Have you just started a new publishing company? Whether you’re involved with postcards, business cards, or brochure printing, you need to know about the “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of publishing. Knowing which mistakes to avoid will help you get off to a good start.

To ensure success, follow these eight “Do’s” and “Don’ts”:

1. DO: Keep your designer up to date. DON’T: forget to tell your designer about changes in the layout. Communication with your designer is essential. You shouldn’t just inform him or her of the changes, you should also inform him/her of the potential changes. Your designer should always have an idea of what to expect in the future.
2. DO: Have everything proofread before finalization. DON’T: forget to hire a professional proofreader and editor. Once the layout is complete and the designer has delivered the digital artwork, have a professional editor go through and inspect everything. The editor should proof every single detail.
3. DO: Go through prepress procedures. DON’T: forget anything, like the ensuring that the page numbers are in order. Even after the editor proofreads, you should still go through the prepress procedure. Know your designer’s and writers’ prepress procedures so that you know what to expect from them. If something is overlooked during prepress, such as an incorrect page number, it will cost you.
4. DO: Educate yourself about the publishing business and printing process. DON’T: try to memorize every little detail and technical specification. You should acquaint yourself with the basics and do some research before you publish anything. However, you don’t have to memorize every single technical detail right away.
5. DO: Define your needs to potential designers. DON’T: automatically go with the lowest quote. When interviewing designers, you need to tell them what you’re looking for and ask them what they can do to help you. Be as clear and concise as you can. Don’t automatically go with the designer who offers you the lowest bid, no matter how much work they promise to do.
6. DO: Check references. DON’T: believe everything designers tell you. This one’s pretty much a no-brainer. Some of the designers you interview will try to exaggerate about their experience and expertise. Check their portfolio and request information about references.
7. DO: Examine different types of printing paper. DON’T: choose a brand of stock paper unless you’re certain that it will be suitable for your printing needs. There are tons of paper stock brands, weights, and varieties out there for everything from business card printing to magazines. Just look through other magazines, cards or books. What kind of paper would suit your printing needs? Send the card, magazine or book to vendors and ask them if they have the same exact type of paper.
8. DO: Define a budget for equipment and supplies. DON’T: settle with cheap equipment – you will get what you pay for. Make a list of everything you need: printers, stock paper, printer ink and computer software. Go for the best equipment and supplies that you can afford.

Whether you want to publish magazines, brochures or books, make sure you follow these DO’s and DON’Ts so that your publishing company will be a success.

8 Printing Dos and Don’ts for New Publishers is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

Choosing to employ the services of a professional printing company is a sound business decision. You will experience benefits such as high quality consistent results, increased efficiency and financial savings. But how do you know which company is the right one to choose? With so many businesses out there offering services such as brochure and booklet printing, it can be a difficult decision. Our guide looks at some of the most important factors to consider, to make sure that you find the right commercial partner for your business.

Know your needs

Not all printing companies are the same; they all have different areas of specialisation, different strengths and weaknesses, and offer slightly different services. It is important therefore that you establish what exactly you need before you try to make this decision. Think about what type of printing you need done and how often. Consider whether you often require printing to be done at very short notice and what sort of volume your printer will need to be able to handle. Once you know exactly what you require and what your priorities are, you will be better placed to find a supplier that meets your needs.

Add value

Once you have decided on the core services that you require, it is worth checking out any ways that your prospective printing companies can add value to your business with other, less obvious, services. Some professional printers, for example, offer consulting services in areas such as logo design or can help with distribution and mailing of printed material. On their own, these may not be sufficient reasons to choose one printer over another, but where you have more than one good option they could just tip the balance.

Take recommendations

Where possible it is always a good idea to get recommendations from friends, colleagues and business partners. Talk to your contacts about their experiences with printing companies; they will be willing and able to give you the unadulterated truth. Ask them not only about the quality of the printing itself but also the service levels provided.

Test for professionalism

When you contact potential suppliers, it is always worth taking note not only of the services they offer but also the manner in which they handle your enquiries. A company that treats a prospective customer with efficiency, politeness and professionalism is not guaranteed to provide a good service, but one that doesn’t is almost certain not to.

Look at samples

Before committing yourself to any printing company, it is essential that you inspect as many samples as you possibly can. Focus particularly on examples of the kind of printing that you are most likely to need. For example, if you are in need of someone to do your business card printing, then make sure that is what you prioritise. When you are satisfied with the quality of printing for your core requirements, it is worth having a look at what else the company can do. That way you will know, if your needs change, whether this company is likely to be able to handle your new requirements.

How to Choose a Printing Company is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

Branding is a key element of any successful marketing strategy and at the core of good marketing you will always find an effective logo. Designing the right logo should be one of the first things you consider when you begin promoting a new business or rebranding an existing one. It should evoke the essence of your company simply and immediately; once you have it in place, everything from booklet printing to designing your company website will follow on from there. Our guide looks at some of the most important things you should consider when designing and implementing a new company logo.

Make sure your logo is unique

For your logo to be effective it must be unique, so that anyone who sees it will immediately bring to mind your business. By all means, look at other businesses with great logos for inspiration, but make sure that your design is not too similar to anyone else’s. If it is, you risk severely undermining the effectiveness of your logo, not to mention potential legal action from any company that believes you may have infringed their intellectual property rights.

Keep your design simple

Though it is true that a successful logo must be unique, there is one thing that they all have in common: simplicity. Think of any major brand and visualise its logo. The more clearly you can picture it the more successful it is, and the simpler the design, the more likely it is to come to mind. Remember this when you are working on designs. Your logo should reflect your business, so it can be tempting to try and include too much information. It is important that your resist. Distil your ideas down as much as you can until you have the very essence of your business: just one or two ideas that you can express clearly and succinctly.

Consider colour carefully

The colour or colours you choose for your logo are of great importance and so this decision deserves careful thought. Of course, your colour choices should reflect the identity of your company, but there is more to consider than that. Bear in mind that there will be occasions when your logo is produced in black and white. You may choose to do this yourself, but even if you don’t, remember that customers will print from your website, or make copies of brochures or use a fax machine to send or receive documents which include your logo. It is important to choose a design with bold and clearly demarcated colours that will still look effective in monochrome. You should also try to keep the number of colours down as much as possible. This helps with the simplicity of the logo and will also keep printing costs to a minimum.

Use your logo widely

Once you have created your logo, you need to make sure that potential customers get used to seeing it, so that it soon becomes synonymous with your brand. That means using it widely. Include it in your designs when organising business card printing, include it on every page of your website, print it on your stationary and on giveaway items such as stubby coolers, pens or shopping bags.

How to Make the Most of Your Company Logo is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

There are many reasons why you should employ the services of a professional printing service instead of doing it all yourself, in house. Our guide looks at a few of the most important.

Business cards

Networking will never go out of fashion; it is a vital tool for getting on in any industry. In order to network effectively you need to carry business cards with you at all times. Of course you could produce them yourself, but as this is something that you will be using on first meeting a potential customer, you should be determined to make the best possible first impression. Don’t take any chances; use a professional business card printing service to ensure the best possible results.

Flyers

If you have a short term promotion or special event to advertise, then the good old fashioned flyer is still a very effective promotional tool. Use a professional printing service to ensure high quality results at very short notice. This will enable you get your special promotion to market quickly, enabling you to react to changes in circumstance, unexpected stock issues, or public events as efficiently as possible.

Brochures

A good brochure should really sell your company. It is your chance to tell your customers who you are and why they need your products or services. It is not, therefore, an area where you can afford to skimp on quality. Using a professional printing service will ensure that you get the highest quality results and make the best possible impression on clients.

Posters

Posters are a great way to draw attention to an upcoming event. Designed well, they are striking, informative and ideally aesthetically appealing in their own right. You only have to consider how popular poster art has been over the decades to understand the impact this medium can make. Use a professional printing company to ensure the best results.

Calendars

Giving your clients branded free gifts is a great way of keeping you in the forefront of their consciousnesses. A calendar is a great option in this regard. You can design it in any way you like, with as much or as little branding as you think appropriate and your customers will use it day in day out over the course of a year.

Booklets

Use a printing company to produce your instructional or explanatory booklets and you will end up with a superior product. A booklet printing company will have access to the best quality materials and will also be able to advise you on printing and binding options, ensuring that your booklets are not only visually appealing but durable too.

Logo design

Some printing companies offer additional services that you might not immediately consider part of their remit. One such obvious example is logo design. Printing companies that offer this service use specialist designers in conjunction with their core knowledge of printing to ensure that your logo not only reflects your business accurately and effectively but that it is also ideally suited for printing in a variety of contexts and on a variety of materials.

How Professional Printing Can Help Your Business is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

Choosing a specialist professional company to help you with booklet printing and other similar jobs is very good idea. Professional printers will ensure high quality results that reflect well on your business and can save money in the long run by reducing wastage and freeing up your staff to concentrate on your core business. It can be difficult however to know which company to choose. In this guide we look at a few of the most important things to consider when you are making this tricky decision.

Match your needs

Not every printing company will offer every single printing service imaginable, but nor do they need to. All that matters is that they can provide the services that you require. Look for a company that can match your needs; it really doesn’t matter if that is all they do. Don’t just think about your current needs though. Consider the direction your business is travelling and try to anticipate how your requirements will change. Doing this will allow you to pick a company that will grow and develop with your business, so you don’t have to go through the same process a few months down the track.

Added value

Some printing companies offer more than just printing. They may for example offer design services and assistance with mailing fulfilment. It may prove worthwhile using a full service company that can handle these extra elements rather than paying several organisations to develop, print and mail the same promotional material.

Samples

Any printing company worth its salt should be just itching to show you what it could do for your business, and you should be only too pleased to let them. Consider the first impression their samples make on you and then look at them closely for any flaws and to assess the overall quality. Get samples from more than one company and make comparisons. Sometimes flaws only become apparent when viewed next to a superior alternative.

References

Samples will only tell you so much. They show what the printer is capable of, but you want to know what they actually do for their clients. This is where references are invaluable. A successful company will be keen to show you comments and testimonials from satisfied customers. If they don’t have any to show you, you should ask yourself why not. Wherever possible try to speak directly to former customers, so you can get the real low down on the quality of the service the company offers.

Professionalism

The way that a potential partner company deals with your initial enquiries will give you a valuable indication of what they will be like to deal with. If they treat you with courtesy and professionalism and answer all your queries efficiently, it is a good indicator that they will do the same when you ask them to handle your brochure or business card printing. On the other hand, if they appear uninterested or sloppy in their approach, you should not really expect that to change once they have won your business.

Things to Consider When Choosing a Printing Company is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

From letterhead to business card printing and much more besides, every business needs to produce plenty of printed materials. Many companies choose to keep printing in house in an attempt to save money. More often than not this is a false economy that ultimately costs the business money in the long run. There are many advantages to outsourcing your printing needs to a professional company. Our guide looks at a few of them.

Quality materials

Whether you are looking to get a handful of flyers printed for a forthcoming one-off event or want a steady stream of business cards for all your employees, one issue will always be the same. Quality materials are important. The higher the quality of the materials used, the more impressive and professional your printed material will ultimately be. Of course you can spend as much time as you like researching and reviewing all the best raw materials and learning how to use them to create the best finished products youself, but you are unlikely ever to be able to achieve the same standards as an organisation that is devoted solely to this purpose. Using a professional printer will give you access to the best materials, technology and expertise.

Consistency

If you decide to do your business printing yourself, you may be able to achieve some satisfactory results. Doing it again and again is quite another thing. It is very important that your brochures, flyers, business cards, and so on, are always identical to each other. Printing on a mass scale to the same high standard every time, with no variations in colour or print quality, is extremely difficult for an amateur to do. If you take this job on yourself you are liable to end up with significant wastage or materials that convey a poor impression of your business. You would be much better advised to outsource this task to the professionals who will ensure first class results every time.

Business priorities

Unless your company is specifically geared up for printing or it is so huge that you can dedicate an entire business unit to it, then wouldn’t you be far better off concentrating your resources on the core elements of your business? Outsourcing is a great way to focus your company and printing is an ideal candidate area for this approach. By taking printing out of the hands of your employees who have other things to do, you give them more time to focus on driving the business forward.

Long term savings

The most common reason business owners and managers cite for keeping flyer or booklet printing in house is a desire to save money. This might seem financially prudent, particularly for small businesses, but more often than not it is anything but. Professional printers benefit from economies of scale that you cannot hope to match in an individual small organisation. Consequently printers can offer very competitive rates. When you factor in the wastage you are likely to experience if you try to do this yourself, not to mention the employee costs, it is easy to see why professional printing is likely to save you money in the long term.

4 Reasons to use a Professional Printing Company is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

In an electronic age it is easy to imagine that printing has less of a role to play in business than before. Nothing could be further from the truth. Today, as ever, any successful company will use a variety of printed materials to advertise the business, give support to its clients and promote events. The power of printing is just as great as ever. If anything its importance has only increased. As the world has become more sophisticated, so have the standards that consumers expect from the companies with which they deal. High quality professional printing is very much the order of the day.

Booklets

If your business is putting together a catalogue, multi page newsletter or instruction manual, you should think about professional booklet printing. A good printing company will be able to offer you help with design, an efficient turnaround and a range of binding options including saddle stitched, wire binding and perfect binding. Versatility and quality are the watchwords. Whatever you precise needs, a good printing company will be able to offer you the perfect solution.

Flyers/Vouchers

Flyers and vouchers are great methods of advertising one off events or promotions. With this kind of material, speed is often of the essence. Many professional printing companies will not only put your flyers and vouchers into production but will also offer advice and support for the entire process, including design and wording. Having the experts on board to help you will enable you to get your flyers and vouchers out quickly, to give your promotion or event the greatest chance of success.

Logos

A company logo is a very important marketing tool. If designed and used correctly, it can greatly improve public awareness of your brand. Some printing companies also have design teams that can help you develop an effective logo. Not only are they experts in developing commercially successful branding but they also have the added advantage of knowing the printing process inside out, so they will be able to design a logo that is easy and cost effective to print. This can save you a lot of money and hassle in the long term.

Calendars

Producing branded giveaway items is a great way to catch people’s interest. The trick though is to come up with something that potential customers will use again and again, so that your branding is reinforced. Calendars are a great option. They provide an inexpensive source of year round advertising and you can even tailor the branding on a month by month basis to fit with any seasonal changes or events in your industry.

Business cards

Business card printing is probably the first type of printing that any organisation should undertake. However else you choose to market your business, you should supplement your approach with a commitment to networking and developing relationships. There is nothing quite like making personal contact to develop business. For this reason, it is essential that you and all your senior employees carry high quality professional looking business cards at all times. That way you will always be primed to take advantage of any business development opportunity that comes your way.

5 Ways Professional Printing can Benefit Your Business is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

Whether you’re a graphic designer looking to outsource printing for your clients or a business looking to deal directly with a printing company for business card printing or mass-newsletter sends, the printing company you decide upon can have a big effect on your success. Making the wrong choice can not only lead to delays and mistakes, it can also cost you clients or sully your reputation in the business world by creating sub-standard products. There are a few things to look out for when trying to decide on a printing company and we’ve put together a list to try to help you out. Happy hunting!

Online

Finding a company online is great – really, how else would we do it these days? But once you’ve found a company you think looks good it is important at some stage of the operation for you to insist on seeing samples. Paper quality, ink quality and the overall production process all effect the end result of your project, so insisting upon seeing a sample in person rather than just in jpeg form is prudent. A printing company who is reluctant to do this should raise a few red flags.

Flexibility

Another thing to look for is a printing company that is proactive in finding solutions for you. Whether it’s a matter of suggesting a package that better suits your business needs or suggesting ways in which you could really take advantage of logo placement on other products, the more involved and flexible a company is, the more chance you have of developing a lasting professional relationship.

People Power

It sounds like a small consideration, but choosing a company with people you feel you can really communicate with is important, and will become even more so as you get into specifics about projects, deadlines and other transactions. It’s important to choose a printing company with staff that not only make an effort to understand your needs, but who are able to communicate properly from their end, clearing up any confusion that could result in delays or mistakes.

Variety

Even if you may only be interested in booklet printing or business card printing at the time, it’s advisable to choose a company with the capacity to tackle a wide range of projects. Often, as you expand, your printing needs will expand with you, and if you can keep the same business arrangement with the same printer you’ll be able to achieve continuity with your products. Look for a company that isn’t quick to pigeon-hole itself – if they’re open to expansion then there’s more chance that they can take on any project that might come up later down the track.

How to Choose the Right Printing Company is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

You have a logo and booklets, business cards, letterheads and other stationery ready for your business and head to a professional printer. Thinking you have the hard part nailed, it can be distressing to be met with a load of terms specific to printing only to realise that you have little to no idea of what they mean. Before heading off for booklet printing, business card printing, or any other type of printing, have a look at this list which defines some key printing terms.

Artwork – Text, graphics and illustrations used in combination or individually ready for printing.

Bleed – Additional image that extends beyond the edge of the page. When an image or colour is printed to the edge of a page, a bleed is used so that when the paper is cut, a white line does not appear on the edge of the page.

Binding – Binding is the process of joining papers together (commonly by wire, glue, thread or plastic combs) to enable the papers to be easily read and transported.

CMYK – One of the colour methods for printing is CYMK, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (black). Almost all colour printing involves these four primary colours and is often referred to as “four-colour” or “four colour process” printing.

Copy – Written content and text used in printed material, including advertising.

Digital Printing – Printing which uses digital imaging processes to transfer an image directly on to plain paper without time delay and without the use of traditional rollers and plates.

DPI – DPI means Dots Per Inch. The resolutions of input, display and output devices are explained by DPI. The more dots per inch (that fit horizontally and vertically in a one inch measure), the higher the quality of an image and the sharper the appearance of the image.

DTP – DTP is the acronym for Desk Top Publishing. DTP is usually the process of organising the layout and appearance of documents and publications such as magazines and other advertising. Sometimes, DTP refers to the program used for the design of a publication. These include: PhotoShop, FreeHand and InDesign.

Dummy – A ‘mocked up’ version of a booklet, business card or other ‘to be printed’ piece. A dummy is created using the same type of paper as will be used in the finished product and is a useful reference for all involved in the process of creating a publication.

Embossing – Imagine (or you may even be familiar) with an image being pressed into paper so that it is raised above the surface, something like a bump. In the printing world, this is embossing.

Engraving – Rather than raising the image, engraving involves the image being cut out of the paper.

Fold marks – Small blue crosses that are printed on paper are fold marks and their purpose is to give designers a visual guide as to where folding will occur in the finished product.

Laminating – A thin transparent plastic sheet covers the piece so that it is protected from heavy use and liquid. Lamination is frequently for used for pieces that are displayed, such as posters and signs.

Offset Printing – Ink is offset from the printing plate to a second roller and then on to paper. To date, this is the most common type of printing done commercially.

Watermarks – The term ‘watermark’ usually refers to an image that is placed in the centre of the paper and is usually produced so that it does not intervene with the text that sits on top of it.

Printing today can be a complex and sophisticated field, far different from the days when it involved only black ink. New options enable creativity and originality but in order to capitalise on these options, it is necessary to understand the key printing terms that are used. Whether clever and original booklet printing or business card printing is needed, there are many possibilities to select from in order to get an ideal and effective product.

Printing Terms and What They Mean is a post from: Dark Horse Articles

Printing has a long and interesting history from the woodblock almost two millennia ago. As time has gone on technological advancements have become increasingly common and more regular. In particular, computerisation of printing has revolutionised printing services, making book printing services like print on demand a viable option.

A Very Brief History
Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press, using mechanical movable type, was a major breakthrough. The form of printing (letterpress printing) that it enabled flourished from its inception in the mid 15th century, right through until the second half of the 20th century.

Offset presses came along in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. With this technique, a print is made to the printing surface via a rubber blanket to which the inked image has initially been transferred. Offset printing is best suited for large high quality printing jobs, such as for newspapers.

Limitations Of Offset Printing
Preparing printing plates for offset printing takes time. This is justified for large scale jobs, which bring the overall costs down. For smaller jobs it may be uneconomic. Due to initial setup costs for offset printing, a client may have had to estimate demand for their printed information long into the future, in order to make the most of a large printing run.

Calculating this estimated demand involved some risk, as printing more would bring unit costs down, but run the risk of unused or outdated printed matter if demand was overestimated. Estimating on the underside would conversely leave the client without required printed matter, and a potentially costly offset print run, if additional volumes required were low.

Digitisation and Print On Demand
The emergence of digital printing has been a boon for clients requiring smaller scale print jobs. As the name “Print On Demand” suggests, digital printing allows a client to order quantities of their print job as and when required. It bypasses the need for the printing plates required by offset and other types of traditional printing methods. Ink and laser printing are well known types of digital printing.

Time Benefit
Good operators can offer quick turnaround times for digital printing jobs. Working with a digital image avoids the setup delays of offset printing, but the quality of the finished product is still very high.

Variable Data Printing
Another advantage of digital printing is being able to add variation to each print made. This has several applications. Unique numbering or naming is one. Different prints can also be tailored or personalised for different clients or end users. Other features like type of binding can also be varied for otherwise similar pieces.

Online Advantages
In the internet age there are additional advantages of digital printing. One can now easily send designs or plans of work to be printed to digital printers via email, saving a trip to a physical outlet. Amendments to any potential print job can therefore be quickly finalised. This gives the consumer the possibility of a fast turnaround.

Digital printing has brought convenience, speed, flexibility and versatility to modern print users. Services cover brochure printing, booklets and the like. With digital printing being able to cater to differing volume requests, users will never look back.

The Wonders Of Modern Day Printing is a post from: Dark Horse Articles