Printing Tips
During the past several months printing and advertising budgets have fallen dramatically. To help minimize your printing costs, Here are some helpful tips to keep your printing project on budget.

(1) With each printing job you order, your choice of printer can change. Experienced buyers of printing services often use several printers regularly. Your main goal as a consumer is match your print job to the printer who gives the best quality at the lowest price.

(2) Printers can specialize in many areas. Some printers specialize in continuous-form materials such as invoices and purchase orders. Other printers focus on books, newsletters or post cards. It is also possible for printers to incorporate different printing methods as well, such as the popular offset lithography and gravure printing, while others use techniques like flexography or screen-printing.

(3) Giving all your jobs to one printer often means paying more than you need to or settling for lower quality. Some printers may accept a job they don't have the equipment to do themselves, only to outsource it to someone who can. It would be more cost effective to find a printer that can complete the print job alone than to send the job out to another company.

(4) Put large projects out to bid. Since some printers use different types of equipment, they may not be the suited to handle every print job. Since efficiency is the key, you may need to put large or complex print jobs out to bid. In other words, let competing printers vie for your business. This will allow you to find the best and most efficient printer based upon your particular print job.

(5) Check References & Build a Relationship. How good is a printer's service? An effective customer service representative will help manage the process smoothly and provide information as needed. You want a printer that will be able to make precise recommendations about paper sizes or ink. This will eventually help you become more efficient which will allow you to save time and money.

(6) The main objective when printing anything is efficiency. How efficient are you? How efficient is your printer? How can I get the printer to be sympathetic to my needs as a consumer? These are questions you must stop and ask yourself before starting your work or choosing a printer.

(7) Developing a relationship with your printer is the most important objective. You should feel confident asking your printer about optimizing efficiency. Here are a few questions to ask to help you do so.

• Always ask the printer for recommendations. Whether it is paper type or the number of inks being used, a good printer will always be able to help you find what's best and most efficient for your project.

• Always ask the printer about reducing paper waste. This is very important and can be quite expensive if not accomplished. In most cases, the paper or material cost is the largest part of the printers expense. Get the paper or material cost down and the price is sure to be lower.

• One color is always going to be least expensive to print. Keep your color designs to a minimum if possible. You'll not only save money on ink but on the costs of the printing plates as well.

• Consider having your work printed on colored stock. This could save money if you were planning on a two colored print job.

• Print projects with bleeds typically cost more. Avoid a bleed if possible as this will help keep the amount of material lower (therefore lowering your costs).