The last thing you need to be is a penny wise and pound foolish when it comes to printing your marketing materials. Small businesses who think they can save more money printing in their home inkjet are likely to find in retrospect that they could have saved more on time and money from having their done with offset printing. In addition, there’s plenty of unaccounted for opportunity costs.

Many of the people you advertise to will read the implied message of your print ads sooner than they will your marketing message. A poorly printed brochure or flyer will reflect poorly on your work performance and the ability of your business to produce successful results.

Printing offset gives you consistent output with the same low cost. You can print several thousand pieces or a few hundred pieces and still get the same print quality from start to finish. Apart from that, the dynamics of bulk printing gives you better price deals as the volume of your print job increases.

More than the print quality and the discounts though, another advantage of working with a commercial printer is the expert advice they offer. They can suggest the right paper material, the finishing, and even help you with the design to ensure complete customer satisfaction.

Here are a few services you may expect to find from a printing company:

1. Technical Support

For those working with an offset printer for the first time, there may be a lot of confusing technicalities to deal with such as image resolution, bleeds and allowances, or converting your files to CMYK. Make sure you find a printing company with a personalized technical support team who can walk you through the entire process.

2. Design Program

Online printing companies offer online design programs that makes it a lot easier for you to design your projects. They provide you with a gallery of templates for different industries so you can choose one that best fits your business description.

When you have found the template you need, you can simply input your data through their design program. You can move around fields, or delete unnecessary ones. You can even upload your own logo and other graphics.

3. Press Ready Proof

Before your design goes to press, proofing is your last chance to correct mistakes. The prepress department prepares this proof and gives remarks about the quality of your print. When the print resolution is to low, they will advise you to improve on the resolution before they proceed with printing.

They will also advise you with the correct bleeds and allowances. As big sheets of paper are stacked together during cutting, there is a chance that they will slide a little. This is why it is best to leave a .025 inch allowance for the trim line.

It is also your chance before offset printing to proof read your copy and make sure there are no typographical errors or grammatical mistakes. You should also make sure that all the elements you want are present in your print and are in the right position.