Inexpensive Commercial Printing Alternatives
Achieve high-quality commercial printing at low cost
Businesses can spend thousands to millions of British pounds on printed materials. The objective of this document is to demonstrate that by analyzing and separating the different purposes of a company’s printed materials, companies can significantly save time and money on their printed materials by exploiting new print and online technologies.
Offset, Digital and Office Printing
When choosing a printing strategy, it’s important to know what type of printer to use: offset printing is an older process that prints using metal plates to transfer the image to the paper. Printing with this method means that individual elements of the printing material cannot be changed unless a new metal plate is generated. This process is cost effective when used to print large quantities. Digital printing is a newer printing method that reproduces images on the page. This printing method supports variable printing where any element of the printing material can be changed without affecting fixed costs. This process is cost effective when used for smaller quantities (approximately 10 to 500 units). Office printing is a relatively new printing method. With the advent of color printers as a staple in almost every office, printing materials in the office is a convenient advantage. However, the downside is that the paper and ink to print in large quantities can be quite expensive. In addition to cost, not all office printers offer the desired professional quality for materials like brochures and data sheets. Knowing which printer is right for the quantity and quality of materials needed will help businesses make the right decision and save on printing costs.
Economic Business Printing Strategies
The first step to cheap commercial printing is to break down the function of your printed materials.
Most printed materials do a triple job: presenting a good professional impression to relevant parties such as investors, customers, and suppliers. Increase brand awareness by leaving relevant parties with a visual reminder of a company and a product/service. Communicate information about a company’s services or products to relevant parties. Company profile fact sheets and brochures are necessary for a company’s image. These printed materials also communicate information to customers about the company’s products and services. This white paper provides money and time saving tips for planning, designing and printing office and promotional materials, breaking down and separating their functions.
Printing technical sheets and brochures – Strategy to save on printing costs. Data sheets serve as a communication tool to help customers and suppliers understand a company’s product. Many companies print a minimum of 1,000 copies of each data sheet on an offset printer for a low cost per sheet. With the advent of digital printers, it is possible to print smaller quantities, but as the quantity increases, the cost per datasheet is static, whereas printing on an offset press results in a decreasing cost per datasheet as you go. which increases the print volume. Once a product’s specifications change, the data sheet is out of date and must be updated. Outdated data sheets are frequently thrown away.
A graphic designer will need to prepare the layout and graphics for the original data sheet template. This cost can range from £300 to £700 or so. Once the template is built, the cost of each additional modification can range from £70-£200 and then £70-£150 for various design changes. Since the main objective of a technical data sheet is to transmit information and reinforce the image of the company, printing technical data sheets and brochures on an office printer will fulfill the function of communicating information but does not fulfill the purpose of reinforcing the image of the company. business. This problem can be solved by printing high-quality presentation folders on an offset or digital printer. This will give customers a first impression that will reinforce the image of the company in an organized and professional manner.
Presentation strategy – Save with folders. Presentation Folders are the perfect solution to ensure fact sheets and brochures are presented in a professional and attractive manner. Folders are a very useful and versatile presentation tool. Inserting a fact sheet and other informational materials into a well-designed and branded binder will leave a professional impression on those receiving the information.
Although folders tend to be expensive, ordering folders in bulk won’t be wasteful. They can always be used to present a wide variety of communication materials. Buying folders from an online printing company that offers free design templates, or a DIY design and image upload app, will bring the cost down to around £0.46 per piece.
With a binder, the sole purpose of the data sheet will be to convey information and the binder will provide the professional impression needed to impress clients and colleagues. In this case, a data sheet with a simple letterhead or logo will be effective. By keeping the design simple, the template can be saved to a file and the datasheet can be updated as needed. This will avoid costly reprints at a print shop. Downloadable brochure and fact sheet templates for Microsoft Word are easy to find online.
This strategy is also applicable to printing a company profile brochure. Today, many companies print brochures in large quantities on an offset printer. However, many companies are changing their management, business approach, or other company-related details due to market changes and so on. You would also save time and money if you printed these brochures in the office. However, this strategy is only effective for companies that print small quantities at a time.
The typical or offline printing process. This method of printing requires the company to pay two separate subcontractors, a graphic designer and a printer. In addition, the employee will also have to spend time working with the graphic artist.
Working with a graphic designer requires: Explaining the concept and graphic requirements. Discuss design, layout and colors. Review and adjust drafts.
Once the design is ready, it’s time to contact the printer. The online printing process. Working with an online printing company for small or large quantities can save a significant amount of time and money. This method provides businesses with professional printed materials that fulfill all three functions described above: presentation, brand awareness, and communication of information. There is no need for folders because the printing is of high quality.
Why are online printers a cheaper solution? Since they are online, they may be located in low rent areas. Many are larger than traditional printers and can lower your costs due to economies of scale. Free design templates allow you to work without a graphic designer. They eliminate the time an employee spends working with a graphic designer. Reduce time-to-market, since there is no waiting time regarding the approval and review of designs.
It is important to choose your online printer carefully. Some benefits of the offer are: Free image uploads. This allows employees to easily upload existing company logos. Free design templates. Free “design upload” option. This way a company with an in-house graphic designer or previous design can upload for print. Graphic designers who are always available for adjustments or to create custom designs. Free online storage of designs for convenient reprinting.
Comparison Chart – Printing Prices
This price comparison chart compares the printing and production costs of the typical printing method with the cost-saving printing strategies described above. Chart compares: typical/offline print strategy.
Eight data sheets and a company profile brochure. The game is printed four times over the course of two years. 250 units of each item are printed each time for a total of 1000 units each. This is the most expensive method of printing business materials.
Online Print Strategy: Eight Data Sheets and a Company Profile Brochure. The game is printed four times over the course of two years, 250 units of each item are printed each time for a total of 1000 units each.
This strategy offers the most economical printing solution for most businesses. Office printing strategy: small quantities each time, eight data sheets, one company profile sheet and one folder, 1000 folders are printed only once, eight data sheets and the company profile sheet are printed 25 times: 10 units each time for a total of 250 units each. Although fewer brochures and fact sheets are printed (250 instead of 1,000), this method still costs more than the online printing strategy. However, the advantage of this strategy is that the data sheets are more up-to-date because they are printed more frequently and in smaller numbers. Office printing strategy: large quantities each time, eight data sheets, a company profile sheet, and a folder, the set is printed four times over the course of two years, 250 units of each item are printed each time to a total of 1000 units each, This strategy turns out to be more expensive than even the typical/offline method.
Conclution
Printing small quantities in the office provides a strategy that allows materials to be more up-to-date by printing in smaller quantities and more frequently. Compared to the typical/offline strategy, this method provides a savings of 47%; however, the print quality is poor, and in the end, printing 250 sets in the office costs more than printing 1,000 sets on an online printer.
Online printing solutions offer companies an effective and efficient strategy for producing small or large quantities of printing materials. Compared to typical/offline printing costs (based on the example in this whitepaper), online printing offers businesses a total savings of 68%. Therefore, online printing offers the most economical business printing solution.