Category: New Products

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Imaging Specialists to Partner With USGS

Imaging Specialists is now an official Business Partner with the United States Geological Survey. We can sell any USGS product from topographic maps to historic maps to satellite image posters!

We will begin with topographic prints of the county and we will also stock maps of the quadrangles including Independence, Grassy Creek and West Jefferson. Relief maps, large wall maps or any other USGS products will be available for order.

Alleghany is fortunate in that seven of the eight maps that make up the county are vintage 2010, vector images. (Note the different coloring on map D in the illustration. Also, the green county outline is for position only, it doesn’t print.) The most up to date map for the northeast, Cumberland Knob portion of the county is from 1981.

Vector images allow for the greatest flexibility in printing, we can turn off road names, for example, and they can be resized without loss of resolution. That is, they stay sharp at any size output.

If you need maps for your business, organization or even your living room wall, call us!

Alleghany County Topo Chart (County image will not print, it is to aid location only)
Alleghany County Topo Chart (County image will not print, it is to aid location only)
Detail of USGS Map showing the forks of the New River
Detail of USGS Map showing the forks of the New River
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Stratford Oaks Tales: Colorful Storytelling in the Blue Ridge

We are proud to announce Imaging Specialists’ association with The Stratford Oaks Tales. It is the first in a series of children’s books by local educator- and now author, Dr. Suzanne Mellow-Irwin about the life of the animals on her family’s mountain farm. Illustrated by Alleghany native, Zach Hamm, the first book, the “Tale of Gretchen,” tells about a pygmy goat, born at Stratford Oaks and her adventures there.

Just one of the happy animals at Stratford Oaks Farm
Just one of the many happy animals at Stratford Oaks Farm. (You can almost see Nya's tale wag!)

It is an honor to be allowed to help with the book. As we took Zach’s delicate, pencil and crayon drawings and placed them into story pages, laid out by his mother, Donna, our challenge was to showcase the artwork and story without interfering. We wanted to preserve the light, pastel colors without losing saturation.

We will let the reader be the judge, but we are very pleased with the result. Zach’s images are the perfect complement to Dr. Mellow-Irwin’s positive message and both are sure to appeal to children and parents.

The Tale of Gretchen will be available at The Sparta Store. Look for new installments, coming soon.

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Black Family History Coming Soon!

ISI’s latest project is a 280-page book titled Descendants of William Black & Nancy Allison. It is a family history of the Black family here in Alleghany County and our largest book-design project to date. The book features over 100 photographs, letters and information on William and Nancy’s family, gathered by Lorene Sturgill of Piney Creek, North Carolina.

The book is a marriage of experience and new technology. We input the entire family history, scanned and optimized the photographs, built an index of descendants, and, after the initial order, plan to print the casebound books on-demand.

Cover design by Imaging Specialists, Inc. for the Descendants of William Black and Nancy Allison
Cover design by Imaging Specialists, Inc. for Descendants of William Black and Nancy Allison

You may or may not know we’re not new to book printing. Imaging Specialists has a long history in books, from humble phone directories at R.R. Donnelley in Portland Oregon, to high-end, leather bound, Easton Books at Nicholstone in Nashville, Tennessee, we’ve shot more book pages than most shops our size.

Thousands of titles passed through our lenses during our years in Greensboro.

We’re not even new at family histories, either. For years we shot pages to imposition for Craftsman, Delmar, Edwards & Broughton, and other North Carolina printers on our projection step-and-repeat systems. Sometimes it was the only way to copy them.

It’s this experience that helps us to anticipate many problems before they arise. This is the first of several titles we will be publishing this year.

Interested in producing your own book? You don’t have to go to the Triangle or even the Triad. Give us a call to find out how easy it can be.

The Descendants of William Black & Nancy Allison will be available later this month.

Purchase your copy at The Sparta Store.

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Corporate Identity by ISI

Alleghany Historical Museum Logo
Alleghany Historical Museum Logo

As you know Imaging Specialists can help with your logo but you might not know we can help with your entire corporate identity.

Businesses and organizations alike benefit from a consistent, standard image, defined by a comprehensive style guide. A style guide contains regulations for everything from color usage to correct logo versions to letterhead layout that you set. It guides designers and printers in the proper way to graphically represent your company.

A style guide protects your company or organization’s brand- an essential element in marketing. It assures a proper, professional look, in print, signage, online or any other medium you need for your business.

Continue reading Corporate Identity by ISI

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New Resource for Alleghany, Ashe and Grayson Counties

Aunt Emma Jean
Emma Jean

Imaging Specialists is working on a new resource for our area. Emma Jean’s Blue Ridge Almanac will feature information for Alleghany and Ashe Counties in North Carolina and Grayson County, Virginia.

The almanac will be packed with calendar info, area services, humor, advice and lots more! This new resource will also include affordable ad space for area merchants and a reasonable selling price!

For more information on ad pricing or sales, to submit recipes or questions for Emma Jean or to just contact us, go to www.emmajeansalmanac.com.