Large Quantity Printing

[b_esc]

<p>I have a client who wants to have a large number of calendars printing and another who is doing a cook book and along with the photos these clients want me to supply the prints as well. I havent agreed to it yet, I wanted to think about it a little more. Is there any printing companies that do bulk print orders at a discount?</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>What is a large number? 500? 50,000?<br /><br />What country are you in?</p>

[b_esc]

<p>Around 250-500 and I am in Canada.</p>

[studio460]

<p>I would say for 250 units and under, consider an Indigo Digital Press. Indigo is a four-color instant printing process good for short-run printing. Quality is virtually as good as process color (a.k.a. traditional, four-color offset printing). As you approach 500 units, traditional four-color offset printing will become more economical.</p>

<p>Photos and graphics are typically combined in a page-layout application such as Adobe's InDesign, or QuarkXPress. If you've never prepared files for offset printing, it's best left to an experienced designer. Preparing your files for four-color offset printing requires an additional step called "pre-press," and may be performed for you by the service bureau at perhaps $150/hour. However, the actual design and layout of the calendar would require a graphic designer (unless you find a printer already set-up with pre-designed templates which fit your requirements).</p>

<p>Total set-up, color-separations, etc. may run as high as $1,000, plus a per-piece stock and printing charge (e.g. $0.22, $1.74, $4.39, depending on stock and UV coating: e.g., 100# cover, ChromCoat, etc.). Four-color offset printing is pricey for short runs, but far more economical for large runs (e.g., 1,000-100,000+). You also can run your job as a "tag along" to a larger run from another customer--you'll see these types of runs being "sold" in the print-oriented trade press at often a substantial discount. Shop around: four-color offset has become more competitive in recent years, and my pricing data may be somewhat out of date.</p>

[studio460]

<p>I did a quick Google search and found an online printer [printpelican.com] that offers calendar templates. Depending on your desired options, here's some rough quotes for four-color offset:<br>

<br /> Size: 8.5" x 11"; 23 pages; Quantity: 250; stock: 80# text; coating: none = $1,412 USD<br /> Size: 8.5" x 11"; 23 pages; Quantity: 250; stock: 100# cover; coating: UV = $1,609 USD<br /> Size: 8.5" x 11"; 23 pages; Quantity: 500; stock: 80# text; coating: none = $2,024 USD<br /> Size: 8.5" x 11"; 23 pages; Quantity: 500; stock: 100# cover; coating: UV = $2,161 USD</p>

<p>You can run your own quotes on their online pricing calculator located here: http://www.printpelican.com/calendar-11-8.html</p>

<p>Personally, I wouldn't order anything less than 100# (hundred-pound) cover stock, plus UV or aqueous coating.</p>

[studio460]

<p>Also, if you do your own file prep, you need to supply any typeface libraries used, for every version of the typeface used (e.g., you cannot simply "bold" a typeface in the application, you must also have the bold <em>version</em> of that typeface), and specify any spot or process colors using the electronic Pantone swatch reference numbers in your page layout program. Again, if you're unfamiliar with pre-press, have someone else do it, or you may have some unexpected results when the shipment returns from the printer.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

[studio460]

<p>I said:</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Total set-up, color-separations, etc. may run as high as $1,000, plus a per-piece stock and printing charge (e.g. $0.22, $1.74, $4.39, depending on stock and UV coating: e.g., 100# cover, ChromCoat, etc.).</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I was thinking one-sheets--a multiple-page document like a calendar will <em>start</em> at about $4.00 per piece.</p>