What every marketer should know before ordering prints

Today we are going to talk about printing requirements and in particular what specifications you must discuss with your printing vendor when you ask for a quotation. Even if online marketing is really taking off, meaning that less documents are being printed, many businesses still use a lot of printed material. In my previous company, maybe 80% of our communication collateral was printed because we were selling our products through distributors and small workshops, where large product catalogues and fax orders were still in fashion. I think the days of paper are not gone yet, so for those of you who need to have something printed professionally, I will show you what you need to discuss with your printer to make sure that the result is up to your expectation.

What I will not discuss in this post however is the technical aspect of preparing the documents for print. That will be explained in another post.

Photo by katietower

What do you need to specify?

These are common specifications to be included when you request a quotation from your printer. Depending on the type of project and the partnership you have with your vendor, you might not need to use all of them. If you are not familiar with all these terms and specifications, ask your vendor to give you a small introduction on the various printing techniques. You can also find very comprehensive information on this website.

• Size: what format is your finished document (e.g. A4, 25x12cm)?


• Pages: how many pages are in the document?


• Colors: how many colors will your document print: black and white, full color, or a selection of 2 or 3 colors? Don't forget to include any specific colors you might use (for example using the Pantone Matching System)


• Paper: what type of paper do you need, what color and what thickness?


• Finishing: how should the product be prepared? There are many options to consider:
  
  
  
  • Folding
  
  
  • Binding
  
  
  • Varnish or lamination
  
  
  • Stapling
  
  
  • etc...
  
  
  
  


• Quantities: how many documents do you want to print? It is wise to ask for a couple of options, for example 200, 500 and 1 000 to understand how quantities impact on the final price.


• Versions: specify if you have more than one version of the document to be printed, for example one with prices and one without.


• Packaging: how do you want to product to be delivered: by packs of 50, in bulk, on a pallet, etc..


• Shipping: specify the delivery address and ask for shipping lead time and cost.


• Lead time: what is their turnaround? For larger projects this is very important, printing can take up to 5 weeks and the vendor might need to pre-order the paper for large quantities.


• Planning: for large projects you can also ask your printer to give you a detailed planning of their workflow so that you know when you need to supply them with files, revisions, proofs, etc.


• File format: if you have never worked with the vendor before, make sure you know what file format they expect you to send them (pdf, .tif, etc)

Additional advice to consider

1. Even if you have a strong partnership with your printer, it is always good practice to ask a quotation for the same project to at least two vendors. It won't hurt and it will help you better understand the positioning of your vendors: know which ones value price over quality, who offers the best service, etc.


2. If you have a lot of repeat work, you could also consider preparing a list of the typical documents that you would print during the year and ask a few vendors to quote you for each item. This way you have a full price list matrix and you can decide which printers you are going to work with for each type of work. For example you might find that printer A is best suited for your stationery, printer B for your large catalogues, and printer C for all your urgent works.


3. You can also negotiate contracts with the vendors based on the yearly print production that you estimated.


4. For important documents it can be wise to be present at the printing facility when they go to press, to check that everything is in order. I once made a 500km drive from Switzerland to Germany to check the colors of our printed catalogue. I wanted to make sure that the printer (a new supplier) would use the right ink settings so that our catalogue cover would be exactly the same colors as the one printed by our previous vendor. I think the trip also showed the vendor how serious I was about getting good quality.

 

Photo by vv_lebelie

 

 

What can go wrong when you order prints?

Being well prepared will reduce the risk of having some bad surprises when you open the boxes fresh from the printer, but do expect the odd accident, they are bound to happen. Here are some examples:

• Your trifold brochure might be folded the wrong way around, the last page being in front of the first one.


• You have printed five types of documents to be included in presentation folders, but the printer didn't collate them, and now you are having to sort them all individually.


• The colors on the brochure might be completely different from what you expected. That can happen if your computer screen wasn't calibrated, or if you are working with a new vendor. Always try to give some reference work to your vendor, like an existing printed document or a Pantone color chip.


• You receive the bill and you discover that shipping costs are just as high as the printing cost. Don't forget to get that into the equation!

 

I will try and discuss the technical aspects of ordering prints in another post or series (there is quite a lot to cover) but if you have any question on this article let me know, I'll do my best to answer. Also, if you think I forgot something on the list, please add it in the comments and I will complete the post.