The $ factor - things to consider when
budgeting printing costs.
There are a number of variables influencing the cost of any given print
job. You may not realise it but short run jobs have a higher cost per unit
than high run jobs, and good writing and design can make or break the
success of the printed message. Then there are questions like, "should I
spend the extra for high impact colour?" and, "should I go with the
cheapest printer I've found to do my job?" When the time is taken to
consider these factors it is possible to enhance the cost-effectiveness of
your printing requirements to ensure your business stretches its printing
dollar as far as possible.
The first and arguably, most important way to ensure money is being
well spent is to make sure the target audience has been identified. If the
printed job's message is written and designed with it's intended target
audience in mind it is far more likely you will receive a positive
response. For example, your company may decide it wants to produce a
promotional flyer advertising its services.
In this case questions to ask may include:
• what age-group
and income bracket will be reading this?
• will our existing
customers need a copy or should it specifically target new customers
only?
• will an informational style best appeal to the target
audience, or would an persuasive argument or inspirational style be
better?
• what kind of images and design will best reflect my
business.
Making the effort to plan like this can make all the difference for the
success of the project. The bottom line is this - it doesn't cost any more
money to print and distribute a publication that someone will read than it
costs to print a publication that everyone will immediately chuck out!
The cost per unit of your printing job is the next thing to consider
when in the planning stage. We are often asked, "I only want 500 instead
of 1000 so why isn't the price half as much?" The answer lies in the
process required to set up a job on the printing press. The set up or
'make ready' is the preparation time taken on the press to get the machine
to the stage where it is making good copies.
Lets take an example of a two colour corporate letterhead. If
non-standard colours are required, the printer must mix the inks from
basic component colours to a precise formula (think colour mixing paint at
your local hardware). The mixed ink is then applied to the press rollers
and the machine is run till a uniform layer is acheived.
Next, plates are produced and fitted to the press. The cost to produce
plates varies depending on the type of plate (metal or plastic) and
whether film is required. After the plates are in place the first
'pull' is made to get the initial prints from the press. The first prints
are almost never perfectly aligned or have correct ink densities, so the
printer will spend some time adjusting the press. Once the fine tuning is
done then the production run can begin.
The whole make-ready process can take up to half an hour or in some
cases longer and no matter what quantity is being the entire process has
to be performed for each job. In the case of a short run print job the
make-ready charge is always a larger percentage of the total job cost than
for a large run and so the basic unit cost is higher. So if you're print
job repeats without changes, for example a tax invoice book, it will be
more cost effective to buy a year's supply rather than order two to three
times a year at smaller quantities.
The third point to consider when planning is to consider the beneits
and costs of adding colour to your project. The use of colour can
dramatically increase the effectiveness of your intended message. Studies
indicate that colour enhances learning and recall by as much as 70%, and
can help sell ideas 50 to 85% more effectively than black and white. New
printing technology allows modern commercial printers to offer colour,
from a single accent colour to full colour, at more affordable prices than
in the past.
A cost saving tip in this category is to ensure that you run as many of
your printed items that use an accent colour at the same time. For
example, business cards, letterheads, with compliments slips and envelopes
that all use the same colours. The reason for this is that you will avoid
repeated wash-up charges for the amount of time it takes to clean the
rollers on the press from the previous colour. This is another standard
fee that is included in the make-ready charge.
Another option to try when employing colour is using tinted papers in
combination with black or dark coloured ink. This can be an inexepensive
and effective way to get away from the tired black and white look.
Sometimes however, you know what you really need is full colour, but to
print 500 copies (the standard minimum quanity) would be a waste as you're
only likely to use 100. Enter the digital colour copying machine. We can
print upwards of 1 copy at variable rates (see the digital copying
section) in vibrant full colour which enables you to tailor the quantity
to suit your needs and budget.
The final way in which money can be saved or squandered lies in which
printer you chose to print your job. When it comes to quoting for printing
several different methods are used. One way is to determine the cost of
the paper for the job and then to multiply this by a 'magic' number to
arrive at the total amount to be charged. More scientific methods divide
the costs between all the components of the printing process (plates,
film, wash-up, make-ready, press run time etc.) and make an estimate based
on the flat rate cost or time it will take to complete each component.
The result of so much calculation is that there is invariably a great
variability in prices quoted from print shop to print shop. So if you were
to phone five print shops and request a quote on a project, you are likely
to get five fairly widely disparate prices. So at this point the punter
has two options. One is to go with the lowest quote, however, you may want
to consider a few risks. Are they pricing their work below the actual
costs without realising it? Will a cheap price mean I will end up with a
'cheap' looking end product? Will I have to wait, and wait, and then wait
some more before I can pick the job up?
The other option is to go with the printer who is quoting what you
believe to be a fair price and with whom you can be confident that when
you need help on a project, that the printer will be able to give it. The
same buyer beware principles apply in the printing industry as with
elsewhere, and at the end of the day ink on paper isn't just ink on
paper.
Other clues that will tell you what kind of value and service you might
expect from your chosen printer are:
• What type of projects do they specialise in and typically
produce? Not much good ringing a printer who specialises in newspaper
printing if your after a business card.
• What is the quality of
samples displayed?
• What is the maximum pages size and do they
have multi-colour presses on the premises?
• Who do the have as
clients?
• Is the premises clean. Are the staff polite. Do they
seem to possess a good knowledge of the industry?
As with other aspects of business life, with a bit of care you can
budget to make things work better for you and improve your bottom line.
With a bit of knowledge up your sleeve, and after a bit of homework, it is
possible to put the company's printing dollar to its best possible use. If
you would like any further information on this topic, please do not
hesitate to contact our staff for assistance.
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