printing postcard pro/high volume

[michael_bach1]

Do any of you print postcard professional/high volume , what

setup do you print with. Is ther any good links about postcard

production in general.

Dos it make sens to make a home production line, I have a

Epson 1160, nice printer ,but maybe not the right tool for volume

production.

Any comments are welcom.

[Spearhead]

Most inkjet printing isn't particularly compatible with the handling equipment that the post office uses. You will get smears and track marks, from everything I have seen. Also, the costs are quite high compared to a real press. I pay about 17 cents a postcard for 4/1 cards printed on a Heidelberg press. Figuring 50% margin, you would have to be printing for 8.5 cents a finished card. So you have both quality and cost issues.

[kelly_flanigan1]

Jeepers; this is one area there are hundreds of printers; with decades of experience. Only with a micro batch of specialized cards would you be able to even beat their prices. One could make ones own nails; paper; ink; lenses too. If one plots the postcard printers prices on a graph; many times it is y=mx+b; a line that intercepts with the settup cost for a zero card run. The slope is just paper and ink. As Jeff mentioned; the paper and inks in inkjet dont always jive with postal machines. ALSO there is a thickness requirment too.

[gpdno]

As stated above you are really better off have the postcards done by a professional printer.

I have used www.4by6.com for a number of years with great sucess.

[michael_bach1]

Thanks a lot.

The post handling is a good point. The lowest price I have found

her in South Spain is 14 cent (?). 1000 for 140? (digital print)

and maybe even lower if I shop more.

 

Do you print/press company, print digital ore traditional, Is ther

any real world difrent - price, workflow, looks ect. And what

paper do you get you card don one. I plan to do the scaning, PS

work and so one may self.

 

I plane to make traditional photo postcard and

reproductions/photos of lokal artists paintings and dravings.

 

( And again is ther any good links about postcard production in

general)

 

regards

[Jochen_S]

Yes I do. - I'm working at a printshop on saturdays. MAN Roland 305 are good presses, especially if you have one with inline-clearcoat and "CCI" automatic color adjustment. These presses are doing 16 postcards per sheet in a speed between 6000 to 1200 s/h 8500 is reasonable. To use them for less than 5000 sheets per run isn't nice, but possible.

Get some computer to plate too, to be really happy.

 

Beware of Heidelberg Quickmaster 46DI (8 cards and a 2nd pass for the backside, but computer to press, small and leight - only about 2.8 tons.

 

Heidelberg Printmaster GTO should be O.K., I don't know exactly how to operate them, but this press is a legend, still in production and incredible reliable low-tech. A singlecolor GTO should fit into your garage and with a good inkjetproof you might be able to produce quality 4c cards although coating them in a 6th pass might suck.

 

I'm surely neither the best nor most experienced offsetprinter in the world, but feel free to hire me at a moderate wage, I'm a bit unemployed and it's cold in Germany...

 

www.qsl.cz might be a link to cheap postcards. You might also try www.li-sprints.de - I suppose if you order 16 different cards at least 1250 each a backside without clearcoat should be affordable.

 

I didn't mention digital printing on Xerox or Indigo presses because I don't know enough about these processes to suggest them. Xerox prints feel a bit strange according to the fuser oil, so I'm not sure if such cards would be sellable.

 

IF you really like to inkjet your cards try to find some specialist to do UV coating of your prints. Nothing delivers higher gloss, I like it a lot.

 

Upon home production: If I assume offsetprinting on a 1c press, you'd need maybe about 25000 Euros to buy used gear and maybe a double garage to place it. I did a 3 year apprenticeship to become a printer and am not sure if I myself could produce high quality postcards on such a press. Doing 6 passes to gain 5000 sheets should be a very long working day, rather two with a small press, which shouldn't run faster than 6000 sheets per hour. You might need an other hour to change and adjust color and plates each time and don't forget the time needed to pile sheets in and out, fix minor trouble and so on. The prints should need time to dry, and you'll have to cut them.

Affordable gear usually wasn't made for fast small high quality runs under unexperienced operators. Postcards are a rather critical product, because the final consumer buys single ones, according to the beauty of the picture. - You would have less trouble producing some flyers, business cards or books.

 

I had no training in economics, but well, in a modern printshop the presses work 10-16 shifts per week, get ink and paper on bulk order discount and 2 men can print 32x5000 cards within 2h so starting such a business at home might be wrong.

 

On the other hand; there's a freak in Venice who succesfully sells prints produced on historic humanpowered presses. So maybe printing just the postcard essentials with a cheap worn out press on the back of fibre prints out of the wet darkroom could be a successful business too, but surely this is the wrong forum to suggest such a idea, although "handmade", "fine art", and "rare" are superior sales arguments and quality might justfy higher prices.

[michael_bach1]

Thanks a lot Jochen

 

It is a bit chilly her in Spain too.

 

Just the kind of information I am looking for, to make up my mind

and not to look to stupid when I eventuerly place ordres in the

local print shops.

 

Can you tell me more about UV coating of prints, evt price, ect.

 

The are printshops her in Cadiz with wery old and facinating

press machins that stil works well.

 

I make smal "handmade" art booklets on my Epson 1160 and

want to espand my business.

 

I am facinating about "freaks" that make business , so maybe

Handmade postcards is the way to goo.

 

And a sheet is it A3 ore A2.

 

regards

[wayne_lo]

I recommend www.48hourprint.com or www.4over4.com

 

Human interaction, customer service is a definite bonus with these guys. ESPECIALLY when

meeting a tight turnaround deadline and getting the print RIGHT!

Good quality prints. Quick turnarounds.

 

fyi: I used to recommend 4by6.com, but ...

their customer service is horrible, they've proven pretty unreliable as far as delivery, they

have a tendency to upgrade people to Satin finish (which takes longer and costs more, but

is nice) without asking ... and then charge the extra money too!

 

Pretty inhuman, faceless and faithless.