If you are thinking about sourcing your own print, and many people are now, there are a few bits of advice we feel we could share with you.

We are all print virgins at one point or another and some first experiences are better than others. For me I went about it in completely the wrong way; completely void of any research I went to a local high street ‘print anything’ shop and asked for my 1000, A4 leaflets. Not knowing anything about print processes, or design for that matter, and not offered any choices other than “colour or black and white” I was firmly in their hands.

I had designed the leaflet in two Adobe Photoshop files and saved them as jpgs (I still have them as an embarrassing RGB reminder of where I started out). I was charged a ‘disk handling fee’ of £20 and £294 for the fuzzy, glossy, 80gsm, digitally printed, box of sub standard print.

Seven years on I look back and cringe at my naiveté and feel a little bit of anger towards the print shop that didn’t help me out when obviously a novice. The whole experience is a classic example of how not to approach this particular exercise.

That said, below are a few useful tips from the Aesthetik team when going it alone.

1. Do your homework

Google the following – Litho printing, Digital printing, CMYK/Four colour process, Pantone, Print ready artwork, bleed, Paper types – Coated/Uncoated, Paper sizes, Paper weights (gsm) and you’ll be on the right track.

2. The right printer

Choosing the right printer is important. The printer’s machinery denotes what jobs they can and can’t do efficiently, so select the printer who best meets your needs. How do you find this out? Well, for a start call them and have a chat with your potential account/sales manager, or even better pay them a visit and get a tour of the print room.

A good relationship with your contact at the print studio is vital. What your looking for is someone who can spend a little time and explain things to you. If you’re running a fair bit of print their way they should be more than happy to help you out. A good account manager will be able to point out potential savings and inform you of better practices.

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