Find the right print service
Get competitive bids
Look for bargains
Do as much of the work yourself as possible
Look over these money-saving tips for ideas to help you save on printing expenses.
Printers know how to save you money. Specify your budget, and then ask how to meet it. Also ask what else you can do to lower your costs.
Get recommendations for a print service from other people, and choose a service that’s appropriate to the kind of printing you do. Each printing establishment specializes in a particular kind of printing. Some are good at low- or high-volume printing; others specialize in careful color work. Select a print service accordingly.
Get competitive bids for your print job. Make the process meaningful by providing a complete disclosure of your printing requirements. Select the print service whose bid seems the most reasonable, and get everything in writing: deadlines, delivery, and storage costs, for example. Don’t necessarily select the cheapest bid, but don’t overpay, either.
You can find paper bargains out there if you try. Let your print service help you make a paper selection.
The further you can go in the printing process, the less you pay and the fewer variables can make things go wrong. If you can, supply your commercial printer with camera-ready art and copies of your fonts. If you’re using a custom color, supply the Pantone color, too.
If you pay immediately with cash, you should pay less. Hey, it’s worth a try.
Don’t cut your deadline too close; leave some time for back-and-forth discussions between you and the print service. For example, if you have enough time, you can request a press proof and examine it. That way, you see a sample printed with the inks and press that your service will be using for your print job, and you can check it carefully for errors.
Although the paper from PaperDirect (www.paperdirect.com) is more expensive than common stock, you can run its colored designs through an inkjet or laser printer and do short-run printing. You can get outstanding results, and only other desktop publishers will know that you did it. I won’t tell — honest.
Is your print job especially large, expensive, or complicated? Using a print broker can save you money if your job falls into one of these two categories. A print broker is a middleman who works between a customer and a print manufacturer. Brokers work as free agents and have the flexibility to represent several companies for you. You would expect your rep to add value to your print project through effective planning and management. You rely on that person’s judgment on timing and knowledge of manufacturing materials and processes and workflow issues.
If your printer has a three-color printing press, don’t use four colors. That requires an extra print run and will cost you more money.