Best Practices for Quality Printing

What should I know about working with my local print shop?

Today’s local print shop can give you the best of both worlds – local service with a quick turnaround and online ordering without shipping costs.

Although online ordering will serve you well in the long-term, you may want to consider dropping in to meet the folks at the print shop before you hire them. You’ll have the opportunity to form a solid personal relationship, let them know what print solutions you’re looking for, what you’re looking for in a printing company and you can even review examples of their commercial printing projects. Checking for and understanding how eager they are to provide you with budget-friendly and quality printing solutions for your company is something that can be accomplished, quickly and easily in person. Investing in an initial half hour meeting could result in an easy and fruitful long-term business relationship with the print company.

Often, following the printing company’s guidelines can make your projects faster, cheaper and more successful. Here are several questions to ask:

What types of print solutions do they specialize in? For instance, some commercial printing companies pride themselves in their quick turnaround for postcards, while others specialize in social printing, such as wedding and birthday invitations.
Do they specialize in a certain market? Does your company fall into that market category? Might your competitors see your print jobs when they stop by the shop?
In which format do they need you to submit your files? What is the average turn around time? Does this change depending on which day you submit your file? If you know that you can see a faster turn around if your company printing files are sent on a specific day, wouldn’t you change your deadline to that day? In addition, find out how firm their deadlines are.
Do they have an option to pay extra for a rush job? What does rush mean to them?
Will they deliver? If so, do you have to be there to receive the delivery? What are the hours for pick up?
In addition, some print shops may have templates you can work with. They may also have graphic designers whom they trust and work with on a regular basis. Sometimes they can even pass on a discount or put you to the front of the queue.
If your company already employs a graphic designer to design your commercial printing jobs, what’s the best way for that person to work with the print shop? For instance, can you place the order while the designer uploads the file? What is the time frame in which you can replace the file if you’ve made a mistake?
Will you have an account manager who will get to know you and your company’s needs? Perhaps they can even call you when they have specials on print services you use most often.
You will also want to know what payment options the print shop will accept. Do they take personal or company checks? Do they take the type of credit card your company uses for its print services? What if you need to pay cash? Can you coordinate that with your online order? In addition, if you work for a non-profit organization and want to register your tax exempt status, you will need to find out how to do so, BEFORE you place your first company printing order.
Keep this list on hand and you’ll know quickly which commercial printing company might provide you with the best print solutions and the type of quality printing you desire.