8 Printing Products to Inspire Your Shopping
There are so many varieties and forms printing products can take. Part of the shopping process involves researching what the big categories are, so that you can make an informed decision about what product is best for your purposes.
In this article we’ve summarized 8 of the most common broad categories of printing products that individuals and organizations alike tend to order.
Read on for details for each category:
If you want to more information about printing products in general, we have a regularly updated blog full of relevant industry tips and explanations.
If you want to place a print order today, contact JH French, and we can help you iron out the details.
Printing Products
1. Brochures & Pamphlets
Flexible small documents that hold a lot of information
Application Tips:
Hand out a brochure or pamphlet to promote your business.
They’re an affordable way to present a lot of information in a neat package.
If you need something larger than a brochure or pamphlet, consider a booklet or perhaps a spiral-bound notebook.
Many people think brochures and pamphlets are the same thing. Their form is the same, but their content can differ.
Their form is quite similar, with both of them being single sheets of paper, printed on both sides, and then folded either once or twice to make small booklets.
Brochures are usually used to advertise, while pamphlets are used to educate.
2. Newsletters
For packaging updates in a professional fashion
Application Tips:
Hand them out at meetings so attendees have access to important information.
Newsletters can easily be placed in envelopes and mailed to a list of recipients.
They don’t need to be colour, but make sure to edit your newsletter thoroughly, as your newsletter is a representation of your work.
Even though many newsletters have moved online, there is still demand for physical newsletters, especially for live events.
Conferences where many members of an organization gather together, or in-person business meetings both benefit from having access to physical sheets people can reference as the event carries on.
3. Professional Forms
An essential part of running most businesses
Application Tips:
It’s wise to have more forms on hand than you need.
Among other things, forms are used for job applications, formal agreements, quizzes, instructional papers or licensing agreements.
For something like a job application form, you can include your business information on the form when it’s printed, so you won’t need to write it out by hand each time.
For official documentation and forms, such as safety information that would have come with new equipment, you will need to contact your original supplier to get replacements.
4. Decals & Stickers
High quality enough to be used in a construction setting
Application Tips:
Isopropyl alcohol can be used to effectively remove decals from a hard hat or other surface.
Remember If you place decals on hard hats, signs, or equipment, to not obscure or distract from important safety information.
This video demonstrates how to apply decals to a helmet:
Decals can come in any shape, colour, or design you can think of. They’re usually printed digitally, so whatever graphic you design on the computer can be perfectly represented on the printed decal.
A “sticker” is usually thought of as being thinner and flimsier, while “decals” are meant to be more durable, to survive busy work environments.
5. Books
Available in numerous binding styles
Application Tips:
In a business setting, books are often used for: instructional textbooks, commemorative items, and historical records.
Don’t be afraid of ordering small amounts of books and investing a bit extra to make them extra premium.
Premium options can include foiling, embossing, hard covers, padding, scoring, and a variety of other high-end hand-installed features.
Due to their long-form nature and higher expense, books are best at containing lots of well-organized information.
Consider ordering a set of durable textbooks to be used as safety manuals, or slender, elegant books to be used as gifts.
6. Banners & Posters
Combine with flashy design to get noticed
Application Tips:
Banners and posters share a similar purpose: easy-to-install promotion and advertising.
Banners are usually larger, and can be made of vinyl or a more durable material, while posters are often paper.
Get your paper posters laminated to have them last longer.
Many cities have rules about where posters can be hung. Don’t break any bylaws!
Posters can easily be hung with standard scotch tape or staples.
Posters aren’t meant to be long-term advertisements. They’re most often used to promote upcoming events, like concerts or art shows, and then taken down.
Remember to pair your poster campaign with a matching online campaign to make it easy for people to learn more.
7. Postcards
Simple vehicles to display diverse graphics
Application Tips:
Postcards can be used for artistic reasons, or for their original purpose of carrying short messages through the postal system.
Postcards are made of tougher card stock than regular printer paper. Ask your print shop about the stationary options available for your postcards.
Variable Data Printing (VDP) can be used to print an order of postcards with a variety of different artwork, as in the image above. VDP is a way of printing multiple items in the same set, but with different details on each.
If you need to have your postcards (or other products), mailed somewhere after printing is done, some print shops will actually handle all the mailing and shipping for you.
8. Stationary & Legal Documentation
Flexible templates for a professional environment
Application Tips:
There are many varieties of stationary. Choose the style that best fits the industry your organization operates in.
Read more here for tips on how to choose stationary for your business needs.
If you know you’ll be needing certain print items regularly, you can set up repeat orders with the same print shop.
Legal documentation can also be ordered on a case-by-case basis, but as with most other printing products, ordering in higher volumes will reduce your cost-per-unit significantly.
JH FRENCH & Co.
Diverse options, renowned service, and reliable production.
JH French offers all the products listed above, plus many more.
If you need advice on how to begin a large-scale print order, or you have questions about another type of printing product that wasn’t included above, give us a call today.
We look forward to partnering with you on your next big project and showing you why JH French has been operational for over 100 years.
“Excellent experience, have used them for about a year. Always clarifying info, always meets deadline, manages expectation and quality printing products. Will continue to use them! Very friendly and professional”