How to Find the Right Commercial Printer - Chuck Green

BY CHUCK GREEN Finding just the right commercial printer for a particular job is an exercise in narrowing: you identify the ideal printing process, you locate companies with the equipment to execute that process, and you identify people who know how to get the most from that equipment. When you find two or three companies that match the profile, a few common sense questions will narrow your picks to one.

What printing process?
Printing is a hugely complex field with a seemingly endless combination of equipment, skills and results. This is an article, not an encyclopedia so I'll narrow the focus to printing black and color inks on paper. And though letterpress, gravure and screen printing are perfectly acceptable ways to put ink on paper—offset lithography and photocopying are the processes you will likely find in abundance, nearby.

At the most basic level—if you are printing in black and white alone—a high-quality, high-speed
PHOTOCOPIER may provide you with perfectly adequate results. Systems such as Xerox's Docutech print at 600 dots per inch (dpi), on two sides of paper up to 11 by 17 inches.
If you are printing more than one color, if your piece includes high resolution (1200 dpi and up) output, photographs, and/or you are printing on paper (stock) with a rough surface, move up the ladder to an OFFSET DUPLICATOR. This is a miniature version of a full-sized offset lithographic press that can handle a finished size of roughly 11 by 17 inches. Different duplicators print different numbers of colors.

If you are printing four or more colors, the size of the finished piece exceeds 11 by 17 inches, and/or the quantity is 10,000 or over you're ready to graduate to a SHEET-FED OFFSET PRESS.
For quantities above 50,000, a faster press may save you some money. A WEB PRESS uses less expensive rolls versus sheets of paper. It may also be equipped to varnish, glue, cut and fold the piece automatically. A MINI-WEB PRESS offers increased speed at prices more in line with a sheet-fed press.

The offset duplicators, sheet-fed and Web presses are all capable of much the same quality, the real difference is one of speed. The more colors it prints and the faster is runs, the more a press costs and the more the printer must charge to run your job. The more complex the press the longer it takes to get the press up and running—good color, perfect registration, ink density, and so on—so bigger presses are generally cost effective for bigger quantities. The rule of thumb says you will get the best price on the smallest press that can handle your job. The exception is a printer with a larger press that is not busy, because a small job on a big press is better than no job at all.



Who has the right equipment?
Once you identify the process, get on the phone or Web and search for a company with the appropriate equipment. In addition to the presses and the number of colors they can handle, find out what other services and equipment each printer has to offer.

What prepress services does the printer offer? You may prefer a shop with a service bureau to output your computer files directly to film or plates, a shop that creates their own color separations, and a shop that has specific types of folding, die-cutting and binding equipment.

Ask if they specialize in a certain type of work or a range quantities. Much of what I offer here is opinion and your local printer may have a different one.

Who's running the show?
Fine instruments do not make great musicians. While the right equipment and facilities are a prerequisite, what separates a good printer from a mediocre one is a team of skilled people. And the only way to determine who has the best people is to hang up the phone and visit your short list of printers.

You can best gauge the talents of the team by looking at examples of their work. Look for good printing, not good design. The creative part of printing most often rests in the client's hands so a printer is more concerned with science than art. Check for bright and clean colors, for smooth, dense solid areas and text and images that are focused and clear.

Though it is by no means a rule, it is my experience that price is a fairly good gauge of quality. You don't need to be Gutenberg to figure out why. Busy presses are the name of the game. Because most folks buy printing only occasionally, they tend to accept a lower quality product—imprecise positioning, poor ink coverage, dull halftones, and so on.

Ask the right questions
Finally, once you have narrowed the field to two or three candidates that can produce the quality you need, it is time to get price and time estimates.
The adage is: quality, price and speed—you can have any two. Fast, cheap jobs net low quality—high-quality, less expensive jobs take more time, and so on. Tell the printer which two you are most interested in and then insist on a reasonable mix of all three.
For simple one color jobs, one price may be adequate. But beyond that, it is good to get at least two and often three estimates on jobs over a few hundred dollars. Even if I have worked with a printer over a long period of time, I bid jobs out to others from time to time to keep myself in touch with current pricing.

At minimum your printer will need to know the form of the artwork you will submit, the overall size of the piece, the finished/folded size, the number of colors on each surface, the quantity, the stock, and how you want it finished, folded, bound, packaged and shipped.

It also helps to show the printer an example of the quality you expect and the effects you are hoping to achieve. Tap the knowledge of the company you work with. Veteran sales people and their coworkers in the press room can provide you with a wealth of information and guidance.

There is nothing equal to seeing your creations in print. Narrow the field, find people who care about quality, ask good questions, and the right printer will make a good job, great.

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