Online Printing Blog

What Affects the Variation in Printing Costs?

There are two ways to consider the term ‘Printing costs’. Firstly, it can mean the price that you have to pay to the printing service provider at the end of the project. Secondly, it might also mean the estimate held by a company or enterprise for any printing project. In this case, companies can plan their work according to the estimate. But whatever be the meaning, it is desirable that you know about the factors that affect the value of your printing project so that you are not up for a shock. Following are the points that will help you to judge a printing service from the point of view of costs incurred:

• Having Designs Ready: Before going to a printer make sure that all the designs are foolproof and final. If you have to chop and change things in the middle of the project, then it will call for professional help from the in house team of experts, costing you additional fees and computer charges.
• Save Time: Printing cost is not just limited to the money. Make sure that the printing project suffers no delay and you get all the work on time. As a client you are paying for timely delivery.

• Keep Track of the Project: Knowing every detail of what is going on in your project is a good way to control the costs. Do not let the printing agencies include unnecessary details that will increase the final cost of your project. One thing that you should never do while your printing project is in the offing is to take unplanned decisions.
• Decide upon the Real Value: Printing projects are undertaken to make profits. They are not a run-of-the-mill type of job. So, always think about the quality, quantity and services of the printers.

• Double Check for Hidden Costs: Many printing agencies do not include the shipping costs, sales taxes and other charges in their brochures. So, you have to inquire whether the price is the final price or there are some add-ons to it.
• Standard Sizes: Printing costs may also vary if the prints asked by you are not of the standard sizes or weight.

These facets will help you to keep a track of the prices that can be incurred for your printing project. You may also use these as guidelines to set a plan for printing.

At PrintPapa we have prices for most of the common products online. Just use the quick Instant Quote Calculator and configure it per your needs and you will get the price instant, and then place the order, and upload the files. For custom products which we do not have on our website - request for a custom quote, and we will get back to you in 24 hours.

Commercial Offset Printing or Desktop Printing? Do You Know How They Differ?

For any printing job a major question that arises in the minds of all my clients, unless they are experienced with this, is should they opt for commercial offset printing or desktop printing? But to know which one is the best for the requirements of your printing project, you have to know at least a little bit about these different methods of printing.

Three main points that differentiate offset printing from desktop printing are:

1. Ink color
2. The printing process
3. Printer/ Press

So, let’s start with the first point – about the ink color.

Offset printing is also known as offset lithography. Both inkjet desktop printing and commercial offset printing use CMYK colors. CMYK stands for Cyan (Blue), Magenta (Red), Yellow and Black. When used together, one on top of the other, in varying proportions they create millions of colors.

If you go for offset printing, you also get the option to use standard premixed colors as well as metallic or fluorescent inks, which are known as spot colors. Desktop printing doesn’t use these spot colors.

How does the printing process differ?

In case of desktop printing, you put a paper in the printer and it comes out fully printed in just one go. But in commercial offset printing, a single sheet of paper is printed 4 times for each of the 4 colors (or more if spot colors are used) using the lithography printing process.

Press or the Printer?

You have the press for offset printing and the inkjet or laser printer for desktop printing. Inkjet printers are connected to computers with cables and they are self-contained units that use ink cartridges to spray ink on the paper.

An offset lithography press uses a web or sheet press with multiple units for printing. First photographic printing plates are made of the file that has to be printed. Then these plates are used to transfer ink to the paper, using basic lithography printing method. With advanced technology this happens at an amazingly fast speed.

So, now that you know the basic difference between these two methods of printing, wait for my next post tomorrow. I’m going to write about how you should prepare your file for printing. Till then, cheerio!