While you’re busy planning your next print job do you know all the details we, as your printer, need to get you an accurate quote? We know that a lot of times you lean on our expertise to help you figure out how to execute your great idea and we love when that happens, but there are 7 key areas we wold like you to think about that are essential to getting a precise estimate.
- Project description. Is your piece a newsletter, booklet, flyer, etc? Where are how will the piece be used? If it’s large format is it for indoors or outdoors? Knowing this information will have an impact on what process and materials we’ll use to complete this project.
- Print files. Will you be supplying the files or do you need us to design something? If you’re supplying the files how will you be sending and what format are they in? What program were they created in? If you need us to design something that will open up another separate list of questions on a creative brief.
- Quantity. How many of these do you need? This information will help us determine if it’s better produced digitally or using our offset presses. Not sure of your quantity? Give us a few different quantities and we can price them all.
- Size. We know this is pretty basic, but we need to know what size the piece is when it’s laid flat and then what the finished (folded) size will be. For example if we’re printing some note cards for you and you want them to be 6” x 4” folded we would also need to know that they are 6” x 8” flat.
- Inks. Is this piece 1-color or 4-color, or somewhere in between? Do you want color on one side or both sides? Maybe you want it to be 4-color process on one side and 1-color on the other side. Maybe you’re trying to stick to brand guidelines and you need to use spot colors.
- Substrate. What type of paper do you want to use? For this piece of information it may be necessary for your sales rep to bring you some samples to give you a better idea of what you’re looking for. Don’t worry, that’s what we’re here for. To answer this question on large format jobs, how the piece will be used a lot of times dictates what material will work best.
- Finishing. Once we print your piece, do we need to cut it, fold it, die-cut it, etc?
These are the basics that need to be ironed out so that you get a price that’s accurate. Make sure to provide the exact same details to every printer you request a quote from so that you’re getting an apples to apples comparison. If you get quotes back that seems to vary a great deal in price, make sure you ask questions and confirm that the processes and paper products are the same from quote to quote.
Don’t worry, you’re not alone in this process, you New London sales rep can help you fill in the pieces to all these questions to ensure you get the perfect print job for your marketing needs!