Getting the Right Information from a Commercial Printer

The worst thing that you can do when you hire a commercial printing company is to take their marketing or advertising messages at face value. While those printing packages may sound great, if you really know the typical commercial printer, the truth will not be as peachy. So before you actually hire and work with that commercial printing firm, you should try to get the right information that you need. Let me guide you on what exactly you will want to be looking for. Read the items below and see exactly what data you must gather.

1. Get the REAL costs – When you are in contact with any commercial printing company and would like to figure out if they are worth hiring, the first thing that you should get is the REAL COST and quotation for printing that the firm charges. You might have seen already the advertisements and the marketing spiels with a fixed price already.

However, you might not have seen all the hidden and extra charges that they actually will add on to the quotation. From different kinds of taxes and surcharges to rush fees etc. there are just tons of other incidental things that they might not be telling you outright. You better ask them specifically to lay all the charges on the table to get the REAL cost of printing with that commercial printer.

2. Get ALL the printing options – Next, you should also get information regarding all the printing options that the printer has to offer. Some commercial printers politely forget that there are cheaper material options or cheaper printing packages in favour of their more expensive ones. So do not just look at the options available at face value.

Ask and see if there are other cheaper options or if you can customize some printing configurations for a better price. Get all the options so that you can choose the right printing for you.

3. Discover the strings attached – Also, remember to try and read the fine print in regards to your printing contact. You might want to determine if there are strings attached when you print with a commercial printer. Sometimes, there are some clauses in printing orders wherein the printer will be given rights to the originals of the materials you want them to print.

Other times, they will require you to add their logo and contact information in the prints themselves. It is best to know all the different strings like those in your printing, especially if you think that those strings should not be part of your printing order.

4. Acquire all guarantees – Make sure as well that you get all the guarantees in terms of printing with that commercial printer. From quality guarantees to satisfaction guarantees, it is best to actually get real printed proof about their assurances to customers. These are legally binding statements really and it is a form of their confidence with their work. So it is good really to try to acquire all those guarantees for printing.

5. All issues and hang-ups – Finally, you should actually ask your printer about any typical problems, issues or hang-ups that people encounter when printing with them. If the printer is indeed professional enough they would of course tell you all the different and common compatibility problems when it comes to printing with them.

By knowing this, you guys can agree on a standard format and even a standard software to be used for designing your prints. The more you know about these issues and their solutions the better your time in printing with those firms should be.

Great! Try to remember to get all these for the sake of your future printing endeavours with that commercial printing company.