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Commercial Printing
You can have only two of those qualities. You can't have all three.
The internet has enabled many commercial printers to go national. You use their website to send them the job you want printed--a business card, brochure, or whatever.
I've used several internet printers. My favorite is a place in Montana called PrintingforLess.com, and have been very happy with them. Excellent service. I'm sure there are other companies just as good or better, but that's the one I stumbled across. Montana is not a place with lots of traffic, but on the web, that doesn't matter. People can find you on the web, no matter how remote your physical location.
The internet printers come close to combining quality, price, and speed. I can send a job to Montana and get the same quality, speed, and often a better price, than I could get locally. But the quicker you want it, the higher the cost. And then there's shipping. That's the big elephant you need to factor in.
Quick Print Shops
Quick-print places, like Pip Printing and Kinkos, are like the foodmart at the gas station--convenient, but more expensive. However, many churches and businesses use these places for nearly all of their printing needs. And they're paying for it.
One of the big advantages of places like Kinkos is that they can do small quantities. With a commercial printer, you probably don't want to think about a press run of less than 1000. But if you need 50 notebooks put together, Kinkos is your place.
Some quick-print places have a central printing plant where they do offset printing. Others farm-out higher-quality printing jobs to commercial printers. You could probably save money by going directly to them.
Quick-print shops are a valuable resource for a variety of printing needs. They can especially provide some good options with their expensive photocopiers, including the use of color. And they can do business cards quickly and cheaply.
- Quality and price. If you want good quality but don't want to pay very much, a commercial printer will work it into the production schedule when he can. That means you may not get it very fast.
- Quality and speed. If you want good quality and you want it done quickly--you're going to pay for it. That's what the quick-print places, like Pip and Kinko, offer--good quality and speed, but at a steeper price than you'll pay elsewhere.
- Speed and good price. If you want something done quickly and cheaply, you'll sacrifice quality. This is where a photocopier fits.
The internet has enabled many commercial printers to go national. You use their website to send them the job you want printed--a business card, brochure, or whatever.
I've used several internet printers. My favorite is a place in Montana called PrintingforLess.com, and have been very happy with them. Excellent service. I'm sure there are other companies just as good or better, but that's the one I stumbled across. Montana is not a place with lots of traffic, but on the web, that doesn't matter. People can find you on the web, no matter how remote your physical location.
The internet printers come close to combining quality, price, and speed. I can send a job to Montana and get the same quality, speed, and often a better price, than I could get locally. But the quicker you want it, the higher the cost. And then there's shipping. That's the big elephant you need to factor in.
Quick Print Shops
Quick-print places, like Pip Printing and Kinkos, are like the foodmart at the gas station--convenient, but more expensive. However, many churches and businesses use these places for nearly all of their printing needs. And they're paying for it.
One of the big advantages of places like Kinkos is that they can do small quantities. With a commercial printer, you probably don't want to think about a press run of less than 1000. But if you need 50 notebooks put together, Kinkos is your place.
Some quick-print places have a central printing plant where they do offset printing. Others farm-out higher-quality printing jobs to commercial printers. You could probably save money by going directly to them.
Quick-print shops are a valuable resource for a variety of printing needs. They can especially provide some good options with their expensive photocopiers, including the use of color. And they can do business cards quickly and cheaply.
Add Your Own Thoughts. Please.