In this Issue:
Kamloops Office Now Open
Our Kamloops office is now officially open in the Kamloops Indian Band residential school building! We are on the third floor nestled in our own office next to Community Futures. We'll be having an open house in the fall, but in the mean time please come and drop by if you are in the area.
We are very excited to have a home in this building. We share space with a progressive group of people, within a beautiful community.
Become a CopperMoon Fan!
We have joined the Facebook rank and have our very own Page, which you can find by clicking here or by searching for "CopperMoon." Join Us Today!
Hidden Gem: Basecamp
We use Basecamp at CopperMoon for managing projects, and it is a critical part of our business.
Basecamp was created to solve one of the main problems that design and communications companies (and any other company) have faced since time immemorial: communication.
It is ironic that this is one of our main challenges, since we are a communications company. Before Basecamp we'd track our time using one program, e-mail our clients using another program, store and share our files using yet another system, and collaborate in what ever ways we could. Basecamp rolls all of these things in to one on-line program that is easy to use. Perhaps the biggest challenge is getting people to use it. Basecamp makes life easy by integrating with e-mail (you can reply to messages simply by replying to an e-mail, you don't even have to log in), calendars (it sends milestones to your calendar), and it sends you reminders for key milestones (such as meetings, due dates, and the like).
Anyone can use Basecamp. In fact, you can sign up and use it for free. The free version is full-featured and could be used to help organize your personal life, a community festival, or communication with your board of directors.
Contact Us
CopperMoon Communications
www.coppermoon.ca/contact
jacob@coppermoon.ca
(877) 475-0754
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How to Get the Most Printing for Your Money
by Jacob Beaton
Printing is one of the most important parts of creating a professional image, and yet is one of the least understood businesses in the communications industry. In this article I will shed some light on the two basic types of printing, and I will show you how to get the most printing for your money.
There are two main ways to print: The "old" way, which is made up mostly of evolving offset printing technology, and the new way, which is generally called digital printing. Every printing company will tell you that they are good at everything, when in fact, all companies that I've worked with in the last 8 years specialize in one or the other. One of the biggest pieces of advice I can offer is to find out which companies are best at what in your area, and never stick to one company for everything. The cost savings are substantial if you work with printers in their area of strength.
Offset printing is commonly used for any high-quantity print jobs and is still preferred for superior image quality (this link
will tell you how it works). Offset printing is very expensive to set-up, but is redeemed by the fact that after set-up, you can print limitless quantities for little money. Some items are ridiculously cheap to print using the offset process, but you have to buy high quantities to make it worthwhile. One example of this is rack cards for the tourism industry. You can print 10,000-ish rack cards in a gang run
and pay only 5-10¢ per card ($500-$1,000) for the whole job. The big downside to offset printing is the time it takes to set up and print: as a rule, you need to have your files in to the printer at least 4 weeks before you need to receive them (longer for gang-runs).
Offset printing has been evolving steadily with technology, and has become less labour intensive and less wasteful in recent years. You are better off working with a printer who has up-to-date offset printing presses, since they'll be able to offer you lower prices and better printing quality. Avoid any presses that are older than 5 years.
To make good decisions on how to print materials, you first need to know approximately how many copies you are going to need or want. In my experience, 500 is the "magic" number for most items. If you want more than 500, you are best going with offset printing. If you want less than 500, you will probably be best with "digital" printing.
Digital printing is commonly used for anything that is needed in low quantities, or is needed in a rush (this link will tell you the basics). Digital printing technology is rapidly evolving
and is quickly taking over print jobs that used to be done other, more expensive, ways. Digital printing has virtually no set-up cost, and is very cost effective for low quantity printing. Because there is very little set-up, the per unit cost will be roughly the same for 10, 20, or 50 of any item. For example, you can print 20 of our portfolio books digitally for about $12 per book. The same book printed offset would cost at least $5,000 and we'd need to commit to at least 500 books to make it worthwhile.
I am very excited about digital printing because I've seen it evolve very quickly over the last eight years to become a credible alternative to offset printing. The quality of printing of modern (from the last couple years) digital presses is indistinguishable to the average eye from offset prinitng. Also, digital printing has a fast turn-around time, usually half that of offset printing. If you need to, you can even find printers who will rush jobs overnight and have them delivered the next day.
Add the high quality of digital printing to the fast turn-around times and ability to utilize low budgets, and we have a winner.
I have been recommending digital printing to clients for all print jobs that require lower quantities or those projects that may change after the materials are printed. The best way to use digital printing is to print only the materials that you need right now. When you need more materials, then update them and print more. This method is called "on demand" printing. It is a great way to print since it avoids waste (how many of you have had to throw away outdated business cards, envelopes, or letterhead?) and keeps your materials up to date.
As an example, when I heard that I had won one of the Aboriginal Business Awards, I updated the cover of our book to read "Winner of the BC Aboriginal Business Award," added a couple pages of recent work, ordered 25 new copies of our book, then had them couriered to the Pan Pacific just in time for the ceremony. It was quite cool to give out an up-to date book to prospective clients at the gala!
There are other printing technologies and some gray areas in printing. There are new presses that are a hybrid between offset and digital called "digital offset" presses. These digital offset printers are essentially high-end digital presses. There are also plotters and inkjet printers that some print shops use for specialty jobs.
To get the most out of your printing dollars:
- Always get at least one competitive quote for your print needs. Look for printers that have invested in newer equipment. Consider getting out-of town quotes, as some places have better equipment and lower labour costs that keep prices down (Saskatchewan is the cheapest place in Canada to print offset books, for example!).
- If you need it fast, make sure it is being printed digitally.
- If you need more than 500 copies, make sure it is being printed offset.
- If you might need to update the material, print digitally.
Please see the below companion article for more information on printing resources, and as usual, contact us with any questions!
Printing Stories and Resources
By Jacob Beaton
Getting competitive quotes is essential to get the best for your money. Sometimes you can more than double what you get for your money if you print using the right printing company for your job.
For example, we did some pamphlets for a client that had a budget of $5,000. They received a quote for $5,000 for 5,000 pamphlets from a printing company. This is a very high budget, so we got a quote from a high-end printer we'd worked with before. They gave us a blind quote of $2,500 for 5,000 pamphlets, using 100% recycled paper (rare to get 100%), and organic inks. In this case, we got a much higher quality product that was environmentally friendly for half the price!
Another example: we printed some booklets for a client. They were a rush job and needed to be done in a week. One printer quoted $15 per book, and the other quoted $8 per book, with exactly the same specifications and timeline. The printer that quoted $15/ per book explained that the reason for the price difference was equipment - except that didn't wash, as the one that quoted $8 uses similar equipment with the same output quality.
In both the above examples, the printers who quoted higher were likely operating outside of their comfort zone and area of speciality. We use Hemlock printing for high-quality offset printing, but rarely for digital printing. We often use Island Blue for digital printing, but for nothing else since that is all they do.
In the last eight years of working with printers, we have a pretty good idea of who is good at what. Here is a partial list of printers we recommend:
- Hemlock Printers: Excellent offset printers, and they have a soft spot for charity and community projects. They can do digital, but it is expensive.
- Island Blue: Excellent on-demand digital printer that can print almost anything in low quantities at a great price. Their art background and experience helps.
- Fotoprint: They do a lot of government work and rule the cheap, fast, offset standard-paper-size market.
- Hillside: Years of experience serving the tourism market make them one of the best for rack cars and pamphlets. They can also help with digital printing in a pinch.
Other printers we are building relationships with:
- Rhino Printing
- Island Printing
- Special Screencraft Printers
In a pinch:
- You could try Kinkos, since their tie-in with FedEx means they can print on-demand (usually same-day if you call) and then courier it out. Just avoid relying on their web interface completely, calling in will get the job done.
Good luck printing, and have fun!
Jacob
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