Don’t try printing this at home
Wednesday’s Production Tip for Graphic Designers
In an effort to save some money, people opt to print certain things off of their desktop printer. Last week we talked about some of those things that look okay when you print it off yourself.
After all, you are not going to get everything printed professionally. Right?
WARNING: Please, don’t attempt this at home!
Office supply stores now come equipped with a huge inventory of print products. You can buy pre-perforated (or pre-scored) paper for brochures, business cards, postcards, etc…
Unfortunately, the card stock is usually quite flimsy, the perforated edges show, and they are not laminated.
Also, when you examine these once printed, they will never look as good as when you get it professionally printed.
The problem is often because our home printers are not equipped to have the type and weight of paper that is commonly used by the pros. And they are not for professional use.
Things that you should never attempt to print yourself:
- Brochures: These look terrible because of the limitations of your printer. You can’t use bleeds (due to the printer’s margins), and you’ll have to score and fold them yourself. In the end, they’ll never look professional.
- Business cards: Those pre-perforated sheets you see at your local office supply store are not the same stock as traditional business cards (besides the fact that you can see that they were perforated). Plus, thanks to Print-On-Demand, it’s dirt cheap to get them professionally done.
- Envelopes: I’ve never seen any that looked good coming from a desktop printer. You sometimes see the tracks, they frequently jam, they sometimes print crooked and often the color bleeds through.
- Letterheads: If you use lots of these a year, it’s a good idea to get them professionally printed. On some nice paper stock.
- Postcards: Most home printers won’t accept the really thick card stock needed to do a good job. Plus, most Print-On-Demand places will also laminate one side at the very least.
C O N C L U S I O N :
Between the time spent on cutting and trimming some of these require (business cards and postcards) and the fact that you will have to purchase higher quality paper in order to print these, for some of the bulkier items, you should definitely go to a real printer if you can afford it.
It’s all about image, and you won’t look professional if you print these things out yourself.
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