With all the online attention businesses are getting, it may be a wise and novel approach to focus on 'offline' advertising. What happened to the eye catching entities of flyers, brochures, business cards, and other professionally aesthetic stationery? If you do not have the in-house resource of an artist, the answer to artfully appeal to the pubic lies in commercial printing services.

This can be easily done by researching several companies or by going through a business to business service provider, but there are several factors to consider. Are you educated on what to look for and what to expect? We can help you on your way to finding a great commercial printing service before you even peruse the web further:

Before the press

Before even going to the printing press, you have to design the text, graphics, and other illustrations to be printed. It is recommended to complement the outsourced printing process with finding a good graphic design service. Upon designing and completing that end of the process, make sure that the way the data is saved is compatible with the printer's resources.

Some printers design as well, so ask to see some previous work they have done. You may be able to get a good deal on having the same service provide the design and the printing.

During the process

You will be able to have access to one 'press proof' once the process of the printing starts, but ideally everything should be well edited and looked over before the printing process starts. It will cost you a great deal of time and money to fix a problem once the printing starts.

After press

It usually takes a couple of days for the print to dry after the printing process has been completed. If there is a deadline to work with, then make sure you have given yourself a grace period. After drying, the finished product is collated, folded, trimmed, and bound together.

Finding the right paper and color to finalize the process are going to be two areas of concern:

Paper

The choice of paper will come in a variety of different sizes and weights. It is best to consult with the printing service as to what style will work best for your specific job.

Heavier paper will cost more money, but will have more durability. The main factor to consider with weight is postage. If you are going to be mailing a lot of the prints to customers, going with a lighter weighted paper will save you a lot on postage.

Color

The more colors used in the process, the higher the cost of the job will be. It is suggested to not use more than three to four colors to avoid the project looking too busy, though it could depend on what type of business you are. If you are a business related to art or you have a reputation for being creative and unique, it may be worth going the extra step to make the print job match your company's personality.

Variety of printers

There are many printing services and most specialize in a niche area. Though it is always good business to facilitate good rapport with your contacts, it is not recommended to go to the same printer for all printing jobs. Some printers may be well versed in doing books, brochures, and catalogues, while others are fantastic at printing business cards, flyers, and post cards.

Not only do the niches of printers differ, but also their processes of printing differ. Some are very good with calligraphy while others are good with graphics; finding the right printer is contingent on the specific job. You will be sacrificing quality in giving all your jobs to one source.

Short tips

- If looking to have a very large project performed, be patient in finding a printing service that can match up quality with affordability

- Some printers may not be able to perform a specific task on their own and will send your job to a third party. This will warrant more money to be paid out of your pocket, so make sure that your selected printing service can perform all the duties the job calls for.

- Check references and have the printing service provide you with some of their previous work

- Even if you use several printers, building trusting relations with each one is important. They are the professionals and will be able to provide better insight if the rapport is good.


- Never sacrifice quality to save money because your printed product will be a reflection on your business. If your print doesn't look good, you don't look good

- Make sure that you know all of your options and tell the printer exactly how you would like the job performed - When the prepress proofs are available, make sure that you carefully examine them. Once the printing process is under way, it will be a heavy blow to the pocket to change things from that point

- If you know that your logo isn't going to change or you can make general statements with stationery, then order large quantities at a time. This will save you the time and a lot of money than having to do the same job twice.