How to work with a printer

There are almost as many different kinds of printers as there are different kinds of printing jobs.

The first step in choosing which printer to work with is to decide exactly what you want your final printed materials to be. Basically, this boils down to issues of quantity and quality.

Do you need 100 simple, black-and-white business cards and stationery? Or do you need 100,000 64-page, four-color, glossy booklets with die-cuts and embossing? Are you printing a newspaper? Or do you desire a two-color brochure printed in soy ink on high-quality, natural-fiber paper?There’s an infinite number of options. Obviously, no one printer is going to be ideal for them all.
A good rule of thumb to go by as you begin your selection process is the bigger the printer, the bigger the job it can handle. Size in this case means what kind of equipment it has. This can range from an imaging center with a number of photocopiers to the larger print houses with multimillion-dollar, six-color, 40-inch presses.
For quick, inexpensive business cards or letterhead, it’s best to go to a copy shop. There, even the shortest runs can go for as little as pennies per card or sheet of letterhead. Usually, they can offer inexpensive desktop publishing and design assistance. Design and pre-press services are generally available at all printers but, again, cost and quality varies according to size.
For higher-quality business cards and letterhead as well as brochures and short one- or two-color booklets, it’s best to consider a small print shop.
Their printers are more precise and versatile than photocopiers, and their selection of paper is often better than in copy shops. Many of these printers also can handle small four-color jobs.
The next stage is a two-color commercial printer. These specialize in larger, higher-quality jobs. Typically, these printers are more community-oriented. If you have to print a multipage newsletter to be distributed to a large mailing list, this is the kind of printer you might use.
After that come web-press printers. A web press is for very long runs on newsprint. All of the newspapers you read (including this one) were printed on a web press. Generally speaking, it’s a much more economical option for very long print runs.
Finally, there are the big commercial printers. Owning presses as big as 40 inches, these businesses offer the highest-quality printing in very large quantities. They also offer a wide selection of types of binding, embossing and die-cuts. Additionally, they boast more-sophisticated electronic pre-press services. Many even can print in four-color directly from computer disk.
Among this echelon of printers, one can find slight differences. Some specialize in high-quality brochures, posters and fliers, while others are geared more toward books and magazines.
Once you’ve decided the size and type of printer you need to work with, you’ll need to pick from several different businesses. At the lower end, your primary concern probably will be price. Call around and try to get the best deal you can find.
For higher-end print jobs, your concerns will be primarily with quality. You’ll want to choose a printer that has done the kind of job that you need done. Ask for a customer list or references. This will indicate whether the types of clients a certain printer has worked with are similar to your own business.
Visit their facilities. At any print shop, a selection of samples of recent work will be displayed in the waiting area. This will give you specific knowledge of the quality and type of work that they do.

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