in an Eco-Gift Box. This will make it easier to compare materials and see which ones suit your clients best. Read on to find out what other changes were made!
Here's a short summary of the swatch book's changes:
- Materials are divided by their type (velvet, suede, leather, textile); no more subdivision by shades (earthy, radiant, soft colors)
- Fabrics are now easier to separate and are removable
- Personalisation options (laser etch, UV printing, etc.) are now specified on each fabric
Do More with Your Swatch Book than Ever Before
Our previous swatch book was divided into three shades (bright, earthy, and soft colors) and was placed into three different folders, with an extra page later added to account for velvet and suede materials. It worked well for a time, but this format was difficult to use when comparing the fabrics and colours. From now on, the fabrics are divided according to their material: velvet, suede, leather, and textile.
We said goodbye to folders. Instead, all fabric samples are now housed in a handy, sturdy Eco-Gift Box, and each group of fabrics is fastened with a binding ring screw.
This screw can be loosened to take the fabrics out, making it easier to compare the colors and materials or remove them for individual viewing.
The Swatch Book Box
You're probably already familiar with our eco-friendly gift box, a stylish option for wrapping and delivering your photo products. In terms of size, this box is similar to the Accordion Mini Book box (7x7 cm) or Retro Prints (10x12 cm). The Swatch Book box is available in 10.4x10.4 cm, with a height of 5.2 cm.
Combine and Feel
Instead of only touching each fabric with your fingertip on a small area, you can now hold each fabric in your hands. The fabric samples now come sized at 9x4 cm. To avoid mixing with other fabric types, they're attached to a binding screw, which you can easily open without any tools. This also means that you can now remove the materials that you don't intend to use in your offer.
Simply take the respective material from one collection and attach it to another. This should also make it easier for you to combine colors as needed. It'll be easier for your customers to get an idea of what material combination they want.
In addition, the colours are sorted according to their nShop name (indicated on the back, e.g., V13, V14, etc.). However, you will only find the number code and not the full name. This was done so that the fabric samples could serve all of our markets worldwide. In the near future, you'll be able to access a respective material sample via QR code as well!
Personalisation Options
When it comes to cover materials, you will generally want to know which fabrics can be personalized and how. Before this, we weren't providing this information outside of our website and free PDF version of the Swatch Book - so this change should hopefully make things much easier when presenting options to your client.
As a reminder, depending on the material type, the following personalisation techniques are available: UV printing, colour embossing, stamping and laser etching.
In the new Swatch Book, personalisation options are indicated on the back of each material strip.
On each fabric type, you will now find a legend that lists all of the available personalisation options on the envelope space that covers each fabric group, presented in a variety of languages.
There, you'll find the name of the material (e.g. J51) and the available personalisation techniques for this fabric, marked with a coloured line.
However, be sure to check the current fabric availability (e.g. for a product) or a personalisation option in the nShop. Thanks to the new price presentation mode, you can do this with your customer right beside you.
Now that you know all there is to our new Swatch Book, it should be easy to see why updating your swatch will be of great help! We're sure that you and your clients will find the new feature list useful in the client meetings to come.
On a final note: We'd be overjoyed to see you join our Facebook community to tell us what you think about our changes - and to join a community of like-minded photographers. Hit the link below to visit our Facebook groups and get involved!
