Printing your own booklets can be rather intimidating. With so many options, it can be difficult to know which type of printing is right for you and your needs. After all, not all printing is created equal. Let’s take a look at the different printing options available to you as a small business owner and how they can help you get the most out of your booklet printer.
Contents
How to look like a professionally printed booklet
The first and most obvious step you’ll need to take is to get a professionally printed booklet on paper. It may seem silly, but getting the paper right is extremely important. If your booklet isn’t on the right kind of paper or it’s been printed on the wrong kind of paper, it will look off when you print on the booklet maker. If you’re printing on recycled paper, you’ll get a less crisp end product, and if you’re printing on cheap paper, your printing costs will go up. In most cases, you’ll want to print on either gloss or uncoated matte paper. Gloss paper is brighter and shinier, while uncoated matte paper is slightly duller and has a slightly more grainy feel. If you have a laser printer, you can also opt to print on either paper as well, though you’ll get slightly better results and slightly higher costs by printing on paper.
Print on Demand (POD)
As a publisher, you may have encountered printers that have offered you the option to print your booklets on demand. In other words, they’ll print as you order, rather than printing batches of books at one time and storing them in a warehouse. With a print-on-demand printer, you’re able to specify exactly how many books you’d like printed (or digitally printed) at a given time. This could either be a day-specific or a specific week-specific batch. If you’re ordering 50 booklets at once, you’ll want to pick a day-specific batch. If you only want 10 printed, you’ll want to pick a specific week-specific batch. You’ll be able to select this from the printer’s online ordering system.
DIY Bookbinding
Bookbinding is a great option for those who want to learn how to create a hardbound booklet for their business. With DIY bookbinding, your booklet will be bound with either metal or plastic spines. This allows you to create your booklet in a variety of different ways. Best of all, creating a DIY hardbound booklet is incredibly easy. First, you’ll need paper of the right type. You’ll also need glue, staples, a binding machine (if you’re binding your booklet yourself), and a bookbinder’s binding cloth. Next, you’ll need to cut your cover and back cover to the right size. Your cover should be between 9 and 11 inches wide by 6 and 9 inches tall, while the back cover should be between 11 and 13 inches wide by 6 and 9 inches tall. You can then fold and staple your cover or create a binding spine with your binding machine. Once you’ve stapled your spine, you should apply a bookbinder’s binding cloth to the spine. This will help to prevent your booklet from being damaged as you move it around inside your bookcase or shelf.
Summary
When researching the printing options available to you, it’s important to consider the end result you’re trying to achieve. If you’re just looking for a way to distribute flyers, then you may want to consider printing them on a laser printer. If you want something a bit more professional, it’s worth looking into what types of printing options are available to you as a small business owner.
