All of our work is considered specialty work, but occasionally we receive unusual jobs such as scratch off cards for sweepstakes, comic book covers, or embossing corrugated art paper.  Sometimes we even fix other printers' mistakes.  Once we used a hot stamp to fix a date that was wrong on a catalog cover, and another time we had to enlarge the hole on an orange juice carton by die cutting it.  Perhaps one of the most interesting jobs we've had involved embossing a guitar recording into ABS plastic that was in the shape of a record.  The disc had actual record playing ability, all you needed was a record player!

Our three main types of work at Excel include embossing, foil stamping, and die cutting.  Additionally, we handle fold and glue jobs such as DVD sleeves and pocket folder assembly.  We take pride in our willingness to take on unusual projects.  A few examples of the many different jobs at Excel include greeting cards, certificates, bottle labels, cosmetic cartons, book covers, and even DVD sleeves.  Companies frequently use our work to enhance corporate image; letterheads, pocket folders, report covers, and company advertising.

Most of our work comes from printers.  In the past, we have been involved with projects for Bronson, Biomet, Energizer, John Deere, Kellogg, Pfizer, Meijer, St. Julian Winery, Bell's Brewing Co., Whirlpool, and even the State of Michigan.  We've also completed work for Notre Dame, Michigan State, Western Michigan University, and many other educational institutions.

Not many; when we do make mistakes, we "stop the presses" and drop everything that we are doing in order to fix them.  It is our goal that you have the best end product possible with the highest quality.  Our customers are our priority, and we want to produce a product that you are more than satisfied with and that we can both be proud of.  Ask for a sample packet and compare our work with your current supplier.

At Excel, we care about our customers more than other companies do, and we work to achieve a one on one, long term relationship with them.  We're not afraid to tackle any job, no matter how difficult it may seem.  If you are not satisfied with the way a job has turned out, we'll work with you to figure out a solution to the problem.

You can see the difference in the finished product between our embossing and another shop's.  We have our embossing dies made to the correct depth so that we can firmly push the paper down to the bottom of the die.  All of our embossing "bottoms out," which pulls all the detail from the die.  At Excel, we make our own counter dies, and take the time to grind out all of the non-image area.  Taking time to remove the non-image area is important because it allows the texture to remain in the non-embossed area of the paper.  Our close attention to detail results in beautiful looking embossing with a noticeable difference when compared to other press shops' embossing.

We have a wide selection and variety of foil available.  Some of our competitors don't stock foil for economic reasons, but at Excel, we feel that having many choices of foil is extremely beneficial to the customer.  If a foil is not running well for a particular substrate, we often have that color available in more than one formulation, thus avoiding costly delays in the workflow and saving our customers the headache of a delayed job or decreased quality.

Yes, electronic files are actually the preferred way of submitting copy.  If you plan on submitting copy electronically, please use a PDF format or an Illustrator file.  We are not able to open Quark or Pagemaker files.  If you have questions concerning whether or not we are able to accept a file, please contact us so we can evaluate the situation.

No, we do not make our own dies.  We stick to what we do best; embossing, hot stamping, die cutting, and folder gluing, and send the die making to a die shop to allow a specialist to create the die.  However, we can make small repairs on dies, and we also make our own counter dies.

History