Color Consulting US Inc. is a very client-oriented company. We always offer the best custom solutions to make our clients 100% satisfied. In this article we are happy to share with you the main tips on how to get the high-end quality and cost-effective printed materials. The cost of printing products is influenced by a number of factors, let's take a closer look at them:
How to Save Money and Still Get the Best Quality of Printed Materials
Paper Selection
There are hundreds of types of paper, and the cost of the printed product will significantly depend on your choice. The thicker the paper is, the higher its price is. Art paper with various textures, coating, and color tones is more expensive than regular white coated or uncoated paper. The quality and brightness of the print also depends on the type of paper. Uncoated paper does not reproduce brightness and saturation of the color, the images on the uncoated paper look pale and dull as the paper is not coated and absorbs the ink. But it has other advantages. For example, it is more comfortable when writing with a pen or pencil, and is well suited for personalization. On the other hand, the images printed on the coated paper look bright and vivid. Therefore for the catalog printing we would recommend using regular coated gloss or silk 100 lb text paper. But for the large run of one-time use leaflets, it is better to use thinner cost-effective paper - such as coated gloss or silk 80 lb text or uncoated paper. In any case, we would recommend taking a look at the paper samples before printing and choose the most suitable option after consulting with your printing house.
Printing Size Influences the Cost
Printing houses in the United States usually use paper in standard formats, mainly 8.5" x 11". Therefore, the printing costs will generally be lower if you create your artwork considering letter size 8.5" x 11". Other recommended sizes are 5.5 x 8.5 inches (half of the letter size) and 11 x 17 inches (double letter size). Standard 9” x 12” envelope will hold unfolded 8.5" x 11" correspondence (flyers, or booklets, catalogs, brochures made up of 11" x 17" sheets folded in half). The same way, a regular 6" x 9" envelope will perfectly fit a 5.5" x 8.5" document. And everyone knows that regular #10 envelopes are made for an 8.5" x 11" sheet folded in three. This is why tri-fold color brochures made from 8.5" x 11" sheets are very common because they fit perfectly in standard #10 mail envelopes. It is recommended to print the marketing materials in the size so that they fit on printed sheets without waste. Otherwise, you may encounter an unpleasant situation when, for example, printing a custom-size 7.25” x 10” leaflet costs the same as the one of 8.5” x 11”.
Printing Inks
As a rule, all marketing materials are printed in 4 colors (CMYK). It allows you to reproduce images in bright and vivid colors. In some cases additional Pantone inks are needed. For example, if the artwork contains corporate logo colors, metallic inks, bright fluorescent colors, etc. The general rule states - the more inks you use, the higher the cost of printing is. So in order to save money, use Pantones only if you really need them, otherwise replace them with CMYK.
Large Runs are More Cost-Effective
Offset printing uses printing plates to transfer an image to paper or other substrates. Also set up processes are the necessary part of the offset printing in order to reach perfect results with correct color reproduction. The costs of these operations are constant and do not depend on the circulation. The same rule applies to the production of die cut and foil stamps, embossing plates, etc. Therefore, in some cases, doubling the number of copies significantly decreases the price per copy. Consult with your manager, calculate several different quantity options and choose the most optimal one.
Full-service postproduction and printing company Color Consulting US Inc. provides free consultations on prepress and printing projects. Our managers will recommend the most suitable options taking into consideration your preferences, help optimize the cost of printing materials and prevent overpayments. Our 20 years of experience allow us to offer you customer-oriented solutions and the best post production and printing services in the US.
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