Using professional printers

I have always believed that to get professional results you should always use professional printers. I believe this even though we have a super-dooper laser colour printer that does really good quality work.

I have been requesting samples from printers for a few clients’ stationery requirements and have been impressed with some of the quality I have seen. My particular favourite at the moment, and something I have an eye on for my own stuff when it comes to updating, is Spot UV treatment on business cards, especially on dark colours. Lovely.

Today I get a knock on the door and it’s a DHL man with a package. I get very excited, sign on the handheld unit and he hands over a C4 envelope with ‘URGENT’ taped across it. At this point I am a little confused as the envelope feels a little light and not that impressive considering the delivery method and packaging.

I open it up to find a couple of business cards a letterhead and a flyer. It is a sample from a printers I contacted. I look at the letterhead and think that it’s my eyes as the logo and blue printing looks a little blurred. I show ‘Mr. Crayons’ who promptly whips out his photographer’s negatives viewer and confirm that it’s the shoddy printing quality. One look at the business cards confirms that this is not the type of company I want to refer my clients to or have anything to do with. The inks look dull, the card stock looks cheap and the overall presentation is poor. A total let down and considering the expensive of the courier, seems like a waste of money and resources.

Just goes to prove that it really does make sense to check out the quality of the press, paper stock and printers before using a company for your printing jobs.