Catalog Printing for a Low Budget

Anyone who has ever produced catalogs knows what a major task and expense it can be. Costs can begin to go up easily if you are faced with a decision that needs to be made quickly. Avoid an escalating budget by planning ahead of time ways to cut costs yet retain professional catalog printing results.

1. The easiest way to cut costs with catalog printing is by using a wholesale printing company. A wholesale printer can print large quantities at once and at high speeds. They also have the ability to apply a coating that dries immediately saving the printing company time and you money.

2. Choose pages in multiples of 16 for catalog design. Commercial printing presses print 16 different pages at a time, so keeping your page count to 16, 32, 48, or so reduces the printing costs. Be sure that your printing company actually charges less as some will bank on the fact that most customers are uneducated in printing methods.

3. Use a standard paper stock, such as 70# text or 80# text. Both are a good weight for quality catalog printing yet cost less than a heavier paper type. You may also want to opt for uncoated interior pages, but be careful as this could be a quality issue.

4. Design your catalog in the slim-jim size for cutting mailing costs. This 6 1/8 x 11 1/2 sized catalog applies for lower postal rates as long as it stays between 3.0 and 3.3 oz., although a weight of up to 3.5 oz. still is a much lower cost  than regular-sized catalogs. Since this size is unusual for catalogs, you may need to use custom trim options available from your printer.

Keep a good balance between quality and low costs to avoid leaning too far to one side. Too high of a cost will cut into your profits just as poor quality will cut customer spending. Plan ahead for a catalog printing process that maintains a reasonable budget with high quality results.