Our Recommended Commercial Printing Companies:

Here are some important things to compare when looking for in a commercial printing company.

1. Check For Quality Work - Quality with digital commercial printing can vary widely also.  Talk to a salesperson at the company you are considering and ask to see some physical samples in the mail.  Look at the companies artwork and see what their equipment is capable of printing.  Find out what DPI the company typically prints at for the particular product you are considering.  Compare these numbers with different companies.

2. Find Out the Turnaround Time - Turnaround times vary widely with commercial printing companies.  Make sure you find out exactly what those times are before you commit to working with a specific company.  Also, the turnaround times can vary within a company depending on what product you are printing. 

For instance, perhaps the company you are considering has a 24 hour turnaround time on business cards, but takes 2 weeks to print catalogs.  Find out those specifics.  If waiting for a long turnaround costs you extra money, it might not be worth the savings to wait for your printing job to be completed.

3. Shop Around For Low Costs - Companies vary widely in pricing also.  Shop around for promotions.  Many companies will offer specials on certain products. 

As an example, if you are looking to print brochures, a commercial printing company may be running a special on brochures of 20% off or the first 100 brochures for free.  It’s crucial to shop around and compare quotes between companies, especially if you are starting with a short run.  Short runs have some of the widest ranges in pricing between companies.

Commercial Printing Companies Have Different Specialties - Commercial printing companies vary widely depending on their specialty.  Some companies specialize more in large runs, others in short runs, some in postcards and brochures and others CD or DVD covers and inserts and so on.  Take the time to shop around for the best quality for your money.

Here are our recommended CD & DVD cover and insert printing companies online:

There are quite a few little details that are important to cover before you print a cd or dvd cover or insert. There are a lot of little things that can go wrong and cause you to have to re-run your printing job. This adds a lot of unnecessary costs and can cause you to double the expense of your project.

Check spelling and grammar carefully. Make sure you carefully check the spelling and grammar on the text of your cover or insert. This is one oft overlooked thing. Even when you think you have checked the cover or insert carefully, missing one thing can cause you to have to rerun the project.

Shop around. Compare at least 5 quotes on your printing costs. Make sure the companies printing quality is excellent before you commit.

Order a physical sample proof. There are a lot of little details that you can miss when checking your text, design and artwork online. Order a physical proof in the mail so that you can see what the finished product will look like.

Consider the turnaround time. Consider the turnaround time that printing company offers. Turnaround times vary widely from company to company. You will want to take that into consideration before you commit.

Spend the extra time and money on design. Make sure the design, layout and artwork are professionally done, even if you use a template. The cover art on a cd or dvd make a big impression on the customer. If you aren’t sure which direction to go with the design, its better to go more simple than to choose a design that might be unappealing and less professional to your customer.

Don’t lose money reprinting your next printing job. There are many factors to a printing job that are often overlooked. There are many variables that can go wrong that end up costing a lot of money after re-printing a job.

Whether you are planning on printing, flyers, banners, booklets, catalogs, brochures, postcards, calandars, letterhead or CD & DVD covers, make sure you have done all of the following:

1. Carefully Check The Spelling on Your Artwork - This is one of the most frequent causes of having to re-run a printing job. Take time to carefully go over the text in your brochure, business card, cd or dvd cover art, insert or sleeve and any other printed material with text on it.

2. Consider the Turnaround Time - Companies vary widely on turnaround time. Sometimes printing companies can take weeks to accomplish a project that other can companies can do in just a few days. Some printing companies specialize in overnight turnarounds. Consider what your timing needs are and shop around for a company that meets those needs.

3. Pricing - Consider pricing on the larger orders even when you are starting with a small run. People will often continue to order with a more expensive company since it’s the company that already has their artwork on file, they’ve already worked with them, etc. - Its just easier. So, take those factors into account ahead of time and consider the pricing on the larger orders before you even start to work with a printing company.

4. Spend The Extra Time (or money) on Design - A professional, sharp looking design is crucial for every business. It is difficult to overcome the negative impression made on a customer by poorly & cheaply designed brochures, letterhead, postcards, banners, posters, DVD & CD cover art, inserts and more. Shop around for the most talented graphic designer you can find. The high quality presentation to your customers will pay you back and more.

5. Order a Physical Sample Proof of Your Print Before You Start The Job - It may seem that you only need to view your samples online, but many times the product looks different when you are looking at a physical copy of it. If you are printing business cards or a basic postcard, it may not be necessary, but if you are doing something more complex like a calandar, brochures, posters, catalogs, CD or DVD labels, covers or inserts, then you should order a physical copy.

6. See if You Can Save Money By Using a Template - Although getting a custom design from a talented coder is best, if your business uses a common theme, then you might be able to get away with using a template. If the template looks professional, you can save yourself potentially hundreds of dollars in designer fees.

7. Use Standard Sizes - When printing, make sure you use standard sizes in order to get the lowest pricing.

8. For Small Runs, Use Digital Printing - Digital printing is the way to go for most small businesses and small printing runs. With digital printing there is very little setup expense.

9. Use Lighter Paper - If you can, use lighter weight paper to save money. For brochures 130 gsm should be enough and 300 gsm for business cards.

10. Look for Promotions - Many printers are offering major discounts for first time customers. Printing companies will often offer a package discount on a certain amount of business cards or brochures. Do a search online for promotions on the printing products you need. Some companies even offer a certain amount of printed products for free with the purchase of another printed product. Just make sure the quality of the prints are good. Don’t forget to ask for that sample proof in the mail!

Top Recommended Printing Companies Online