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We all know how expensive it is to develop and implement a full marketing campaign. You'd probably be wondering how you can work your promotional material such as your catalog printing piece on a limited budget.

We would like to provide you then with a comprehensive list of catalog printing tips and suggestions that can help you prevent printing delays, and eventually increase your response rate:

First off, when you're on your way to getting your catalogs printed, you have to decide what kind of press would be appropriate for your needs. It's either your commercial printer use a web press or a sheet fed press. What's the difference? A web press is basically faster than the sheet fed. In addition, it allows you to save on costs as a web press can print wholesale catalogs of 16 for a minimum quantity of 5,000 for example.

A web press can actually help you save because it is able to print large quantities of your catalogs with certain page counts. It utilizes rolls of print paper that you'd do well to use this type of press if you're working on wholesale catalogs. However, the downside is that a web press is generally more difficult to set up than the sheet fed press. This means that your commercial printer would require more staff to put together and run the equipment.

Second tip, you have to work on your page count. You can save a lot of your budget if you can print your catalog pages in increments of 32 for the 8-3/8' x 10-7/8' format, and 64 for the 5-3/8' x 8-3/8' format. The former is the standard size for catalogs while the latter is what we call the digest format.

In addition, extra savings can be acquired if your commercial printer utilizes an 8-unit web press as it can run two webs all at the same time. The faster the turnaround. Indeed, this type of web press actually cuts the printing time to almost half of the regular. Especially if you use 60# or a lighter basis weight paper, you'll definitely be more efficient in producing your catalogs.

When it comes to page size, a slightly smaller page width than the standard 8-3/8' page can make a big difference on costs. In fact, a slightly reduced page width can save you as much as 10% on paper expenses. As paper is usually one of the major expenditures in any printing job, you'll be able to save considerably not only on your printing, but also on mailing costs.

On the other hand, your catalog size should follow the standard format as it allows you to be cost effective on your print job. Combined with a standard house paper, you can save much of your money.

Lastly, avoid delays in your catalog printing by giving your commercial printer a minimum of 7 days to finish your print job. As schedule is critical to your distribution deadline, you need to consider the number of days that you give your printer to come up with quality results you can live with.