Commercial Printing for the Publication Industry

The 1984 classic film Ghostbusters popularized the phrase “print is dead”. Fortunately for those of us in the print industry, that statement has since been proven false many times over. In fact, one could even argue we’re in a golden age of publication printing. The quality and variety of today’s papers, inks, finishes, and formats are phenomenal. However, tapping into the full spectrum of what’s available requires a massive investment in technology and capabilities.

This investment is prohibitive for many small and even large digital publishers to make on their own. That’s where a premium commercial printing partner comes in handy. Read on to learn exactly how your publishing operation can start creating premium-quality magazines, books, and other publication formats, today.

Producing High-Quality Printed Media

On the one hand, ‘quality’ is subjective. In other words, one person’s opinion of what makes a print product the ‘best’ may be completely different from another’s. But on the other hand, it’s pretty easy to tell when a publication is just…bad. The paper feels flimsy or tears easily. The ink is desaturated, even spotty in places. Color registration is off, resulting in an unintentional pop-art take on what should have been crisp, beautiful illustrations. In the worst-case scenarios, pages may even be missing, out of order, or oriented incorrectly.

These mistakes hurt a publisher’s relationship with clients, authors, artists, and customers. It may only take one bad run to ruin a potentially lucrative publishing relationship forever. This is why working with a high-quality print partner is critical. Regardless of whether you want to publish something simple or extravagant, long or short, technical or entertaining, it needs to be printed cleanly and correctly every single time. And to make that happen, you must ensure your printer is highly experienced with the nuances of publication printing, specifically.

Benefits of Commercial Printing for Publishers

Alright, enough about potential pitfalls of subpar printers. Next, let's examine the concrete benefits you’ll see when you print your publications with a top-quality commercial printer like Wallace Carlson.

Professional Grade Results

An experienced printer understands publication construction from the inside out. They can work with you to establish your structural and aesthetic needs, content priorities, and distribution goals. Then they can leverage their knowledge of print materials and methods to recommend the best solutions for your particular products. Solutions that create visually appealing final results, feel good in a reader’s hand, and hold up to predicted wear and tear.

An experienced printer can also help you refine your publication’s design, and take best advantage of the available technology and materials. They will ensure your colors are vivid and accurate, your text is easy to read and follow, and your finishes enhance the design’s most compelling features. You’ll never need to worry about anything getting cut off, washed out, or misaligned.

Scalability for Large Print Runs

A commercial printer must be good at printing fast, without sacrificing quality. Publishers can use that reliable speed and accuracy to grow their operations quickly, producing and distributing quantities well beyond their in-house limitations. To ensure you never have to worry about a capacity bottleneck, it’s smart to establish a relationship with a quality commercial printer early, long before any problems arise.

Cost Efficiency with Bulk Printing

Lastly, publishers can see significant financial benefits from partnering with a commercial printer for large-scale runs. Certain commercial printing methods, like offset printing, cost less per copy the more copies you print, making commercial printers cost-effective for bulk publication printing. To learn more about the differences between offset and digital publication printing, check out our blog dedicated to that topic here.

Custom Solutions for Publishers

Commercial printers have access to countless print solutions to help your publications stand out in stores, make an impression in a reader’s hands, and help your company thrive in the competitive publishing marketing.

Take bindings for example. This integral component to a publication’s construction can become a visual asset in its own right, but only if your printer has a variety of binding capabilities at their disposal, Otherwise, you may find that all your publications — regardless of their size, purpose, or intended audience  — end up with the same, one-size-fits-all binding method, ultimately reducing their perceived uniqueness for consumers.

Coatings are another opportunity to gain attention, with textural enhancements like spot gloss and soft touch, or eye-catchers like metallic foils. These treatments, used on their own or in combination, help readers pick your publications out from the masses and form an immediate, visceral connection. But with less sophisticated printers, your coating options will be far more restrained, limiting the potential of your critical first impressions.

Commercial publication printers can even help your operation achieve or improve upon institutional green initiatives. Look for a partner like Wallace Carlson with strong recycling programs in place for both paper scraps and metal, and who can offer you ink-conserving print options like offset lithography. You can even leverage their extensive resource networks to source premium quality recycled and eco-friendly materials.