Can you get full color business cards cheaper than Vistaprint?

Vistaprint is famous for their free business cards. However, they come to you printed with Vistaprint advertising. For a serious business, this is not an option. It just doesn’t make a good impression when you hand out business cards that screams “I’m too cheap to pay for business cards!”

Vistaprint offers what they call premium business for $19.99 and up. 1,000 will run $39.99 for color on one side. Printing on the back side is optional ($13). The paper is a rather flimsy 80# glossy card stock. It’ll cost $60+ for the same one sided cards on 100# stock.

If you search the web, you’ll find many printing companies that can offer these cards to you for less. Way less. For example, nationwideprinting.com offers 1,000 business cards this month for $15. These are high quality cards printed on 14 point coated two sides card stock. That’s 40% thicker than 100# glossy cover stock. Plus, printing on the back side is included. And the price also includes high gloss UV coating on one side. You’d have to pay Vistaprint more than $70 for the same cards, and you’d still get a thinner card and UV coating isn’t even available.

So when you need business cards, don’t just automatically go to Vistaprint. There are many good quality, less expensive alternatives out there.

A friend asked me the other day if it was too late to order custom greeting cards. His company made a last minute decision to send out cards and he was worried they wouldn’t get to their destinations before Christmas and Hanukkah.

The good news was that his run quantity was relatively small, only about 150 cards. Too small a run to offset print, I suggested going the digital route. They can generally be done in 2 to 3 days after proof approvals. You can choose whether you want to include matching envelopes.

He put in an order this morning and they’re scheduled to ship to him on Wednesday or Thursday. He’ll receive them on Thursday or Friday and he plans to get them into the mail by the weekend. If the Postal Service does it’s job, they should start arriving on the 19th of the month.

Larger quantities will require offset printing your holiday greeting cards. Turn around times are a bit longer, up to 5 days, depending on the job specifications. They can also be bulk-mailed to your recipients. It’s likely though that if you order them now, they’ll start arriving at their destinations just after the 25th.

High quality postcards are ideal for a mailing campaign. They’re useful for point of purchase displays and also to promote your product at a trade show.

Thick paper is recommended (at least 14 points) and for maximum impact, specify full color on both sides. An aqueous coating gives them that extra high quality look.

5,000 offset printed postcards for less than $99? Check out nationwideprinting.com for this special deal. Other quantities available too.

We know that it’s possible to get really cheap business cards online. These cards usually have the name of the printer on the back of the card. In effect, you get the cards for very little money (sometimes just the cost of shipping) and each time you hand out your business card, you are competing with yourself by also advertising the name of the printing company.

It is possible to get inexpensive business cards online without having to advertise the name of the printer. For example, until September 16, you can order business cards from nationwideprinting.com for as low as $7 without having to put their name on your cards. Check out offset printed business cards for $7.

If you’re looking for a small quantity of buisness cards or postcards, look for digital printing: Although the per-piece cost is higher than traditional offset printing, up-front costs are much lower. The upshot is that at small quantities, usually less than 500, digital printing will save you money.

For example, nationwideprinting.com is offering 25% off digital business cards and postcards this week.

Check out the specials at nationwideprinting.com this week. There are some great deals on both offset printed and digitally printed business cards and postcards!

nationwideprinting.com is offering 25% off digital business cards this week and a monthly special on offset business cards. What’s the difference between offset and digital?

In a nutshell, it’s the type of machine or press used to print the cards. On a traditional offset press, much of your printing costs are loaded up front, setting up the press, inks, make-ready runs, etc. Offset printing costs more for short runs, but is very economical for longer runs. (Usually 500 to 1,000 or more).

Digitally printed business cards are run on large commercial toner-based printer/presses (sometimes also ink-based). Files are transmitted directly to the press (unlike offset, where files are imaged to printing plates). Digital printing typically costs more per “click” but have low up-front costs. The result is a more economical business card at low quantities that offset can’t touch. At higher quantities, digital becomes more expensive than offset.

If you only need a few business cards, let’s say between 25 and 250 check out digitally printed business cards. For larger quantities, offset printing is the way to go.

Check out the specials at nationwideprinting.com this week. There are some great deals on both offset printed and digitally printed business cards!

Careful preparation of PDF files is important for a press job. Firstly, the PDF file must be high resolution. If you’re creating a PDF file from an Adobe application such as inDesign, choose the “For Press” option or better when creating a PDF. From other applications such as Quark, Do not downsample below 300 dpi (in general) and don’t compress.

Make sure that you preserve the correct color settings; If you’re creating a four-color project, your PDF file should be CMYK. (Cyan-Magenta-Yellow and Black) If you have spot colors in your project, ensure that the spot colors are preserved when creating the PDF file.

If the document has bleeds (your page prints to the edge of the sheet), please add them to your PDF file. Extend your artwork at least 1/8″ past the edge of the sheet. You can leave crop and registration marks on or off. If you leave them off, we can add them prior to imaging plates.

As always, it’s best to consult your commercial printer BEFORE you begin work on your project. It will save valuable time and $$!

If you’re planning an offset printing job, here’s a short checklist…

Before you even begin, make sure that your printer can handle the files you plan to use. This isn’t an issue when you use the industy standard Adobe products or Quark Xpress, but if you’re designing in any other format, ask first! Also make sure that you’re using a version that your printer has. Most printers accept PDF files, so if your software can create correct PDF files, you’ll be in good shape.

When placing graphics elements into your page layout software, DON’T cut and paste, place!

Ink selections are more important with offset printing. Remember that each spot color equals one printing plate, one special ink mix, one press make-ready/setup, one “run” through the press. So, if you’re specifiying for example Pantone 186, make sure there is only one Pantone 186 in your swatch pallette. Having different versions of the same color in your pallette will result in each of those colors generating a separate printing plate. At best, your printer will correct the problem, but at worst, the files will be referred back to you for corrections and you’ll lose time.

If you’re printing in process colors, it’s not so critical. Spot colors can be converted to process colors by simply setting the ink color as a process color from your page layout program. Bear in mind that the closest CMYK equivalent to many spot colors can look very different.

Make sure that your spot colors match when placing graphics into your page layout. While newer versions of page layout software are getting pretty good at realizing that PANTONE 186 C and PANTONE 186 U are exactly the same on a press, it’s not the case if you’re printing PANTONE 186 C in your page layout, and the linked graphic specifies “Red”. You’ll end up with two red plates, one for “Red” and another for “PANTONE 186 C”.

Linked graphics: Repeat after me: “NO RGB, NO RGB, NO RGB!” Almost all digital cameras and scanners default to images captured in RGB mode. If your project will print in full CMYK color, convert the graphic to CMYK mode. RGB black will have a cyan, yellow and magenta component as well as black. Printing an RGB element’s black separation will ignore the cyan, magenta and yellow components. RGB black translates to about a 90% black for offset printing. If you’re printing a black and white photo, it will result in a duller, washed out photo. If you’re printing in color, only the black separation will print and you’ll end up with a dull, washed out black and white photo instead of color. Most printers will make the conversions for you if you only have a few photos, but large projects with many linked graphics will start costing you $$ if you don’t do it right in the first place. Furthermore, you’ll have no control over the conversion if you don’t do it yourself, and you may not like the results.

Bleeds: If you project prints to the edge of the sheet, extend your layout at least 1/8″ past the edge of your sheet. This is especially important if you’re providing print ready PDF files to your printer. The printer would have to edit your files to accommodate the bleed, or trim the job a bit smaller.

Many of these issues can be corrected by your offset printer if you’re providing the original files, linked graphics and fonts. Depending on the complexity of the corrections, you may incur extra charges. However, if you’re providing a print-ready PDF, it’s vitally important to make sure the PDF if correctly made.

Design your project with the final outcome in mind. For example, will there be a fold? Try not to place elements where the sheet will fold. If you’re designing using spot colors, try to minimize two light colors from having to trap to each other. It will result in “halos” where the two colors come together. If you’re pushing an unreasonable deadline, avoid heavy ink coverage that may take extra time to produce. The more complex the job, the longer it will take to produce, and will usually cost more.

Above all, stay in touch with your printer during the design process, don’t worry about asking questions… Your printer will appreciate that you’re making the effort to ensure a smooth process.

For more information on offset printing, click here.

This short video shows the offset printing process in a nutshell.

• After artwork is finalized, the art is sent to a platesetter where a plate is output for each color on each side of the sheet.
• The press operator starts the make-ready:

The plates are hung on the press

The press is set up for the sheet size and thickness

The ink fountains are inked up

The press operator begins to dial-in the color density required

• After the make-ready, the job is run

This is just a simple demonstration of a simple letterhead job in red ink and black ink. More complex jobs, such as those with heavy ink coverage, bleeds and more ink colors use essentially the same procedure; make-readys just take more time.

Click here to get quotes on offset printing

In general, don’t use Word files for offset printing. Microsoft never intended Word to be used for offset printing applications. Aside from quality issues, Color Word files can’t be separated into spot colors, only printed in 4 color process. If you have to use Word to create a file to send to your offset printer, here are a few things to look out for:

• If your project is going to print in one color, set up your Word file in black and white!  Your color choice can be incorporated on the press in your color choice in place of black. If you set up a color in Word, it can only be separated into the 4 primary color components: Cyan, yellow, magenta and black. For example, if you set up your word file in a medium blue. Let’s say that the blue’s color components are 80% cyan, 30% magenta, 20% black. If your offset printer uses the black separation, he/she will only get a 20% tint of what you’re expecting. Even if the cyan plate is used in this example, only 80% of solid can be achieved. Even if the job is converted to grayscale, the blue won’t translate into a solid color and you’ll have a tint instead of a solid where you expect it. Offset printers have tools to convert Word files for suitability with offset printing, but it could take some work, and it’ll cost money.
• If you want more than one color from a Word file, it’s full color or nothing! Color word files can only be printed in full 4 color process. Word is not capable of creating files that can be separated into spot colors. Given the typical quality of a file created by Word for offset printing, it’s a waste to spend on four color process printing.
• Convert your Word files to PDF before you send them to your printer. It’ll avoid unexpected formatting changes. Your offset printer won’t know if it’s what you intended.

If you want the best results for your offset printing project, use the proper tools. For page layout, the industry standards are Adobe inDesign or Quark Xpress. For vector art, it’s Adobe Illustrator, and for bitmapped files, it’s Adobe Photoshop. Sure, you can use other capable programs, but not all printing companies support them.

For more information on offset printing click here