BROCHURE PRINTING TIPS

Brochures, pamphlets and leaflets are a printed and folded piece of paper used as an advertising tool for business and organizations to sell products, services, promote their brand and corporate image.  They are designed to tell a story about the benefits, products and or services a business provides. Most businesses need cheap brochure printing to achieve their marketing objectives.   Color Printing Pros offers free tips on printing and designing a brochure at our Help Center.
Your brochure design determines the success of your promotion.
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Here are some design tips you should think about.
• Know your market and the competition before you design a unique brochure.
•  Don’t use more than 3 fonts, one for the heading, one for the subhead and one for the body copy. Make sure they are easily readable. Fine line serif fonts may not print well on busy or some come color backgrounds.
•  The paper stock should be at least 100 lb. book weight, 100 lb. cover weight or 14 pt. card stock. 16 pt. or heavier may crack when folded. For more information on choosing the right paper stock, read Choosing the Best Paper for Online Printing
• Avoid dark colored backgrounds on folds of heavier card stocks. They will call attention to any cracking.
•  Your design must be appropriate for the targeted market you want to reach. Ask yourself is the brochure for a handout at a trade show, to be mailed, used as a counter pickup or have some other use. Remember simple design works best.
•  Don’t try to impress the reader with fancy words or long detailed sentences.
Stay on point. Brochures should focus on the benefits to the customer. Explain how you product or service will make their life better. The reader doesn’t care about you or your company, Write as if you’re speaking with a friend.
 Remember brochures are a good way for professionals providing needed services to promote their businesses or practices.

CMYK VS. PANTONE COLORS

What is CYMK? Commercial color printing uses 4 colors, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, also referred to as process colors. It is theoretically possible to make about 10,000,000 colors using screens with tiny dots of each of the 4 colors from 0 – 100%.  The more dots the better detail. For high quality printing the standard number of dots per inch (DPI) is 300, some offer 500 DPI. Process inks are opaque and transparent so the can produce the desired color using different percentages of each of the four colors.

Pantone® is an international organization that established a matching color system, (PMS) using to describe each color. Pantone® colors have exact standards and formulas so the can be duplicated worldwide. This system is use by printers and designers in every field including paint, interior design, fabrics and where color is critical. Pantone® colors are made by ink manufactures for the print industry.  The ink is best described as “spot color”. Spot colors are colors that don’t require screens because these are applied as a solid color.  Spot colors cannot be created in CYMK or on your RGB computer screen. The only way to match them is using a Pantone® swatch book.

Color gamut is the range of colors that can be made in CYMK and RGB and other color matching systems. CYMK has the smallest color gamut; RGB has a larger gamut and other color less popular color systems where combinations of colors are used can only simulate PMS.

For very custom jobs only a few online printing services can combine process color and with PMS colors. This requires a printing press that can print 5, 6, 8 or more colors at the same time. These kinds of jobs are not inexpensive, but can achieve spectacular effects with brighter, richer colors and metallic or florescent inks. These additional PMS colors make a spectacular presentation the will not go unnoticed.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST PRINTING PAPER FOR ONLINE PRINTING

Choosing the best printing paper for your job can be confusing. Many new and experienced commercial print buyers ask “what’s the best or the cheapest printing paper you have”? It’s not really a stupid question and it’s asked all the time. Commercial printing is very competitive and price sensitive, so searching for the best value, not the cheapest price will improve your marketing success. The most important thing is to know what your choices are. Picking the correct stock for your job is vital to achieve your goals.The most popular standard stocks online printing services use are: 14pt card stock is impressive for business cards, postcards, trading cards or anything requiring a heavy card stock. It feels high quality in the hand. Anything less than 14 pt. feels flimsy and cheap. 16 pt card stock has the same characteristics but is slightly thicker than 14 pt. It’s a good choice that holds up well in a pocket or in the mail. Some online printers offer 16 pt. as a free upgrade.

16 pt silk card stock is more expensive but worth the price. It has a smooth silky feel that says upscale elegance; it’s perfect for luxury products, services and professionals. It’s an elegant option for business cards and postcard and sure to make a strong statement of quality.

100 lb book (text) is the high quality standard paper stock for flyers, brochures, newsletters and the inside pages for a catalog. This stock is thicker than the average magazine paper and the coating allows this paper to perform better on press for color and detail. 100 lb. gloss Book is commonly used for flyers, brochures and the inside pages of catalogs. Most printing services with modern presses should offer free aqueous coating and satin coating or overall UV coating options. Printing services that don’t offer aqueous coating have old presses.

100 lb gloss cover stock is an excellent for those who want a heavier weight. For the highest quality100 Lb cover should be available in both gloss and matte/dull aqueous coating. Cover stock for brochures, catalog and booklet covers, spec sheets and special properties real estate flyers.

70 lb uncoated text (book) is an affordable lightweight smooth bright white paper that produces color faithfully. 70 lb. is equivalent to 28 lb bond paper. It’s a good choice writing paper and letterheads and envelopes. Due to the fact that it’s uncoated and absorbs ink into the fiber it should not be use for printing dark color over large areas which may have see trough on the back side of the sheet;

70 lb linen text (book) has a textured finish that is embossed after the paper is manufactured. It has the look and feel of linen fabric that makes it perfect to present as an elegant and impressive writing paper. It can be written on and is laser and inkjet printer friendly. It’s a top of the line choice for letterheads and envelopes. Linen paper is made of 25% cotton with 30% Post Consumer Recycled Fiber which makes it an eco-friendly option.

100 lb linen cover has the same characteristics as 70 lb linen; it is the matching heavier weight to it is ideal for business cards, postcards, presentation folders and multi page booklet covers. For the best green option it should be printed with soy or vegetable inks and water based solvents on the press. Linen paper is easy to deink and recycle for other uses.

10 pt EndurAce water proof and tear resistant paper is a unique product that consists of special materials that make it water proof, resilient, and give it a durability that will last for many years. They are great for restaurant menus, emergency services, insurance cards, business cards, maps, flyers and brochures. It’s the ideal solution for under water use and outdoor and harsh environments. This paper is very rouged and last for years.

When choosing the best printing paper for your job, keep in mind cheap is cheap and you don’t want to project your business or yourself that way if you want to be successful. The little money you may save by going cheap can destroy your marketing efforts.  I’m not saying you need to find the most expensive printing service to get the best quality. The things that count are competitive pricing, the highest quality and personal customer service.  You need be able to speak with printing professional that can help you make decisions, not a customer service rep that has no knowledge of what your choices are.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PRINTED BROCHURES

Printed brochures are an ideal way for companies with large product lines to showcase their goods. If you are only presenting your line on your website, you are missing a large sales opportunity. Online brochures are proactive, meaning that potential customers must find you online (hopeful by a search engine). Chances are they will also find your competition. A strong advantage of a printed brochure is the fact that they are passive. You present your brochure to your customer base. They directly receive your full color brochure. You can target your market and they can view your product brochure without turning on a computer and connecting to a URL. Full color printed pages can be viewed more easily than a web page and they create a stronger impact. They can be easily shared with others and that can increase your distribution.

Many brochures are distributed at trade brochures_asstshows. The purpose of trade shows is to increase sales and attract new customers. Many companies with large product lines often introduce their new brochures at major trade shows. Frequent buyers look forward to seeing the new lines and products being offered in a new brochure. For many buyers, there is true anticipation and excitement in receiving a new brochure.

 

Although trade shows can be an overwhelmingly busy experience to attendees, one way to give them a lasting memory of you and your company is to present them with the most attractive high quality sales and marketing literature you can. There are a number of online companies that can provide these services. Color Printing Pros is such a online printing company that can fit all your needs. With our state of the art technology and the availability of gang run printing, the costs of printing a brochure is actually cheaper today than printing the same brochure ten years ago. Our full color printing service with our FREE aqueous coating on top quality 100 Lb coated text paper is our standard.

Color Printing Pros is there for you offering cheap trade prices without compromising service or quality. We pride ourselves on unsurpassed skill and professionalism. Communications between commercial printers and their clients is paramount in building a relationship. Therefore we are always available to discuss your project and when appropriate offer our expertise in suggesting possible alternatives that may save you time and money. We strongly believe it is better to build long term trust than to maximize profit on any job.

Oval Cards Are Unique and Stand Out From Competition.

If you are looking for that extra touch on your business card we’ve got something for you! Now available on a variety of business card sized products you will find a new option for Oval cards (die-cut). We will be offering this die-cut on 16pt Matte/UV, Stickers with UV, Magnets, Silk and Plastic business cards.

Your printed products are a very important part of your business, and it is unlikely that you will get very far without them. From the obvious business cards to other products such as magnets and stickers, you need to have a product that will set you apart from your competition.  Producing a variety of different media to help promote your company and inform your customers of products and services that you offer is not enough. You need to add a WoW factor so that you and your company are remembered. Oval cards can do that. They are unusual, awesome and unique.

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Standing out from the crowd is essential in today’s ultra competitive world. Many promotional materials are just considered more clutter and are quickly discarded. What you paid for and had printed may wind up in that traditional “round file”.  You want your business to be noticed. So, how can you make your printed piece attract more attention, be kept and actually be used? Oval cards are the answer.

The answer is to make sure it is unique- not only in design but in high quality commercial printing. Ask yourself if it has a “wow factor” (that added value that makes it worth keeping)? There are many choices that can help you achieve this goal. Of course, the most obvious one is to start with great copy and design. This will influence the effectiveness of your presentation but do not stop there. With the right online commercial printer, you may be able to add other features that will make you different from all the others.

Printing companies, like people, are not all the same. They vary in quality and kinds of services they provide. Finding the right printing company is essential especially if you want to find one that gives you the ability to stand out from your competition. And isn’t that what you want??