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Money Saving Advice (Print this and put one copy by your nightstand and another copy in your bathroom) |
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Where to start? One of the first places I always look when starting a project is at the end. What are you trying to accomplish and what is the best process to get the job done? Do you need a top quality brochure or is an inexpensive postcard the way to go? Also, what is your budget and your time schedule? It doesn't make sense (or cents) to plan and carefully budget a project and then rush it to the printer only to find that the job can't be completed on time. Nor is it wise to get everyone excited about a project only to find that you don't have the budget for it. As with almost everything in life - the best way to save money is to start with a bit of pre-planning. Money saving rule number one: A lesson to copy Now that the decision and planning stages are complete it's time for a bit of education. So you think you need something copied - or is it printing you need? Is there a difference? The answer is YES! Without a going in to a long boring lecture about all the technical differences let's just say that the difference is really a matter of quantity verses quality with a bit of a time factor thrown in. When you put something on a printing press you have a lot of set up and costly staff time involved if you only need a few pieces reproduced. Copying a job on the other hand is much easier because there is practically no set up involved. Simply put the original on the glass or send a digital file and your job is finished and ready to be boxed or bound. You have instant gratification - as long as the machines cooperate that is. So why hasn't the copier replaced the printing press? Two reasons. First toner is more expensive than ink and second copiers break down a lot more often than a printing press. This means that copies are less expensive on the short runs but they simply can't go the distance. Color is also a factor. The addition of color dramatically increases the cost. An average black & white copy is about .07 cents whereas an average color copy is around .70 cents. Not a big difference if you are only copying a few pages, but if you want to reproduce an entire manual, the cost between color and black & white becomes enormous. Trust me on this one when I say I am about to give you a bit of very valuable advice. When you need a copy job reproduced, please make sure that you are very clear with everyone involved on whether it needs to be in color or black and white. We have been given many disks to make copies from with instructions that simply say "make x amount of copies." If the document is full of color ask for a quote and clarify if it is black and white or color. This way there won't be problems in your accounting department when the job is delivered. One A & S Printing & Copy advantage it that we have both printing presses and copiers under the same roof. That means that if some things simply won't run reliably through a copy machine, envelopes for example, we simply put them on the printing press. Index tabs and manual covers are also often best done on a press because even thought you can buy pre-cut tabs and covers, they get to be expensive. It is often less expensive to print index tabs on a press even if they have to be sent out for die cutting. When to copy - when to print Here is a summary of when to copy and when to print your job.
Sorry but your education is not quite over yet. You still need to learn the difference between a two-color and a four-color print job. That is why you are reading this isn't it - to save money on printing? In that case get ready to understand the difference between printing in spot colors (traditional two-color "business" material) or in four-color process (photographs and color brochures). Let's start with the basics. In order to get something printed you first need to make a plate. If all you need is black, no problem. Burn a plate, ink up the press and away we go. But maybe you would like to try something a bit different like maybe using all blue ink instead of all black. No problem, still only one plate needed. Okay so now some wise guy read that the color red has more impact and since he is your boss, he gets what he wants. This means the pressman now has to make two plates, look after two set of ink, and make sure both are positioned correctly in relation to each other. Adding a second color also means you need two color separated pieces of artwork. In other words, one page must contain only the information you wanted printed in black and a second, different page must contain all of the areas that will be printed with red ink. Also when you are thinking of two colors don't including the "white" as a color. It's a free color because the color comes from the paper and not the ink. The best examples of two-color (spot) printing can be seen on business material such as invoices, letterhead, envelopes and business cards. When you are ready for something a bit more elaborate with photographs and colorful layouts you need to move up to full process color printing. This is quite different from two colors because with a four-color process job, all the colors you see are a blend of the four basic process colors CYMK (Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, and Black). You don't specify an exact color of ink, such as a reflex blue like you would with spot color. Instead the blue you see on the page is a combination or percentage of the four process colors. This means before you go to press, the artwork must be separated into four different colors so now you have four plates, four inks, and oversized paper large enough to accommodate the crop marks necessary for the pressman to perfectly align or register all four inks at once. Four-color printing is more expensive than basic two-color printing because it requires larger, more sophisticated pieces of equipment operated by more qualified employees. Now that you understand the differences between the two types of printing, you are on your way to saving big bucks on your printing costs. Why? Because by applying your newly acquired knowledge you can pick the best printer for your jobs. Very often this means you may end up with two completely different printers - one for your big color projects, and another for your everyday business printing. Now if having two separate vendors sounds like a hassle think again! Remember, your goal here is to save money on printing and you now have the education to make informed decisions about your printing needs. With very little practice you will instinctively know which jobs to send to which vendor. And with free pick up and delivery it shouldn't be any harder than picking up the phone or sending off an e-mail to the appropriate vendor. Besides, having two reliable printers means you have a back up if one is too busy plus a little competition is always a great way to ensure a good price. One final bonus money saving tip In most cases, a beautiful job prints for almost the same price as a boring job. The difference is in the artwork not the printing. If you have to cut costs, then reduce the number of colors or use a less expensive paper, but whatever you do, don't skimp on the graphic design. In fact by using shades, gradients and backgrounds, some very attractive pieces can be printed with only one color, but a bit of graphic knowledge is a must. I know, maybe you would like to continue your printing education with a lesson in graphic arts - or maybe not. Better leave that to the professionals. |
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