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7 Ways to Budget Printing and Lower Costs

Commercial printing services can sometimes stretch your budget. However, there are ways to budget printing better and lower your printer costs using these seven printing tips:

1)     Stock. The printing paper you select is a major cost for any print job. Sometimes more than 50% of the printer costs. Think about what you are trying to accomplish with your printed piece. A new product launch to your 100 VIP customers may justify a really special stock for the invitation. The 10,000 brochures describing the product in a direct mail campaign probably does not justify the same kind of “special paper”. Most commodity papers used in the printing industry today are of very high quality. Have your commercial printing service show you real printed samples with the paper they are recommending so you can get a feel for the final quality of the product. Look at different paper weights. The same stock in a lighter weight has the same look as its heavier brother. It will not feel as substantive but it will make your job more economical and fit your budget. 

2)     File preparation. A properly prepared file flies through a Prepress department. Make sure you are using common software programs that your commercial printing service supports. Work with your printer to make sure your files are prepared correctly. The object is to have a seamless transfer of files from you to your printing service. Remember file correction adds time and cost to your print job. At Print Pelican, we offer a free file review which can be done in the early stages of your file preparation.

3)     Group your orders. If your company has ten 8.5” x 11” brochures that you routinely print, do not order them one at a time, this will increase your printer costs. Figure out your usage over a reasonable period of time, say 3 months or 6 months and order the required amount from your commercial printing service all at once. You will reduce your printer costs by as much as 50%. Talk to your commercial printing service about the most efficient way to print your jobs that you know are coming along and the best way to order them so you can keep within your printing budget.

4)     Ink Color. Special spot colors add to printer costs. 4 color process (CMYK) can do a very good job of duplicating most specific colors. 4 color process (CMYK) is also the most cost effective ink configuration for most printers. If you must add a special color, try to print a few print jobs at one time. Every time your special ink is added to the press you will incur a charge. The larger the press the more you pay for this printing service. 

5)     Match your job to the right printing device. This is really important. Every printing machine is not intended to print every job. If you are printing 10,000 32 page catalogs you would not want to print this job on a small format digital printing device. Conversely 1000 2 color business cards should not be printed on a large offset printing machine. You should learn what type of machine your job should be printed on and match this to the right commercial printing service. Please contact Print Pelican if you require more information on the type of machine your job should print on.

6)     You need it when? This is one of the easiest ways to save money on a print job. Give your commercial printing service more time to do the job and ask for a better price if you do. More than 75% of all the print jobs we produce are required in less than 7 days. A rush job can require overtime and inefficient scheduling in the printing plant. This will normally increase printer costs on your job.

7)     Quantity. You will almost always get a better price per unit if you order a larger quantity. A larger quantity may seem better for your printing budget but always think about how many you will actually use. Ordering more may give you a better price per unit but if you end up throwing out 40% because of changes to your product, you probably did not save any money. Always ask the question “how many are we likely to use over a reasonable period of time?” A reasonable time may depend on the product. If you want no more than a 6 month supply of a brochure think about the likely usage over 6 months and do not order any more than this amount, no matter how good the deal is. An extra 3000 may only add $200 to the job but if you end up throwing out 3000 pieces you have actually cost yourself the $200 you thought you were saving.

New free templates | PDF's Rule! | Small Business | Gen Y | Budget Printing