Choosing a Commercial Printer

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If you are located in the Triangle area of North Carolina – Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, you have a large number of commercial printers to choose from. The following are some of the things you should consider in making your choice. You can learn about these by talking to the companies, reviewing their website, and speaking with their customers.

Customer Service – who will you be talking with on a day to day basis? In addition to providing quotes, can they offer general printing advice and information, and assist you in choosing paper and other options. Will they work with you to meet your cost and time constraints?

Design Services – does the company offer in-house design services? What is the background and experience of the individuals who provide these services?

Prepress/Proofing – does the company support the computer hardware and software that you use? Can they receive these files electronically? What will be the additional cost of viewing job proofs?
Presses – what type of printing presses does the company have? What is the largest format that they can handle?

Finishing – what finishing options does the company offer? What types of binding are available? Do they offer collating, folding, drilling, mounting , and other choices? Are these provided in-house, or do they send the materials out?

Pickup and delivery – are they offered?

Environment – what steps, if any, does the company to mitigate its environmental impact?