Outsourcing Printing for Small Print Runs

Hayley

New Member
Hi, I create wedding stationery which is hand-drawn, on square card - currently 12.5cm square. I draw in pencil, scan it in, add some colour then print from home on an inkjet printer. Business has grown and my printer is just giving me a few problems - Have been to PC World & bought several printers but none so far work for me! I am now looking into outsourcing the printing but have come across a few problems regarding size of print runs (can be little as 75 invites) and the cost escalating with the short run sizes. Thanks so much in advance for any advice. Hayley. www.angelkincards.co.uk
 
Hi, I create wedding stationery which is hand-drawn, on square card - currently 12.5cm square. I draw in pencil, scan it in, add some colour then print from home on an inkjet printer. Business has grown and my printer is just giving me a few problems - Have been to PC World & bought several printers but none so far work for me! I am now looking into outsourcing the printing but have come across a few problems regarding size of print runs (can be little as 75 invites) and the cost escalating with the short run sizes. Thanks so much in advance for any advice. Hayley. www.angelkincards.co.uk

I recommend Pete at GP Print - 01733 340622 -excellent for short runs. If you can combine multiple jobs of different design but the same size and stock in one order that's a handy way to reduce your costs.
 
Hey there, My other half is a wedding stationer so I know first hand the issues you're having. It doesn't seem to matter if you're spending £40 or £400, domestic inkjet printers cant cope with the card stock so outsourcing to a digital printer is your only way to go.

I'd imagine that (like my other half) the stock that each job is printed on can vary? This in itself can cause problems as digital printers dont want to order the odd pack of this and that, then have the left overs hanging around. We ended up approaching a local digital print firm and negotiating a one off setup cost per job and a price per print. We buy our own stock from his supplier and on print day, we take the correct number of sheets and the artwork on disc, he prints and we take it away again. It's then up to us to cut everything out, crease etc..

Local is the key here really as you don't want to be traveling 50 odd miles each way or risking posting your stock there and back.
 
Local is the key here really as you don't want to be traveling 50 odd miles each way or risking posting your stock there and back.
I'm a BIG fan of local - of course printers don't want to have stock hanging round.... it may be worth asking your local digital printer what he does keep in stock, if he has any (suitable) odd stock he would like to get rid of (and then you could sell to your clients). He may well be able to cut (and crease) for a not-very-big charge (bear in mind his guillotine has cost him £5k upwards - our hand guillotine cost £1k) so it's worth making the contact. If you are doing a lot of creasing a decent hand-creaser is only £150/200.
 
Thanks so much everybody! I managed to get by with a Brother machine but I'm now investigating outsourcing again so will look into all your advice.
 
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