Free Design Guides

What can I say about planning that hasn’t already been said? Probably nothing new at all. It is very important in every aspect of your life. Printing is no different. “If you fail to plan…you plan to fail.” I don’t know who gets credit for that, but I’m sure it was somebody important. So how do you plan for printing? If you’ve never had anything printed before, then it might be a little tough, but with Design Guides for Printing, you can certainly gain an edge and understand some of the lingo when you walk into a print shop.

This Design Guide is essentially a primer for helping you understand your print project, possibly even before you begin the design. Planning the project before you begin is the smart place to start.

Choosing a Paper
That may sound simple, but honestly there are more choices involving paper than any other single option in printing. To make the subject more interesting, paper companies launch new papers and remove previous ones on an almost regular basis. Not to get too deep into design considerations here, but color and paper are very important factors in the look and feel of a printed piece. When planning your design, you want to ask yourself what you want it to feel like, what you want it to look like, and how it will be delivered to the hands of your readers (There will be an upcoming Design Guide dedicated to choosing the right paper for your project). Paper is the human interface with your design. Pick up some of those mailers you get in the mail every week, or a postcard from your last vacation. Just feel every printed piece you can find and learn what you like and don’t like.

Finished Size
Consider the finished flat size of your project (before folding). Most brochures are letter size, or 8.5 x 11 inches. Standard paper sizes are much easier to work with because…well…they are standard. Some standard paper sizes are: 5.5 x 8.5, 8.5 x 11, 9 x 12, 11×17 and 12 x 18. This is by no means all standard sizes, but if you can stick to these, you should be in good shape. If your project demands something in an odd size, be sure to talk with your print company first, to make sure it fits within your budget.

Color
This will be one of those decisions in the planning process that will dictate your overall cost in a significant way. Technology has made full color printing much more affordable than it was 5 years ago, and some print shops (lots of online printers) specialize in printing only full color. With the affordability and competition in the full color printing market, there is an abundance of color brochures and newsletters everywhere you look, but don’t ignore one and two color printing options. You can stand out and add a lot of impact with a well designed project printed in spot colors on a quality paper. I have seen many marketing materials that really made me stop and take notice because the designer knew how to pick the right combination of colors and paper to set that piece apart from the flood of full color competitors.

Bindery & Finishing Options
Is your project a tri-fold brochure, a z-fold letter, a double-parallel fold flyer, a saddle stitched newsletter, or a perfect bound book? A typical brochure is folded in a “letter fold” pattern and the folded size will be approx. 3.6 x 8.5. There is more than one way to fold a brochure, and knowing your options is a key component in getting your design correct and accurate from the beginning. We will be adding a page full of templates, measurements and photos to help you decide which options will work best for your projects.

A Brief Word on Mailing
When designing a brochure (or various other projects), it can be set up to be what is called a “self mailer”. That means the back panel has all of the information in the right locations suitable for mailing without putting the brochure in an envelope. The Post Office has very strict requirements for mailing panels and sizes of items to be mailed. There is a book available from the post office that will cover ALL (and I do mean all) of the specifications for approved mail items. That topic is WAY too involved for this small book, but most print shops have someone on staff who can guide you in the right direction and may also be able to provide you with mailing services (at a savings) for your project if that will meet your needs. So be sure and talk to your printer about that option if you’re interested.

Choosing Your Quantity
This may seem very straightforward at first, but it can play a significant role in your design. Let’s say you need 500 brochures for this year’s fund raising effort. Perhaps you need 500 again next year. Or maybe you only need 250 now and 250 again in 6 months. If the design doesn’t change from this order to the next, go ahead and order the higher number. The per piece cost will be dramatically reduced when you order more quantity.

Let me introduce you to a term used in the industry that is a substantial money-saver under the right circumstances. The term is “shells” (see Shop Talk section for more definitions). A shell is a pre-printed piece (business cards and newsletters are common) with blank areas where the print shop keeps the printed stock in inventory and you can send in an “overprint” order. The cost savings adds up if you have a multi-color design that needs to be updated frequently with a relatively small order and you don’t want to pay for the same multi-color job every time. Here’s an example: your church wants a nice weekly or monthly bulletin with a beautiful color picture of the steeple on the cover. It would be crazy to print that full color brochure every month, much less every week. So here’s the solution, you estimate how many you will need for the entire year, then you print only the full color front in that quantity. Now your per piece cost is very low. Each week or month, you send in your updated info that is printed on that shell in a single color. Now you have a really upscale bulletin for your church that looks great and saves money! Shells are a great option for repeat orders, so talk to your print shop about shells and if they might be the right fit for your project.

Tags: Brochure Printing, Card Template Business, Color Printing, Commercial Printing, Graphic Design Printing, Layout Graphic Design, Printing, Printing Guide