BHP Printing Blog

When it comes to promoting your business, do not forget about printed materials. Brochures are a great tool; they can offer a good amount of information within a contained area. When well designed and professionally printed, they are a great tool in marketing.

Printed brochures can be used for many purposes. Use them to advertise for your company in order to show off new products or materials. Brochures are a great way to introduce yourself to potential customers and make them aware of your business. As either a leave-behind marketing piece or as a sales-support tool, brochures help to keep you top of mind with potential customers.

Create a brochure for clients to peruse in your reception area or office. Another great place to use brochures is trade shows and seminars. Potential clients want to learn more about your business and what you can offer. Having well designed, professionally printed brochures can help you explain your services, and give prospective clients a take away piece for reference later.

Creating brochures and printing is made easy with the help of Blue Hill Press. Designing brochures and printing can be a complicated process with so many custom options, but we make it simple. Ask us about our design services and request a sample of brochures printing.

Printing a product catalog is a major investment, and is one of the most important sales tools you have, even today in the digital world. A well-designed catalog is effective in helping to close sales, and can be cost-effective when printed by Blue Hill Press.

In order to do it right, you must include the printing process throughout the entire design and layout process. Otherwise your finished catalog probably will not turn out the way you had envisioned it when you designed it on your computer.

The first, and most important concern is the size. Blue Hill Press offers two standard sized catalogs - 8.5" x 11" and 5.5" x 8.5". These are the most common sizes in the marketplace and also the most efficient to produce. When considering the size, also consider how many pages you think you will have. Consider how you will distribute the catalog. Will you mail it and/or hand it out? Will you put it in an envelope with a cover letter printed on letterhead?

When considering page count, keep in mind that you have to think in fours. All catalog printing is done in multiples of four pages. 4, 8, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, etc. The most efficient page counts are typically 8 pages, 16 pages, and 32 pages. In order To keep pricing as low as possible, try to keep to those three page counts. So when thinking about the size, play with the content to get the best number of pages to minimize your cost.

At Blue Hill Press, our standard pricing is for "self-cover" catalogs. That means the cover pages are the same paper stock as the inside pages. This is also the most cost-effective way to print catalogs. If you want a separate cover stock, we can do that, too.

You will find a huge selection of colors are available for brochure printing (full color). However, often the most cost-effective brochures are designed using just one or two colors. Occasionally, gray-scale brochures end up generating better results than colored brochures.

Always keep in mind that the cost should be evaluated when selecting colors for your brochure. More colors usually means a higher printing cost, but at the same time, if your brochure is in need of many colors to generate results and improve your business, then the desired outcome is worth the investment.

After deciding on the colors, you will need to choose the type of paper for your brochure. Paper is also available in many different colors and many weights too. If you are trying to go green in your business or organization, then you may look at using recycled paper. Recycled paper is an ideal way to cut down on the amount of natural resources you use and it’s also a wonderful way to promote yourself these days as more and more people are becoming environmentally conscious. Use recycled paper when doing brochure printing, postcard printing or pamphlet printing, and you will certainly stand out with your audience.

Brochure and Flyer Printing Paper Tips
 
Your paper choice can make a significant difference in the look and feel of your business flyer. The tips in this section will help you to make paper choices that will optimize the impact of your business flyer in relation to the cost.
 
Coated Paper Stock Options
Gloss and dull stock are both coated papers. Most brochures and flyers are printed on 80 # gloss text stock, but 70# and 100# gloss text can be equally good choices depending on your needs. For an even greater upscale look and feel, you might choose 80# gloss cover stock.
 
Gloss stock is a coated paper with a shiny or highly reflective finish. It is most often used in full color printing to have full color photographs, images and graphics appear more vivid, real and appealing. Dull is a coated stock with a non-glossy finish. It is often used to make pages easier to read that are text or type intensive. Accordingly, 80# dull text might be appropriate depending on your objectives and how the piece will be used. Other coated stock finishes that are similar to dull are silk, which is between gloss and dull in its reflective property, and matte (not to be confused with uncoated), which is almost the same as dull with a slightly different feel.

In today's eco-conscious world, an environmentally friendly image can make the difference between profit and loss for many businesses. One of the most effective ways to let customers/prospects know your business is environmentally friendly is using an eco-friendly printing company for your marketing materials, especially when it comes to brochure printing.

Being environmentally conscious as a business is the mark of forward thinking, responsible and profitable businesses. In addition to helping the environment, eco-friendly brochures are a cost effective, efficient way for start-ups to attract consumers with their environmentally friendly image, or for existing businesses to update and/or improve their image.

It only takes something as small as a tiny icon on the back of your printed brochure to let consumers know you are an eco-friendly business. There are many images that accomplish this task, including the recycling label or the tree shaped “post consumer waste” label. You can also put a note on the back asking consumers to recycle their brochure when they are finished with it.

Traditional brochures can still promote an eco-friendly image by using environmentally friendly inks. Blue Hill Press (Green Printer) uses soy inks, which provide the same quality of color printing as traditional inks.

With all the benefits of traditional brochure marketing, eco-friendly brochures are a clearly effective marketing tool on multiple fronts. While still affordable for most companies, eco-friendly brochures are both an attractive way of marketing, and also a way to give consumers more confidence in your company.

Most brochure printing shops offer either an 80lb or 100lb paper stock, with a variety of gloss / matte finishes. A 100lb stock is surprisingly more substantial than 80lb stock paper without a huge cost difference. Using a heavier paper may convince a potential customer that you are more professional than your competitors or submit to a higher standard.

Applying varnish will gives an appealing gloss to your brochure. Moreover, varnish adds a protective coating that helps to minimize scratching and scuffing, so your brochure will present your image unblemished as you intended.

Brochure Printing Tip: Allow for Bleed

What is print bleed? It is like an insurance policy to make sure your final printed brochure looks its best. Brochures are printed together on sheets, and then trimmed into single units. The blade that cuts out each brochure is precise, but when cutting piles of paper in mass production, there can be slight variation.

Expand your brochure design slightly beyond the established page borders, so when we cut each page you’ll have solid ink coverage from edge to edge. This is especially imperative if you have a photo, tint, or pattern that needs to be displayed to the extreme edge of your brochure layout. Designing your brochure with an extra 1/8th inch of coverage beyond each bleeding edge is recommended.