When choosing a printing company to produce your marketing materials, you want the best quality for your money. Here are a few tips to help you find the best printer for your marketing needs.

Get multiple price quotes from reputable printers. Make sure to send each printer the same project description so that you can compare apples to apples. Include the size of the paper, whether or not the artwork bleeds off the paper, number of ink colors, number of pages, type of paper, file type, etc. Be as descriptive as possible, a good printer will often follow up your enquiry with additional questions and suggestions.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Price Quote Request [PDF Example]
And check out this glossary of printing terms so that you’re not left in the dark!

Aside from your graphic designer, ask your printer any questions you have. They are knowledgeable about design layout, paper weights, ink colors, and more. Once you find a printer you like, try to build a relationship. You may even be able to visit the press facilities for a tour. This has been very helpful to me in the past.

Local Printers

I’ve had good experience with these local south Jersey printers. What printers have you used? Have you had good or bad experiences?

• Alphagraphics
• Kiva Printing & Graphics
• Minuteman Press
• Pirolli Printing
• FedEx Kinkos (the Cherry Hill branch is open 24-hours — I’m listing it only for if you’re in a bind, but don’t expect miracles at this location, let alone a good print job)

I’ve also had good experiences using online printing services for pop-up banners, tablecovers, t-shirts, and direct mail postcards. Just make sure you use a reputable company that gives you a proof (so you can see what your final will look like) and has a good return policy. And make sure to call their customer service reps for any guidance and practical suggestions.

Ways to Save Money

• Design with only 1 ink color.
• Don’t let your design bleed off the paper.
• Choose standard paper sizes.
• Avoid folds, special cuts (die-cuts), special colors (like metallic inks).

Have you found a creative way to save money in your business printing endeavors? Let us know.

Tags: alphagraphics, choosing printing services, fedex kinkos, kiva printing & graphics, local printers, minuteman press, pirollo printing, printing

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 5th, 2009 at 12:24 am and is filed under Marketing, Print design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.