Community FAQ: Choosing Who Prints Your Job
The sceptical questions a reader asks before choosing a printer, answered in general terms, with the choice of process left to the Resources page.
Questions a sceptical reader asks, answered briefly
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Is a local print shop more expensive than a web-to-print service?
We quote no prices, so we cannot say. Compare two written quotes for the same finished size, quantity and finish.
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Does the printer's location matter?
Less than you might think, since files can be sent anywhere. It matters for collecting a proof, so ask how the proof reaches you before you order.
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What is the difference between a trade printer and a local shop?
A trade printer may serve resellers only. Ask which kind of account a printer offers before you order, because the tax treatment depends on who the buyer is.
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How much does postage change the choice of printer?
Postage is a separate cost from printing and it changes with the mail class, weight and quantity. For the detail on current rates, see the USPS Price List, Notice 123.
Checking a printer's claims with your own file
The most direct test of a printer's claims is a proof of one page of your own artwork. On it, check the bleed, the safe margin and the photos. Bleed is the extra image that runs past the trim, which a university print shop's Print-Ready Checklist puts at 0.125 inch on every side. Photos should be 300 pixels per inch at print size, because enlarging a placed image lowers its effective resolution, as the same checklist notes.
Then compare the colour with what you expected. Screens show light in RGB and presses print in CMYK, as UVU's guide to setting up print files explains, so the colour on the proof is the one to approve, not the colour on a monitor. A problem found on a proof can be fixed before the run starts, which is easier than finding it on the finished stack.
Should you ask for a proof before a run?
Why the proof decides more than any other step
A proof is the one point where the file you sent is compared with the piece you will receive. A bleed missing on one side shows as a white edge, a text box too near the trim shows as a cut word, and a photo enlarged after placing looks soft. Each is easy to see on a proof and hard to see in an email attachment, so the proof is where the quality of the order is settled.
What to check on a proof, in order
Start with the trim and the bleed, since a line in the wrong place is the quickest error to see. Then check that text sits well inside the trim, then the photos, then the colours. Note anything to change before you approve the run.
When a proof matters less, and what that does not mean
A single-colour sheet of plain text with nothing near the edge carries less risk than a full-colour piece with photographs running to the edge. Less risk is not no risk, so ask for the proof even then, and read it against the file before you approve.
Local shop, web-to-print service or trade printer, set against the same checks
A local shop
You can see the equipment, hold a sample and ask about the proof face to face, which makes it easier to judge. Ask who checks the file and what they check. Price and turnaround are for the shop to state.
A web-to-print service
Orders start from an upload and a template, so the checks on bleed, margin and colour fall to you unless a proof is part of the order. Read what the proof covers, and whether it is a screen file or a printed sheet, before you pay.
A trade or wholesale printer
A printer need not collect sales tax on a sale for resale when it accepts a resale certificate in good faith, but a buyer using the print for its own business does not qualify. The Massachusetts regulation on printing sets out that rule, so confirm which kind of account applies before you order.