| If you use business cards, you've probably thought | | | | informal poll of small business owners in New England |
| about printing your own. After all, you own an inkjet | | | | showed that inkjet printed cards still convey a "less |
| printer, a computer, and some graphics software. How | | | | serious" impression. Of course, this could be fine for |
| hard could it be to save a few bucks? | | | | many businesses, but it deserves some consideration. |
| To check out how well this works in practice, my | | | | All together, we spent about 3 hours designing and |
| employees and I conducted a small experiment. We | | | | printing 200 cards. We saved the design, so next time |
| created 3 batches of business cards, using 3 different | | | | it could be quicker. |
| techniques. | | | | We expected the inkjet printed cards to be much |
| The first technique was fairly straightforward: We took | | | | cheaper than the professionally printed ones. That was |
| the business card down to our neighborhood print | | | | before we tallied the cost of ink cartridges and paper. |
| shop, and asked them to print up some more. We | | | | The paper was $16.88 online, plus $7.95 shipping, for |
| brought a blown up copy of our logo, which served as | | | | 200 cards. That works out to 12.4 cents per card. If |
| "camera ready artwork." The copy shop took care of | | | | you include a 10% waste factor, the final paper cost is |
| the typesetting, proofreading, printing, etc. It was fairly | | | | 13.66 cents per card. Then we calculated the ink cost. |
| painless, although it did involve physically getting to the | | | | Overall, we averaged 42 cents per page, or 4.2 cents |
| print shop. Next time we'll email them a TIF file. We had | | | | per card. (Each page had room for 10 cards.) Again, a |
| planned on getting 500 cards, but the price for 1,000 | | | | waste factor of 10% meant a final ink cost of 4.62 |
| was only a little higher, so we went with the larger | | | | cents per card. Total cost for ink and paper was 18.28 |
| quantity. The cards took 5 business days, apparently | | | | cents per card. An excellent price if you only need a |
| because they were not printed on-site, but rather | | | | few dozen, but for larger quantities, we could do |
| outsourced to a wholesale printer. | | | | better. |
| The second technique may sound unorthodox, but it | | | | The professionally printed cards were simple 2 color |
| worked. We used a custom made rubber stamp to | | | | (black and dark blue inks) raised printing on an |
| create the cards. This was fun, though it took a while. | | | | off-white card stock. The raised printing and lack of |
| We also wrecked a few cards by stamping | | | | perforations won the thumbs up from the New |
| carelessly. | | | | England small business owners. One middle aged |
| Finally, we created some cards on our inkjet printer, an | | | | woman observed that "they look like a real business |
| Epson Stylus C84. There's special software available | | | | printed them." The price of professionally printed |
| for placing the images 10-up on the page, but we | | | | business cards varied quite a bit when we called |
| opted to use Adobe PageMaker, since that's what | | | | around, so it may pay you to do a little shopping. |
| we're familiar with. We printed the cards on Avery | | | | Remember that you'll likely use the same printer again |
| #8871 Clean Edge Business Card paper. | | | | in the future, if only for the convenience. Most print |
| All three methods have their proponents, and none of | | | | shops keep your data on file for quick reordering. |
| the methods was clearly the best choice for | | | | The print shop we chose charged us $43.00 for 1,000 |
| everyone. The rubber stamped cards were definitely | | | | cards, which works out to 4.3 cents per card, or about |
| funky looking. If you work at a bank, don't even think | | | | a 76% discount from the inkjet printed cards. Had we |
| about it. On the other hand, if you just need a few | | | | chosen to order only 500 cards, the price would have |
| dozen cards for your part time cookie baking business, | | | | been $38.00, or 7.6 cents per card. That's still a savings |
| rubber stamped cards might be just what you need to | | | | of 58.4%. More importantly, we felt we had a good |
| convey the "home made" impression. Art stamp | | | | looking card. While not exciting, it was professional |
| enthusiasts often have fun with multiple ink colors. The | | | | enough to hand out anywhere. |
| more ink pads you have, the more variety your cards | | | | A few other points to consider: The price we paid at |
| can have. The cost of rubber stamped cards was 12.4 | | | | the print shop was for a fairly simple job. We didn't |
| cents each. Unfortunately, our 8 year-old assistant got | | | | choose, for example, to have solid ink coverage |
| bored, so we aborted the experiment after an hour | | | | extending all the way to the edge (a "bleed".) Nor did |
| and a half, and about 150 cards. | | | | we have a custom color mixed up for us. These |
| The inkjet printed cards were a little harder to | | | | charges can add up, so if your design isn't set in stone |
| evaluate. The image was clear and sharp, and we | | | | just yet, you might want to check with the print shop |
| chose to use the printer's abilities to mix several colors | | | | about their policies. Also, we chose to do our inkjet |
| and a blend on the page. However, the designing is not | | | | printing on specially made inkjet paper. You can save |
| quite as trivial as it sounds. You can easily end up | | | | money by choosing a cheaper paper, but we haven't |
| designing a card that's too busy. Also, our first few | | | | had good results with any we've found so far. |
| designs had type that went too close to the edge. If | | | | Our verdict: Go with the method that's right for you! |
| you're not a professional designer, count on printing out | | | | For the homemade cookie business, get a rubber |
| some experiments to look at before you hit the "Print" | | | | stamp. If you only need a few business cards, and |
| button for 200 cards. | | | | aren't overly concerned with appearances, go with the |
| No matter how careful you are, however, you still end | | | | inkjet method. However, for most people in business, |
| up with cards that look like they were printed on an | | | | the professionally printed business card wins on |
| inkjet printer. The "clean" edges were still perceptibly | | | | convenience, cost, and professional image. |
| perforated, and the ink ran a little when it got damp. An | | | | |