Why are Wholesale Prints Very Affordable?

By: Carla San Gaspar
Submitted: 2008-07-02 16:13:16
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Trade printing is one of the alternatives used by commercial printers when they want to offer jobs that are beyond their means. They go to trade printing companies when they feel that they do not have the needed equipment to produce a certain job or if they do not have enough people to work on an order. Also, a trade printer is the best option to have when you are upgrading your equipment since this enables you to accept orders while getting your equipment ready. The wholesale prints produced by these printers

However, many still question how trade printers can print their materials at a very low cost. The answer is simple and can be explained through two points:

Offset printing
One of the reasons why trade printers are very affordable and can produce wholesale prints is because of the offset printing processes. The offset printing method allows for the production of large amounts of prints with a fast turn around.

The process is simple. A plate is first produced containing the patterns of your print jobs. This plate then passes through several ink rollers for color. The process runs on the premise that oil and water do not mix. Water is used to make sure that the oil based inks do not mix with each other and do not bleed into the paper. This process is repeated again and again until the number of orders is reached.

What makes offset printing unique is when ever you increase the amount of prints that you order; the cost of the print per piece becomes less. Why? This is because bulk of the cost that you pay for in offset printing is in the production of the plate. For example, if you want additional orders of your prints and the plate is still with the printer, the amount per piece of your current order will be considerably less than the amount per piece of your previous order. The same principle applies when you have bulk orders. Whenever you print in bulk, the more you order means that you almost cover the cost of the plate production process making the offset printing process very cost effective.

Gang run printing
Gang run printing is another way printing companies produce wholesale prints. They combine different orders in a single plate to maximize its cost. This plate is then run several times, depending on the number of copies that you need.

For example, one company ordered a brochure print job. Another company orders a flyer while another one orders posters. Assuming that these prints are of the same quantities, a pre press expert will combine and lay out these prints in a single plate as opposed to traditional method of laying out a single order on a single plate.

The result of this method is the simultaneous printing of several projects with the cost of the plate shared between the companies. And as discussed earlier, once the cost of the plate is covered, the cost of your prints will drastically decrease. It will decrease to a point that you will feel that you are only paying for the paper and the ink.

Article source: Expert Articles