Commercial Printing Help

Your Help Guide for Commercial Printing

Finding A Commercial Printing Service

Posted by admin On July - 24 - 2009ADD COMMENTS

professional printing pressesMany people don’t realize how big the difference is between commercial printing and printing for normal people. They’ll usually just walk down to the local copy center and assume they’ll do just as good a job as anyone. That’s not the case though. The difference is huge, and so is the cost of inhouse versus commercial printing. That’s why professional jobs should be produced by professionals. That’s also why there’s a rising commercial printing growth rate. Here’s why:

First, professional jobs require a good deal of typesetting and document creation. You also need the results of your hard work to be exact. That last thing you need is for the marketing materials you created to make your company look incompetent or messy. You want them to help your company.

At some point in the future you’ll probably have some pretty tough deadlines, even if you’ve left yourself several weeks to complete the print job. So make sure you find a company that can properly handle last-minute changes and rush jobs.

Your professional print jobs should be utilizing the highest quality paper and ink out there. However, you’ll only find them with professional printing companies. Your local copy center could probably order the paper for you, but they won’t have the right ink. They also won’t have any relationships established with vendors and commercial printing equipment suppliers in order to get you the best prices. So stick with a company that has experience.

Any company that is well-established in the industry should have employees who also realize that part of their job is customer service. They need to not only provide high-quality products, but also make your experience as easy as possible throughout the entire printing process.

As you can probably tell, finding the right printing service may not be as easy as you though. It’s not like driving by and seeing a copy center that can print you off some flyers for your local garage sale. So make sure you look for a company that can work with you to create quality, professional printed products using the methods you require. Use a commercial printing dealer directory or commercial printing dealer locator if you have to. There are plenty out there. Also make sure they already have established relationships with vendors so that you can get the best prices around.

All About Paper

Posted by admin On June - 18 - 2009ADD COMMENTS

The type of paper you choose to print your project on has a number of key terms: brightness, weight, and coating. Each of them describe different aspects of the paper and will help you decide what kind of paper you should use for your specific project. Choosing the proper paper can be a daunting task if you’re really serious about what you’re printing. Here’s a bit of information to help you make the decision:

Brightness

In the world of commercial printing, “brightness” refers to how much light is reflected off of the paper. Brightness values range on a scale from 0-100, 100 being the brightest. The important thing to remember is that the brightness mainly affects the vibrancy of your colors. And DO NOT confuse brightness with whiteness. Whiteness refers to the shade (cream, beige, gray) of the paper and has little or nothing to do with the brightness. So just ask yourself – how bright do I want my colors to be?

Weight

The weight of paper is based on how much 500 sheets of paper weighs in pounds. If 500 sheets of paper weighs 80 pounds, then the paper would be referred to as 80# paper. Even though this may seem quite precise, it’s still not an exact science. You’ll still need to treat weight as a rough estimate until you are able to actually examine the paper yourself. For example, 80# paper is a pretty standard paper for flyers or brochures. But just because that’s the standard, it might not be right for your project. Be sure and ask your printer and by all means – ask for paper samples.

Coating

Coating or coated paper refers to a film that is put on the paper that improves or negates how light reflects off the paper. The coating can be applied either on both sides or only on one side of the paper. A very common type of coating is gloss, or glossy paper. It’s used for pictures and any other graphics that you really want to stand out. A matte coating will do the opposite – it will make the image more dull and stand out less.

Now that you’ve got a better idea of brightness, weight and coating, you should be a little better equipped to deal with the commercial printing today.