Print Buying Tips

Here are some tips collected from our long experience of handling commercial print orders from a variety of customers and printers across the US. Spending a few minutes to review these tips will not only yield cost savings - but also save you lots of time (and headaches) - and ensure that your printed catalog / brochure / book order arrives on time and at the level of quality that you expect from a reliable printer.

Project Design

Colors

Using standard 4 color process will be the most cost effective. If a 5th color is needed, non-metallic inks are the most affordable. It is hard to find a web press with more than 5 color units so if you must use 6 or 7 colors in a long run, be prepared for significantly higher pricing as few facilities offer the hardware needed to produce the job.

Page Counts

Printing equipment produces your book in standard signatures, or unfolded pages. A typical signature is 8 pages and once folded and trimmed looks like a standard brochure or newsletter. By making your page count divisible by the standard signature sizes, your book runs the most cost effectively on the production equipment. It is usually less expensive to print additional blank pages to round up to the next signature size than it is to run a signature of 6 or 7 pages. For example, it will be less expensive to produce a 96pg book than a 95pg book. This is why catalogs, books and manuals sometimes have blank pages.

Inserts

Inserts between signatures are the most cost effective and ensure efficient printing and bindery configuration. In large page count catalogs, care should be taken for inserts to occur between 32 or 48pg signatures or extra charges will be incurred. If 32pg chapters don’t make sense, then try for a 24, 16 or 8 page chapter in order to develop the most cost effective layout.

Trim Size

Standard trim sizes produce the most cost effective books, especially as the quantities grow beyond 10,000 pieces. 8 3/8 x 10 7/8 and 5 3/8 x 8 3/8 are the most cost effective and offer the greatest choices in terms of capable vendors.

Paper Choice

Going with a house stock paper is the most cost effective as most printers buy hundreds of thousands or millions of pounds of this paper throughout the year. We usually find that a house stock and a specified brand name can be substituted without any change to the quality of the final product. RJCO will typically send the print buyer paper samples if significant cost saving exist and we believe a change won’t diminish the quality of the final piece.

Pre-Press

Using industry standard software to create high-resolution, print ready PDFs will avoid many extra charges in the pre-press phase of production. Be sure to pay attention to image resolution, margins, CMYK output and fonts as you generate your PDF files.

Pre-Flight

Preflight your files before sending to the printer. Pre-Flighting is the process of automatically checking your PDF files for technical problems. Most modern page design software applications contain this function and a properly formatted file will drastically reduce pre-press charges at the printer.

Bindery

Standard binding, on the long dimension is the most cost effective. All printers have some type of binding operation in house, when unusual specifications are used, many printers need to outsource the bindery work and therefore are not as price competitive.

Mailing

Have your mailing list ready at the time your job goes into production. Make sure to NCOA and dedupe the list. If your mailing list is large, service bureaus are becoming more and more sophisticated in the deduping process and can now dedupe for name changes and frequent address changes. On of the best way to control your printing costs is to not mail unnecessary catalogs and brochures. A properly deduped mailing list can reduce your final print run and save considerable expense.

Production Schedules

Giving the printer a tight schedule will reduce the flexibility on the production side and therefore applicable discounts. Start shopping and scheduling early so that the printer can plan the production easily.

Press Checks

While the practice of going on press checks has declined as more and more automation controls the final output, some customers still like to see their jobs run. Most printers will allow press checks in their plants but will not be as willing to discount the work due to the impact on press schedules and the costs of repeated input from the customer. If your job is color critical, then press checks make sense. If you want to see the plant, then we can help schedule a plant tour.

Over/Unders

It is typical in the printing business to deliver +/- 10% of the order total as part of the over/unders. This is due to the manufacturing process. We advise our clients to accept the over/unders as they will be included in the final price. The printer will either include the additional pieces with the order, or throw them into the recycle bin. Since the client will be charged (either additionally on the invoice or buried in the initial estimate) we suggest taking delivery of the overs since the client will be charged in either case.

Buying Process

Unlike other office supplies, the printed products ( catalogs / brochures / marketing collateral / publications ) you are ordering generally play a key role in furthering your marketing campaigns or your image / reputation among your customers. In the case of product catalogs distibuted to your sales channel / distibutors, their impact on your business / revenues is considerable.

The Major Hidden Cost

For many companies, print buying (say for their annual product catalog or annual marketing brochures / collateral printing) is roughly a once-a-year activity. Thus it is not feasible to develop the requisite expertise in-house to scan the printing market for the best values - and to know enough about the printing process to avoid errors that could obliterate any expected savings. The time spent by your staff (on all these tasks associated with your print buying / ordering / follow-up) adds up to a sizeable number - which translates to a large hidden but real cost to your company.

Using RJCO as your virtual print buying service squarely addresses this issue. With our focus and experience, we can ensure that your printing job gets the professional attention it deserves at all stages - from shopping, quoting, order finalization, pre-press, production to post-production and delivery.

To get started, you can take a quick look at our Online Job Estimator to see how much you can save over your current / prior print purchases - and also to get a feel for our streamlined / professional approach that results in significant time savings for your business! Contact us today - so we can start delivering measurable results and savings as your virtual / outsourced print buyer.

Remembering ALL the key elements of VALUE

Given the strategic importance of your print purchases, it makes sense to strike a balance - avoiding both "premium" pricing for unsupported quality / service claims - and low ball quotes from unknown / unqualified entities where you may be taking an unnecessary risk that can affect your company.

RJCO helps you find that balance - the best combination of cost savings along with track records of good print production quality and delivery timeliness. As we handle numerous transactions similar to yours every week / month, we are able to montor the capabilities and performance of the printers on an ongoing basis - and we are able to recommend the best matches for your specific needs and budget.